Arthur Upfield. Murder Down Under (1937) A station-owner’s car is found nose-down in a ditch next to the rabbit fence, with no trace of its driver. Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ('Bony') is detailed to masquerade as a rabbit inspector while investigating the disappearance. He listens to people talk, asking casual questions that prompt more conversation, until the pattern emerges. Bony’s focus on psychology gets him the information he needs. Passion and greed have combined to motivate murder.
I like Upfield’s books. They have their weaknesses: his writing reminds me of The Boy’s Own Paper, but with a somewhat more adult understanding of human relationships. The clues are placed fairly, with few red herrings. Class tends to overwhelm character. A gentleman is polite, cultured, courageous, chivalrous, generously condescending to his social inferiors, skilled at solving problems but not an intellectual, and so on. Very much a B.O.P hero.
Still, Upfield’s treatment of aboriginals is well ahead of his time. He reproduces their dialect, but they are not inferior to the white settlers. Upfield frequently makes a point of disapproving racial prejudice. Bony asks for help from whomever can supply it. He doesn’t like bureaucracy and red tape and official procedures, especially when they obstruct his investigation. Australian society of the 1920s suffered from the same class structure as Britain, and this too interferes with Bony’s work. The overall impression is that Upfield shares his hero's aversion to authority. The books are well done entertainments with a strong subtext of social criticism.
Recommended. ***
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