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Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 12 February 1964) was an English-Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a mixed-race Indigenous Australian. His books were the basis for a 1970s Australian television series entitled Boney, as well as a 1990 telemovie and a 1992 spin-off TV series.

Key Information

Born in England, Upfield moved to Australia in 1911 and fought for the Australian military during the First World War. Following his war service, he travelled extensively throughout Australia, obtaining a knowledge of Australian Aboriginal culture that he would later use in his written works. In addition to writing detective fiction, Upfield was a member of the Australian Geological Society and was involved in numerous scientific expeditions.

In The Sands of Windee, a story about a "perfect murder", Upfield invented a method to destroy carefully all evidence of the crime. Upfield's "Windee method" was used in the Murchison Murders, and because Upfield had discussed the plot with friends, including the man accused of the murders, he was called to give evidence in court.[1] The episode is dramatised in the film 3 Acts of Murder, starring Robert Menzies.

Early life

[edit]

The son of a draper, Upfield was born in Gosport, Hampshire, England, on 1 September 1890.[2] In 1911, after he did poorly in examinations towards becoming a real estate agent, Upfield's father sent him to Australia.[3]

With the outbreak of the First World War in the summer of 1914, he joined the First Australian Imperial Force on 23 August 1914.[4] He sailed from Brisbane on 24 September 1914 to Melbourne. At the time of sailing he had the rank of Driver and was with the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade Train (5 Company ASC [Army Service Corps]).[5] In Melbourne he was at a camp for several weeks before sailing to Egypt.[6] He fought at Gallipoli and in France and married an Australian nurse, Ann Douglass, in Egypt in 1915. He was discharged in England on 15 October 1919. Before returning to Australia, Ann gave birth to their only child, James Arthur, born 8 February 1920.[7]

For most of the next 20 years he travelled throughout the outback, working at a number of jobs and learning about Aboriginal cultures. A contributor of an article 'Coming Down with Cattle' to the first edition of Walkabout magazine, he later used the knowledge and material he had gathered in his books.

Career

[edit]

Upfield created the character of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, based on a man known as "Tracker Leon", whom he said he had met in his travels. Leon was supposedly a half-caste employed as a tracker by the Queensland Police.[2] He was also said to have read Shakespeare and a biography of Napoleon, and to have received a university education. However, there is no evidence that any such person ever existed.[8] The novels featuring Bony, as the detective was also known, were far more successful than any other writings by Upfield.

3 Jasmine Street, Bowral, the house where Upfield spent his last years and died[9]
Snowy Rowles, convicted of the Murchison Murders, standing beside the car of James Ryan, photographed by Arthur Upfield. Ryan was one of the victims.

Late in life Upfield became a member of the Australian Geological Society, involved in scientific expeditions.[7] He led a major expedition in 1948 to northern and western parts of Australia, including the Wolfe Creek Crater, which was a setting for his novel The Will of the Tribe published in 1962.[10]

After living at Bermagui, New South Wales, Upfield moved to Bowral.[9] Upfield died at Bowral on 12 February 1964.[9] His last work, The Lake Frome Monster, published in 1966, was completed by J.L. Price and Dorothy Stange.

In 1957, Jessica Hawke published a biography of the author entitled Follow My Dust!. It is generally held, however, that this was written by Upfield himself.[3]

Works

[edit]

Upfield's novels were held in high regard by some fellow writers. In 1987, H. R. F. Keating included The Sands of Windee in his list of the 100 best crime and mystery books ever published.[2] J. B. Priestley wrote of Upfield: "If you like detective stories that are something more than puzzles, that have solid characters and backgrounds, that avoid familiar patterns of crime and detection, then Mr Upfield is your man."[2] His grandson, William Arthur Upfield holds his grandfather's copyright, and the trademark 'Bony', keeping the works in print.[citation needed]

The American mystery novelist Tony Hillerman praised Upfield's works. In his introduction to the posthumous 1984 reprint of Upfield's A Royal Abduction, he described the seduction in his youth of Upfield's descriptions of both the harsh outback areas, and "the people who somehow survived upon them ... When my own Jim Chee of the Navaho Tribal Police unravels a mystery because he understands the ways of his people, when he reads the signs in the sandy bottom of a reservation arroyo, he is walking in the tracks Bony made 50 years ago."[11]

His Bony books were translated into German for the Goldmanns Taschenkrimi Series in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were widely read and quite successful.[citation needed]

Books

[edit]
Title of book Setting Publication[12]
The House of Cain Melbourne and NE of South Australia Serialised: Perth Sunday Times (1928)

Hutchinson, London, n.d. [1928]; 1st US Edition: Dorrance, Philadelphia, 1929; 2nd US Edition: (pirated) Dennis McMillan, San Francisco, 1983.

The Barrakee Mystery Near Wilcannia, New South Wales

First book to feature Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte

Serialised: Melbourne Herald (1932)

Hutchinson, London, n.d. [1929]; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1965; 1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1965 – as The Lure of the Bush.

