The Bone is Pointed

Jeffrey Anderson was a big man with a foul temper--a sadist and an ugly drunk. When his horse, The Black Emperor, an animal as mean as its owner, came home riderless, no one cared. And no one cared when no trace of the man could be found. But five months later, Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is called in--and he is determined to solve the mystery. With his usual tenacity he takes up the cold trail. What happened to Anderson, to his hat, to his stockwhip, to his horse's neck rope? Bony must rely on his eyes and his wits to help him find the answers, for the local inhabitants, both black and white, are keeping their own secrets.

The Bone is Pointed was published in 1938 by Angus and Robertson of Sydney and A.J. Saunders of Toronto. Hamish Hamilton published the first British edition in 1939. The first American edition was released as part of the Doubleday Crime Club in 1947. Pictured above is the 1988 Eden edition printed by Angus and Robertson.