Bony and the Mouse — Arthur W. Upfield

Three times a killer has struck in Daybreak, a one-pub town in Western Australia. Why should so many people suspect the strange 'bad boy' Tony Carr? Why were the local Aboriginal tribe far away from town at the time of the murders? Inspector Bonaparte finds this small community very tight, till the arrival of a job-seeking bloke by the name of Nat Bonnar…

 

Though lacking in some of the tightness that characterises Upfield's strongest books, this thriller is nevertheless a powerful success. The geography and geology are stark and proper setting, the people are alive and flexing with pain and apprehension... And here, as he so often does, he creates a major heroic character in Melody Sam who is unparalleled and unchallenged. - from The Spirit of Australia by Ray Browne.

 

Bony - a unique figure among top-flight detectives. - BBC