The Beach of Atonement Dongara, Western Australia[13] Hutchinson, London, n.d. [1930].
The Sands of Windee 'Windee' is a fictional sheep station near Milparinka, a 150 miles (240 km) north of Broken Hill. Windee covered 1,300,000 acres (5,300 km2) of land and ran 70 000 sheep. Hutchinson, London, n.d. [1931];

1st Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1958; 2nd UK Edition: Angus & Robertson, London, 1959.

A Royal Abduction Cook and Eucla, on the Nullarbor Plain Serialised: Melbourne Herald (1932) Hutchinson, London, [1932];

1st US Edition: (pirated) Dennis McMillan, Miami Beach, 1984.

Gripped by Drought The fictional Atlas Station near Pooncarie, NSW Hutchinson, London, n.d. [1932]
The Murchison Murders Upfield's own account of the murders in the Murchison region Midget Masterpiece Publishing, Sydney, n.d. [1934];

1st US Edition: (pirated) Dennis McMillan, Miami Beach, 1987.

Wings Above the Diamantina In the region of the Diamantina River, which flows from Western Queensland into northern South Australia Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1936; 2nd Australian edition Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1940

1st UK Edition: Hamilton, London, n.d. [1937] – as Winged Mystery 1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1943 – as Wings Above the Claypan. Serialised in Australian newspapers as When Wings are Clipped (1935).

Mr. Jelly's Business Takes place at Burracoppin and Merredin east of Perth in the Wheat Belt of Western Australia along the rabbit-proof fence. The railway station in the story map and the water pipe have changed little since Upfield's day (he worked clearing brush in Burracoppin). Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1937; 2nd Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1964

1st UK Edition: Hamilton, London, 1938 1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1943 – as Murder Down Under.

Winds of Evil Silverton, New South Wales, and the nearby Barrier Range, which is north and east of Broken Hill Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1937; 2nd Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1961

1st UK Edition Hutchinson, London, n.d. [1939] 1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1944

The Bone is Pointed "Opal Town" or Opalton, Queensland, in the Channel Country of the Diamantina River Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1938; 2nd Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1966

1st UK Edition: Hamilton, London, 1939 1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1947; US Book Club Edition: Unicorn Mystery Book Club, New York, 1946. Serialised in Australian newspapers as Murder on the Station (1938).

The Mystery of Swordfish Reef Takes place from Bermagui, New South Wales; the reef extends from Montague Island. The plot is based on the 1880 disappearance of the geologist Lamont Young near Mystery Bay, New South Wales.[14] Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1939; Aust. Book Club Edition:Readers Book Club, Melbourne, 1963

1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1960; UK Book Club Edition: The Companion Book Club, London, 1963; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1971 1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1943

Bushranger of the Skies "McPherson's Station", 80 miles northwest of Shaw's Lagoon, South Australia. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1940; 2nd Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1963

1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Book Club, New York, 1944 – as No Footprints in the Bush

Death of a Swagman Walls of China now in Mungo National Park, north-east of Buronga, far south-western NSW 1st Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1947; 2nd Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1962

1st UK Edition: Aldor, London, 1946 Doubleday/Crime Book Club, New York, 1945; US Book Club Edition: Unicorn Mystery Book Club, New York, 1946

The Devil's Steps Set in a fictional mountain resort called Mount Chalmers, similar to the Dandenong Ranges on the eastern edge of Melbourne, Victoria (most probably in the vicinity of Mt Dandenong, but with some similarities to One Tree Hill in Ferny Creek), and also in Melbourne City and its suburbs South Yarra and Coburg. 1st Australian Edition: Invincible Press, Sydney, n.d. [1950–1953]; 2nd Australian Edition: Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1965

1st UK Edition: Aldor, London, 1948 Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1946; US Book Club Edition: Unicorn Mystery Book Club, New York, 1946

An Author Bites the Dust Set in the fictional town of Yarrabo, in the valley of the real Yarra River. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1948

1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1948; US Book Club Edition: Unicorn Mystery Book Club, New York, 1948

The Mountains Have a Secret Set mostly in the Grampians mountain range in western Victoria. 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1952; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1948; US Book Club Edition: Unicorn Mystery Book Club, New York, 1948

The Widows of Broome Set in Broome, Western Australia 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1951; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1967

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1950; US Book Club Edition: Dollar Mystery Guild, New York, 1950

The Bachelors of Broken Hill Broken Hill, New South Wales 1st Australian Edition: Invincible Press, Sydney, between 1950 and 1953

1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1958; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified); Large Print Edition: Ulverscroft, Leicester, 1974 Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1950; US Book Club Edition: Detective Book Club, New York, 1951

The New Shoe Aireys Inlet; specifically, Split Point Lighthouse and Broken Rock[15] 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1952; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1968

Doubleday/Crime Book Club, New York, 1951

Venom House Set in and around "Edison", the real-life Elston, on the swampy coast south of Brisbane.(The name was later changed as Surfers Paradise) long before it became a tourist resort. 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1953; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1970

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1952; US Book Club Edition: Unicorn Mystery Club, New York, 1952

