Bachelors of Broken Hill, The (Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte)

The Bachelors of Broken Hill is the fourteenth book in the popular Bony series by Arthur Upfield. After two cyanide poisonings in the outback town of Broken Hill have left the local police and a Detective Inspector from Sydney baffled, Bony consents to take the case. Both victims are elderly bachelors with a tendency to spill food on their clothes, although Bony is the first to concede this is not a killing offence. In both cases, a tall, older lady was at the scene, but descriptions of the possible poisoner are, at best, vague. While Bony is investigating, a third poisoning takes place, followed by the stabbing of a female police constable. In this instalment, Bony employs the use of a sketch artist, a journalist and a burglar hoping to escape notice away from the city. There is a blue bag with a red drawstring, a baby’s dummy, a glass knife, a black tracker, a stooping customer and a fugitive magician. While Bony may , at times sound slightly arrogant regards his skills, he always gives credit where it is due and is happy to praise the hard-working local constabulary. Another masterpiece of detection.