"Two men are killed by cyanide poisoning before Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte comes to Broken Hill to take up the case, and a third dies soon after he arrives. All die in crowded public places, and all are elderly and single. Witnesses recall a woman being near each man before he died, but their descriptions seem to be of entirely different women. Clues are old and witnesses have been mishandled by an inept investigator before Bony arrives in the prosperous mining town, but with the help of the local constabulary, a professional burglar vacationing in Broken Hill, and an amateur quick-sketch artist, Inspector Bonaparte mounts an investigation to try to identify the murderer before she finds another victim." - from the 1986 Collier edition

"When two elderly bachelors both had a bit of cyanide popped into their afternoon tea, and a strange woman was on the scene each time, Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte was delighted. Here was a real challenge to his abilities as a tracker and detective.
He soon realised that tracking down this artist at murder in an Australian mining town of twenty-eight thousand people must be speeded up, or else the assailant might strike again. It needed unorthodox help from Jimmy the Screwsman and a lightening-sketch artist to provide the half-aborigine policeman with a possible key to the mystery. There's plenty of excitement and expert detection as Bony trails a killer no one has really seen."– from the jacket of the 1969 Heinemann edition

"Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Mr. Knapp) has been given two weeks leave of absence and has been seconded to the New South Wales Police Department to investigate the murders of two elderly men who have been killed by cyanide. Inspector Stillman has failed to solve the case. Bony recognizes Jimmy the Screwman, who had hoped he was safe in Broken Hill, and he mesmerizes a shocked Jimmy into being a useful ally. The cyanide poisoning pattern is broken by the death of a woman by stabbing. Inspector Stillman refuses Bony vital information, Bony's service in New South Wales is terminated and he no longer has authority, but of course he succeeds as usual." – from "The Armchair Detective"

Location: Broken Hill, NSW.

The Bachelors of Broken Hill was first published in America by the Doubleday Crime Club in 1950, then in Britian by Heinemann in 1958. The Collier/Scribner Crime Classic edition of 1986 is shown above.