Murder Must Wait "Mitford", New South Wales, which is approximately where real-life Wentworth is located. Various references indicate far west of New South Wales. 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1953; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1953; US Book Club Edition: Detective Book Club, New York, 1953

Death of a Lake East of Menindee. Said to be Victoria Lake (not Lake Victoria), an ephemeral lake that fills occasionally in massive River Darling floods. Heinemann, London, 1954

1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1954

Cake in the Hat Box; also published as Sinister Stones Kimberley region of Western Australia "Agar's Lagoon" is Hall's Creek. 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1955 ; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1954 as Sinister Stones

The Battling Prophet The Cowdry River, a fictional river south of Mount Gambier. Heinemann, London, 1956; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)
The Man of Two Tribes Nullarbor Plain 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1956 – as Man of Two Tribes; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1956

Bony Buys a Woman; also published as The Bushman Who Came Back Lake Eyre region 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1957

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1957 - as The Bushman Who Came Back

Follow My Dust! Heinemann, London, 1957
Bony and the Black Virgin; also published as The Torn Branch "Lake Jane", a fictional lake in the Murray–Darling Basin[16] 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1959; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)
Bony and the Mouse; also published as Journey to the Hangman "Daybreak", a fictional mining town 150 miles (240 km) from Laverton, Western Australia 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1959 – as Bony and the Mouse; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York. 1959 as Journey to the Hangman

Bony and the Kelly Gang; also published as Valley of Smugglers Possibly set in a town and valley similar to Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, not far from Bowral where Upfield lived for the last years of his life.[17] However, Robertson on the top of the escarpment, which is known for its potatoes, is also possible.

The waterfall may be Fitzroy Falls in Morton National Park.[16]

Narrates some episodes of the Ned Kelly true history.

1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1960; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1960; US Book Club Edition: Detective Book Club, New York, n.d. [1960] – as Valley of the Smugglers

The White Savage Timbertown is a light disguise of Pemberton, a timber town in the south-west of Western Australia. 1st UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1961 – as Bony and the White Savage; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1961

The Will of the Tribe Wolfe Creek Crater[16] First UK Edition: Heinemann, London, 1962

Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1962

Madman's Bend Hard to tell along which stretch of the Darling River this was. Upfield spent time around Menindee where some large, dense, river redgum forests fit the bill that are within Kinchega National Park. A section of river near here is called Lunatic Bend just south of the township. Heinemann, London, 1963

1st US Edition: Doubleday/Crime Club, New York, 1963 – as The Body at Madman's Bend

The Lake Frome Monster

[Note: This posthumously published work was based on an unfinished manuscript and detailed notes left by Upfield. It was completed by J L Price and Mrs Dorothy Strange.]

Lake Frome, South Australia Heinemann, London, 1966; 2nd UK Edition: Heinemann, London, (date not identified)
Breakaway House Serialised: Perth Daily News (1932)

Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1987

The Great Melbourne Cup Mystery Serialised: Melbourne Herald (1933)[18]

ETT Imprint, Watson's Bay, Sydney, 1996

The Gifts of Frank Cobbold The Cobbold Family History Trust, written in 1935 and expanded from a short story ‘The Mysterious Notes’, published anonymously in the Fitzroy City Press on 23 May 1914; the manuscript was edited and revised by Sandra Berry in 2008

Radio

[edit]

Wings Above the Diamantina was adapted for radio in 1939 starring Ron Randell as Boney.[19]

The Bone is Pointed was serialised in 1948.[20]

There was a radio series in the 1950s Man of Two Tribes starring Frank Thring as Boney.

Novels would be read out in serial form on the radio, including:

  • Bushranger of the Air (1940)[21]
  • The Cat in the Hat Box (1955)[22]
  • The Battling Prophet (1956)[23]
  • The Sands of Windee (1959)[24]

Television series

[edit]

From 1972 to 1973, Fauna Productions produced a 26-episode television series based on the books. Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte was played by New Zealand actor James Laurenson. The series was called Boney. Most of the episodes were based directly on one of the novels, but there were some adaptations. Two original scripts were not directly based on any novel; five novels were not adapted for television, effectively "reserving" them in case a third series was produced. At the time, many of the books were reprinted with the spelling altered to "Boney" on the covers (although retaining the original in the text), and featuring a photo from the relevant episode.[25]

Bony was also a 1990 telemovie and later a 1992 spin-off TV series (using the original "Bony" spelling). However, the series was criticised for casting Bony as a white man (played by Cameron Daddo), under the tutelage of "Uncle Albert", an elderly Aboriginal man played by Burnum Burnum.

