Bony and the Black Virgin

U.S. Title: The Torn Branch

Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is called to the drought-sticken outback for this, his latest case. At a desolate sheep station two men have been savagely beaten to death and it's Bony's job to make an arrest. This isn't an easy case, since clues are scarce in this sun-baked, sand-blown country, but Bony's understanding of the bush and the people who live there--both black and white--leads him inexorably to the killer.

Bony and the Black Virgin was first published in Britain by Heinemann in 1959. The American edition was printed by Macmillan's Collier Books in 1965 under the title The Torn Branch. The Collins/Angus and Robertson edition of 1991 is shown above.