The Bony Mysteries
The Barrakee Mystery
The Sands of Windee
Wings Above the Diamantina
Mr. Jelly's Business
Winds of Evil
The Bone is Pointed
The Mystery of Swordfish Reef
Bushranger of the Skies
Death of a Swagman
The Devil's Steps
An Author Bites the Dust
The Mountains Have a Secret
The Widows of Broome
The Bachelors of Broken Hill
The New Shoe
Venom House
Murder Must Wait
Death of a Lake
The Cake in the Hat Box
The Battling Prophet
Man of Two Tribes
Bony Buys a Woman
Bony and the Mouse
Bony and the Black Virgin
Bony and the Kelly Gang
Bony and the White Savage
The Will of the Tribe
Madman's Bend
The Lake Frome Monster
Other Books
The House of Cain
The Beach of Atonement
A Royal Abduction
Gripped by Drought
The Murchison Murders
Breakaway House
The Great Mebourne Cup Mystery
The Gifts of Frank Cobbold
Up and Down Australia
Up and Down the Real Australia
Follow My Dust
Life and Times of Bony's Man
Welcome to the
"Unofficial"
Arthur W. Upfield &
Insector Napoleon Bonaparte Homepage
This site is dedicated to Arthur W. Upfield and his famous 
half-aborgine sleuth, Detective-Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte. It's hoped that these pages will help every visitor better appreciate these wonderful books, their characters and locations.
Upfield wrote twenty-nine Bony mystery stories between 1929 and 1962, as well as several other books including mysteries, romances, and suspenceful thrillers. He was born in England, but was sent by his father to Australia as a young man, in the hopes that young Arthur would make something of himself. Upfield took immediately to Australia and adopted it as his homeland. He travelled throughout the country and tried his hand at many trades, including kitchen assistant in an urban hotel, boundary rider, station hand, and station cook. His travels lent him a wealth of first hand experiences with both the land and her people that make his books fascinating and believable. He captures the majesty of Australia, especially the outback country, and her people, both black and white. His first novel was written while working as a station outpost cook along the Darling River. He wrote others from a drop-leaf desk attached to the side of the camel-drawn drey in which he later patrolled the world's longest fence.
Upfield's books have in recent years become increasingly difficult to find through traditional means, although they are perhaps easier to find than ever before using the Internet. Most of the Bony titles were in print in paperback through the late 1980's in the UK and Australia by Angus & Robertson and in the US by Collier/Scribners. By the 1990's most of these editions had been discontinued. A few titles briefly reappear now and again, but are few and far between. A handful of titles, like The Barrakee Mystery, were already out of print by then. Upfield's "non-Bony" novels are even more difficult to locate.
I came to know Arthur Upfield's books as a young teenager in the early 1980's, thanks to an Australian friend who loaned me Death of a Swagman and Winds of Evil. I was hooked. I had the local bookstore order every one of the Collier/Scribners editions available at the time, then mail-ordered other titles from Blackwell's in Oxford. There were still many out-of-print titles in those days, but I was able to complete my collection with patience and a quick check of the "mystery" shelves at every used bookstore I came across.
I can't speak for the UK or for Australia, but here in North 
America, it's now a rare day to find an Upfield book in a used bookstore. Even the public libraries seem to be getting rid of all the Upfield titles they used to have (and when they're not being "discarded" they are often discoverd to have been stolen). That said, specific titles are now easier to find using the Internet. (Just take note that many of Upfield's book were published under multiple titles in the US and UK. I've tried to stick with the UK titles on this website.)
I'm always glad to hear from other fans of Upfield. Feel free to especially if you've got ideas or suggestions for the website. Thanks for visiting!
Recent Site News and Updates
July 2, 2009: Updated page for Murder Must Wait.
July 2, 2009: Removed PDF titles at the request of Bonaparte Holdings.
June 22, 2009: Added PDF edition of A Royal Abduction
June 17, 2009: Added locations to most novels, including links to Google Maps when possible.
June 17, 2009: Added Betty Donaldson's plot summaries from The Armchair Detective, Allen J. Hubin, ed., 1974.
June 11, 2009: Added PDF edition of The House of Cain
May 23, 2009: Updated pages for: The Mountains Have a Secret and An Author Bites the Dust
May 17, 2009: Added PDF edition of Gripped By Drought
May 8, 2009: Added PDF edition of Follow My Dust!
April 28, 2009: Complete site overhaul...I hope the new look, layout, and additional and updated content are helpful!