Short stories

[edit]
  • His Last Holiday. Brisbane Daily Standard, 14 January 1916
  • The Man Who Liked Work. Life, January 1928
  • Laffer's Gold. Western Mail, 22 December 1932
  • Rainbow Gold. Perth Sunday Times, 29 January 1933
  • [Title Unknown]. Jarrah Leaves, 30 November 1933
  • [Title Unknown]. Australian Journal, January 1934
  • [Title Unknown]. Australian Journal, October 1935
  • Henry's Last Job. Melbourne Herald, 14 February 1939
  • A Mover of Mountains. Melbourne Herald, 14 October 1939
  • Henry's Little Lamb. Melbourne Herald, 5 December 1939
  • Joseph Henry's Christmas Party. Melbourne Herald, 23 December 1939
  • Pinky Dick's Elixir. Melbourne Herald, 18 January 1940
  • Vital Clue. Melbourne Herald, 19 January 1940
  • Why Did the Devil Shoot a Pig?. Melbourne Herald, 29 January 1940
  • That Cow Maggie!! Melbourne Herald, 11 April 1940
  • The Great Rabbit Lure. Melbourne Herald, 19 April 1940
  • The Colonel's Horse. ABC Weekly, 5 January 1941
  • The Cairo Spy. ABC Weekly, 5 July 1941
  • Through Flood and Desert for Twopence. ABC Weekly, 26 October 1941
  • White Quartz. Adelaide Chronicle, 21 November 1946
  • M-U-R-D-E-R at Split Point. Melbourne Argus, 27 December 1952 to 2 January 1953. (Heavily edited version of The New Shoe)

Non-fiction

[edit]
  • All Must Pay: Reflections on Outpost. Melbourne Argus, 8 January 1916
  • Little Stories of Gallipoli. Melbourne Argus, 10, 14, 19 and 21 January 1916
  • The Blight. Barrier Miner, 4, 11, 18 and 25 October 1924
  • ’’At School Today and Forty Years Ago’’. West Australian, 10 March 1928
  • ’’The Loneliest Job on Earth’’. Wide World Magazine, December 1928
  • Reynard the Killer: A Growing Menace to Pastoralists: Bush Life Becoming Extinct. Perth Sunday Times, 31 August 1930
  • Aboriginal Philosophy. West Australian, 20 September 1930
  • Face and Clothes. West Australian, 22 November 1930
  • ’’Eucla - An Abandoned Township and it’s Ghost’’. Empire Review, December 1930
  • Sep-Ah-Rate. West Australian, 17 October 1931
  • Some Reflections on a Hilltop: The Charm of the Ranges: A Nomad's Heart Responds. Perth Daily News, 9 July 1932
  • Lords of the Track: Sundowners I Have Met: Nicknames and Fads. Perth Daily News, 30 July 1932
  • After Rain: Charms of Hill and Gully: The Song of the Brook Perth Daily News, 6 August 1932
  • Street Mysteries: Sidelights in the Study of Humanity. Perth Sunday Times, 18 September 1932
  • The Hunted Emu: A Rural Pest Which Is a Pest Destroyer. Perth Sunday Times, 13 November 1932
  • Kangaroo Coursing: The Thrill of a Blind Chase. West Australian, 19 November 1932
  • Christmas Memories. Perth Daily News, 24 December 1932
  • Plagues of Australia: Wonders of Animal Migration. West Australian, 31 December 1932
  • Literary Illusions: Some Experiences of an Author - and Others. Perth Sunday Times, 1 January 1933
  • Way for the Pioneers! Migration Needs a New Deal. Melbourne Herald, 3 January 1933
  • Australia. West Australian, 14 January 1933
  • Let Us Go Beachcombing: The Perfect Dream for Hot Weather Days. Perth Daily News, 9 February 1933
  • The Man Who Thought He Was Dead. Melbourne Herald, 28 October 1933
  • Future of the Aborigines: New Protective Laws Required. Perth Daily News, 2 November 1933
  • Found - An Old Tyre! A Problem of the Bush. Melbourne Herald, 11 November 1933
  • Lonely Terrors of the Bush! The Man Who Lost Count! Melbourne Herald, 25 November 1933
  • Untitled article. Brisbane Sunday Mail, 26 November 1933
  • Justice for the Black. Try New Treatment! Melbourne Herald, 1 December 1933
  • Land of Illusions: Do We Expect Too Much from the Northern Territory: Dangers of Boosting. Melbourne Herald, 19 December 1933
  • My Life Outback: Surveyor, Cook and Raw Boundary Rider: The Breaking-in Begins. Melbourne Herald, 12 January 1934
  • Poison! Tales of the Nonchalant Bush. Melbourne Herald, 13 January 1934
  • Outback Adventures of a 'New Chum': A Dream and the Sad Awakening. Adelaide Advertiser, 13 January 1934
  • My Life Outback, No. 2: Mule Driver's Outsider: On the Track with One-Spur Dick. Melbourne Herald, 13 January 1934
  • My Life Outback No. 3: Opal Gouging with Big Jack - and His Cat: How Joke on New Chums Became Good Turn. Melbourne Herald, 15 January 1934
  • My Life Outback, No. 7: When Crabby Tom Ran Amok. Melbourne Herald, 19 January 1934
  • Up and Down Australia, No. 1: Going Bush. West Australian, 26 January 1934
  • Kangaroo Coursing. Melbourne Herald, 27 January 1934
  • My Life Outback, No. 8: Sand-storm Terror in Sturts County, No. 8. Melbourne Herald, 29 January 1934
  • My Life Outback, No. 11: The Murchison Bones Murder Case. Melbourne Herald, 24 January 1934
  • Up and Down Ausrealia, No. 2: Mule Driver's Offsider. West Australian, 2 February 1934
  • My Life Outback, No. 5: Tramping by the Darling. Adelaide Advertiser, 10 February 1934
  • My Old Pal Buller: Two Camels and - a Scorpion. Melbourne Herald, 10 March 1934
  • Plot for a Murder Mystery: Planning a Perfect Crime. Adelaide Advertiser, 17 March 1934
  • The Real Australia: The Sheep They Couldn't Kill. Melbourne Herald, 17 March 1934
  • The Real Australia: How They Waited for the Rain: The Courage of One Woman. Melbourne Herald, 31 March 1934
  • Challenging America! How the Yacht Endeavour was Built. Melbourne Herald, 9 June 1934
  • Work of the Bird gatherer. Adelaide Chronicle, 11 July 1934
  • Fun For The Afternoon! The Tale of an Intelligent Bull in the Outback. Melbourne Herald, 28 July 1934
  • A Tale of Two Worlds. Melbourne Herald, 9 August 1934
  • Ringers of the Bells: Secrets of an Ancient Art. Melbourne Herald, 17 November 1934
  • Black Man's Eldorado: Rich Reefs of the Imagination. Adelaide Chronicle, 16 May 1935
  • The Real Australia. Adelaide Chronicle, 13 June 1935
  • Walls of China. Melbourne Herald, 6 November 1937
  • His Majesty - The Swordfish. Melbourne Herald, 24 March 1938
  • The Art of Writing Mystery Stories. Adelaide Advertiser, 20 July 1940
  • The Impossible Perfect Crime. Adelaide Chronicle, 8 December 1949

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Arthur Upfield

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 12 February 1964) was an English-born Australian writer best known for his detective fiction novels set in the remote Australian bush, featuring the mixed-race Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte as the protagonist. After arriving in Australia in late 1911, Upfield enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force shortly after the outbreak of World War I, serving as a driver during the Gallipoli campaign and marrying nurse Anne Douglass in Egypt in 1915; he was discharged in 1919 and returned to bush work that shaped his intimate knowledge of outback life and Aboriginal customs. His writing career produced 29 Bonaparte novels, beginning with The Barrakee Mystery in 1929, which incorporated realistic depictions of Australian landscapes and indigenous tracking skills, earning him prominence as the first non-American full member of the Mystery Writers of America. A notable aspect of his legacy involves the real-world echo of his unpublished plot in The Sands of Windee (1931), where a method of body disposal was emulated by murderer Snowy Rowles in the Murchison killings, inadvertently boosting Upfield's fame through the ensuing trial. Upfield's works emphasized empirical bushcraft and causal problem-solving over urban tropes, reflecting his twelve years of hands-on experience as a jackaroo and tracker.

Biography

Early Life in England

Arthur William Upfield was born on 1 September 1890 at 87-88 North Street in , , , the eldest of five sons to James Oliver Upfield, a prosperous draper, and Annie Upfield (née Barmore), a former shop assistant. He was christened William Arthur Upfield on 9 October 1890 at Gosport Methodist Church. His family's middle-class circumstances provided a stable environment, though Upfield was primarily reared by his grandparents following his mother's early death. Upfield received his education at Blenheim House, a in nearby . He left school around age 16 and was initially apprenticed to Puttock & Blake, a firm of surveyors in . At 19, he was articled to an estate agency, aspiring to a career in , but failed the qualifying examinations after devoting excessive time to reading adventure novels rather than studying. These early setbacks in professional training reflected Upfield's growing disinterest in sedentary clerical work and foreshadowed his later affinity for outdoor pursuits, though his time in England remained confined to the coastal town of and its environs. By 1911, at his father's urging, he emigrated to seeking broader opportunities.

Migration and Settlement in Australia

Upfield, born in Gosport, Hampshire, , emigrated to in 1911 at the direction of his father, a draper who sought to instill discipline after Upfield showed little aptitude for training as a surveyor. He departed following unsuccessful examinations and arrived in , , on 14 November 1911, aged 21. Upon arrival, Upfield eschewed urban prospects for the , roaming through and while taking up itinerant bush labor such as , station hand duties, opal mining, and boundary riding. This nomadic phase reflected his affinity for rugged frontier life, with no fixed residence established before his enlistment in the Australian Imperial Force on 23 August 1914 as a with the 1st Light Horse Regiment. Following service, Upfield returned to in 1920 with his English wife, Jessie, and infant son, initially basing near where he briefly worked on a dairy farm and in a factory before resuming bush travels. He undertook extended roles, including five years patrolling Western Australia's No. 1 from 1924, which provided material for his later writing. Permanent settlement came later; by the 1940s, Upfield resided in , , at 3 Jasmine Street, a southern highlands town that served as his base for writing until his death in 1964. This progression from transient laborer to established resident underscored his integration into Australian society, culminating in naturalization as an Australian citizen.

Military Service in World War I

Upfield enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 22 August 1914, shortly after the declaration of war. Assigned 143 and the rank of driver, he was allotted to the 1st Light Horse Brigade Train, specifically 5 Company of the Australian Army Service Corps, a unit responsible for logistical support including transport of supplies. He embarked from in September 1914 aboard the HMAT Anglo-Egyptian (A25), bound for the . In the , Upfield's unit participated in the , where he served in a driver capacity amid the Allied efforts to capture the Ottoman peninsula beginning in 1915. Although not among the initial Anzac landing forces on 25 April, his role involved supporting the mounted troops dismounted for on the rugged terrain. Following the evacuation of Gallipoli in December 1915, he continued service in , where he married Australian nurse Anne Douglass in 1915. During this period, he occasionally acted as sergeant. Upfield transferred to the Western Front in August 1916, serving as a driver with the 1st Division Train of the Australian Army Service Corps in , handling supply convoys amid ongoing . He was invalided from front-line duties in January 1917 due to health issues, though details of the condition are not specified in records. After recovery, he remained in service, eventually being discharged in on 15 October 1919.

Personal Relationships and Family

Upfield was the eldest of five sons born to James Oliver Upfield, a draper, and his wife Annie (née Barmore) in , , . Due to limited space in the family home, which doubled as a draper's shop, he was primarily raised by his paternal grandmother and two great-aunts. On 3 November 1915, while recovering from in a hospital near , , Upfield Australian Army nurse Anne Douglass at the British Consulate General there; she was subsequently dismissed from nursing service for the marriage. The couple had one son, James Arthur Upfield, born on 8 February 1920 near . After Upfield's discharge from military service in on 15 October 1919, they returned to in 1921, but the marriage deteriorated amid his nomadic work and financial strains, leading to separation shortly thereafter. Formal asset division occurred in 1946, including equal shares of property and maintenance, though Anne never agreed to ; she died on 29 1964 in , Victoria. In August 1945, Upfield entered a partnership with widow Jessica Hawke (born 1907, later known as Uren and then Upfield by on 15 June 1955), with whom he cohabited from May 1946 at Yarra Junction, Victoria, until his death. Described as harmonious and quarrel-free, this 17-year relationship involved Jessica managing his literary and personal affairs, including extensive correspondence during his travels and co-authorship of his 1957 autobiography Follow My Dust!. They had no children together, but Upfield mentored Jessica's son Donald Uren from her prior marriage, encouraging his rural career pursuits. Upfield maintained limited contact with his son James, who married twice—first to Betty Jeanetta Lambarn in 1944 (annulled shortly after) and later to Dorothy, with whom he had a son, William Arthur Upfield, born in June 1948. Upfield died on 12 February 1964 in , , survived by James.

Pre-Writing Career

Bush Work and Outback Experiences

Upon arriving in Adelaide on 4 November 1911 aboard the RMS , Upfield initially took manual labor roles, including work on a wheat farm at Pinnaroo in , where he handled tasks such as feeding and harnessing horses and stripping crops, followed by employment as a fourth cook in a large Adelaide hotel. These early positions marked his transition from urban settings to rural life, fostering an affinity for the Australian landscape. From 1911 to 1914, Upfield engaged in outback work across , the , and , including soldering, teamstering, and tracking at Momba Station near in New South Wales; serving as a boundary rider patrolling an 80-mile vermin-proof fence using camels; droving cattle from Daly Waters in the to Longreach in ; and laboring at Toombul Vineyards near Nudgee in . After his service and return to in 1920, he resumed employment in 1921, leaving a factory job in to take up roles such as stockmen's cook and camel-driving fence-patroller in regions including , , and . In the late , Upfield's pursuits intensified, with activities such as clearing karri and growth in southwest in 1927; patrolling the 163-mile No. 1 from Burracoppin to Dromedary in from 1927 to 1929 using a camel-drawn dray; over 800 fox pelts in ten weeks near in as a full-time trapper; boundary riding along the South Australia- border; cooking for station hands in ; and driving a across the . By 1929–1932, he continued fence patrolling on the No. 1 , covering approximately 100 miles north and south of Burracoppin, alongside supplementary tasks like rabbit and controlled burning. Upfield's diverse manual roles extended to droving cattle, acting as a mule driver's offsider, surveying, fur trapping, and station hand duties, often in remote areas like the Murchison region of and along the in . These experiences, spanning roughly twelve to twenty years in the until around 1931, provided him with practical knowledge of bush survival, tracking, and interactions with Aboriginal trackers and communities, which he later drew upon for authenticity in his narratives.

Professional Roles and Influences

Upon arriving in , , in 1911, Upfield initially worked as a kitchen hand, gardener in the suburb of , and briefly at the South Australia Hotel before transitioning to rural labor. He soon ventured into the as a jackeroo and boundary rider at Momba Station near , , gaining early exposure to station life and survival. Between 1920 and 1922, he took up dairy farm and factory work near , but these urban-adjacent roles proved unsatisfying compared to the frontier. Following his discharge from military service in 1919 and a brief stint as a private secretary to an army officer in England until 1921, Upfield returned to Australia and immersed himself in diverse outback occupations for approximately twelve years, primarily from 1921 to 1936. These included boundary rider, cattle drover, rabbit trapper, station manager, stockmen's cook, camel-driving fence patroller, sheep herder, opal gouger, grape picker, and general station hand across New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. Such roles demanded practical mastery of arid landscapes, animal husbandry, and rudimentary tracking, fostering self-reliance amid isolation. Upfield's prolonged bush tenure profoundly shaped his later detective fiction by imparting firsthand insight into Aboriginal lore, environmental hazards, and tracking techniques integral to his protagonist, Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte. The character's hybrid expertise—blending Western deduction with Indigenous methods—drew directly from Upfield's observations of Aboriginal survival skills and encounters with mixed-descent trackers like Leon Wood, whom he met in Queensland. Real events, such as the 1931-1932 Murchison murders trial in Western Australia, further influenced plots like that of The Sands of Windee (1931), where outback isolation and forensic improvisation mirrored his lived realities. This experiential foundation lent authenticity to his portrayals of the Australian interior's unforgiving dynamics, distinguishing his work from urban-centric mysteries.

Literary Career

Entry into Writing

Upfield's formal entry into writing occurred after his return to Australia from military service in 1921, when he was encouraged by the wife of a station owner on a property along the in to compose stories based on his outback experiences. Drawing from his itinerant work, he initially produced articles, short stories, and nature pieces for newspapers and magazines, leveraging his firsthand knowledge of remote Australian landscapes and Aboriginal customs. By the late 1920s, Upfield intensified his efforts while working as a cook at the isolated Wheeler's Well in , dedicating spare time to crafting full-length novels in the genre. His debut publication, The House of , a thriller about a murderer hosting fellow criminals, was released by Hutchinson in in 1928. In 1929, Upfield followed with The Barrakee Mystery, published by Hutchinson, which introduced his enduring detective protagonist, Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte—a half-Aboriginal tracker inspired by real-life figure . This novel, serialized earlier in the Melbourne Herald, established Upfield's focus on outback mysteries blending empirical tracking methods with narrative realism, though initial royalties proved insufficient for sustenance. By 1931, he left bush employment to take a feature-writing position at the Melbourne Herald, allowing greater dedication to amid ongoing financial .

Development of the Napoleon Bonaparte Series

Upfield created the character of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, a half-Aboriginal known as Bony, drawing inspiration from Leon Wood, a part-Aboriginal tracker employed by the Police whom he observed during his outback travels spanning 1921 to 1933. Bony's exceptional tracking abilities and cultural duality reflected Upfield's firsthand encounters with Aboriginal survival techniques in harsh environments, including his roles as a boundary rider and rabbit-proof fence patrolman from 1927 to 1931. These experiences informed Bony's methodology, blending scientific deduction with Indigenous knowledge, as Upfield sought to portray a figure bridging racial divides amid 1920s Australian policies restricting Aboriginal rights. Bony first appeared in The Barrakee Mystery, published in February 1929 by Hutchinson in London, where the detective investigates an Aboriginal death on a remote station. Upfield revised the manuscript following agent feedback on pacing and structure, marking an early challenge in refining the series' blend of outback realism and procedural elements. The second novel, The Sands of Windee (1931, in Australia and Hutchinson in the UK), expanded Bony's role in solving a disappearance amid opal fields, incorporating a murder method—dissolving a body in acid—that Snowy Rowles later replicated in the 1932 , drawing public attention to Upfield's work. The series evolved over 29 novels through 1966, with Upfield integrating real locations like Broome and the Wolf Creek crater and anthropological details from sources such as Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen's Across Australia (1912) for authenticity in tracking scenes. Publication shifted to U.S. success via Doubleday from , retitling early works like Mr. Jelly's Business (1937) as Murder Down Under, while Australian recognition lagged due to publisher preferences for British markets and critiques of Bony's mixed heritage as morally ambiguous. Upfield occasionally downplayed Bony's Aboriginal traits in titles like An Author Bites the Dust () to appeal to international audiences but restored them in later entries, incorporating on Indigenous marginalization amid evolving attitudes. Challenges included rejections, such as Cake in the Hatbox reworked as Sinister Stones (1954), and disputes with publishers like , yet the series maintained consistent remote n settings and Bony's unflappable persona. The final novel, The Lake Frome Monster (1966), was completed posthumously by collaborators J.L. Price and Dorothy Strange.

Later Productivity and Challenges

In the years following , Upfield resumed full-time writing after a hiatus, producing a steady stream of Napoleon Bonaparte detective novels amid growing international demand, particularly in where his works gained popularity through outlets like the Crime Club. Key publications from this period included An Author Bites the Dust in 1948, The New Shoe in 1951, Death of a Lake in 1954, Bony and the White Savage in 1961, and the posthumously completed The Lake Frome Monster in 1966. By the time of his death, he had authored 29 novels featuring the detective, alongside other fiction, sustaining a career that spanned from 1928 to 1964 with Australian outback settings drawn from his earlier experiences. Upfield's later productivity was hampered by persistent health challenges, stemming from a severe nervous and orthopaedic illness coupled with an apparent heart attack in 1936, from which he never fully recovered his physical strength. A major heart attack in 1951 exacerbated his condition, leading to ongoing illnesses that curtailed his ability to conduct fieldwork in the —travels he had previously undertaken annually to inform his authentic depictions of remote Australian landscapes. By 1962, a marked decline in health confined him largely to his home at 3 Jasmine Street in , , though he rallied sufficiently to begin another Bony novel, conduct interviews, and occasionally visit . These physical limitations did not entirely derail his output, as Upfield adapted by relying on accumulated knowledge and memory, but they contributed to a shift toward more sedentary writing in his . Personal circumstances added further strain; after separating from his wife in 1946 without , he lived with Jessica Hawke, who supported his work and later co-authored biographical material from his unpublished memoirs, such as Follow My Dust in 1957. Upfield died on 12 1964 at , aged 73, from complications related to his long-term health issues.

Literary Works

Detective Novels Featuring Napoleon Bonaparte

Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, known familiarly as Bony, is a fictional police officer of mixed European and Aboriginal descent, orphaned young and raised within white Australian society while retaining profound expertise in traditional Aboriginal tracking methods. University-educated and methodical, Bonaparte combines empirical observation of subtle environmental clues—such as bent grass or displaced pebbles—with and psychological insight to resolve crimes in Australia's vast, sparsely populated regions, often outback cattle stations, mining towns, or expanses where conventional policing proves inadequate. Upfield drew inspiration for the character from real Aboriginal trackers encountered during his bush travels, including one named Tracker Leon, who gifted him a book on Napoleon Bonaparte that influenced the detective's nomenclature. The Bonaparte series, comprising 29 novels published from 1929 to 1963, constitutes Upfield's most enduring contribution to , emphasizing realism derived from his firsthand experiences rather than contrived puzzles. These works typically unfold in isolated Australian locales, highlighting causal chains of events rooted in , human error, and rudimentary motives like or , with Bonaparte's biracial perspective enabling detections overlooked by urban-trained colleagues. One notable entry, Murder Down Under (1945), incorporates empirical details from the real-life 1929 Snowy Rowles poisoning case in , where strychnine-laced saddlery concealed murders, mirroring Upfield's own observations as a . The novels in publication order are as follows:
TitleOriginal Publication Year
The Barrakee Mystery (also The Lure of the Bush)1929
The Sands of Windee1931
Wings Above the Diamantina1936
The Bone is Pointed1938
The Mystery of Swordfish Reef1943
Murder Down Under1945
The Devil's Steps1946
An Author Bites the Dust1948
Death of a 1945 (Australian edition; U.S. 1950)
The Bachelors of 1950
The New Shoe1951
Venom House1952
Sinister Stones1954
The Battling Prophet1956
Deadly Is the Diamond1957
The Lakes of the Devil's March1958
False Queen1959
The Fall of Colonel Falthorpe1960
The Body at Madman's Bend1963 (posthumous U.S. edition; Australian 1967 as Madman's Bend)
Cake in the Hat Box1960
The Murder1968 (posthumous)
Bony and the Black Virgin1959
Bony and the Kelly Gang1960
Bony and the 1961
Journey to the Hangman1961
The Dividing Stream1961
A Royal Bloodstain1962
The Will of the Tribe1962
The Lake Frome Monster1966 (posthumous)
Note that some titles received variant names across Australian, British, and American editions, and wartime paper shortages delayed several publications despite earlier completion. The series concludes with posthumous releases after Upfield's death on February 13, 1964.

Other Fiction

Upfield published several novels outside his Napoleon Bonaparte detective series, primarily during the late and early 1930s, before focusing predominantly on featuring the half-Aboriginal inspector. These works encompass thrillers, abduction tales, and dramas set against Australian backdrops, often exploring themes of , personal ruin, and environmental hardship, though they garnered less commercial and critical attention than his later series. His debut novel, The House of Cain (1928), depicts an American millionaire operating a for murderers within his estate, drawing on motifs of concealed criminality and moral decay; the plot follows Austilene Thorpe, accused of and escaping custody, amid her fiancé's ensuing blindness from shock. The Beach of Atonement (1930) narrates the downfall of Arnold Dudley, who kills his wife's lover in a fit of passion, leading to a lifetime haunted by guilt and isolation on a remote coastal expanse. In A Royal Abduction (1932), two American operatives kidnap the Crown Princess of the fictional European nation Rolandia during her 1928 to , spiriting her away via the transcontinental train and concealing her in Nullarbor caves. Gripped by Drought (1932) portrays pastoralist Frank Armine's struggle against prolonged arid conditions devastating his vast Western Australian , compounded by marital dissolution and escalating debts over two years. The Great Mystery (1932), a standalone thriller composed around 1933, centers on the of a favored contender, prompting jockey Tom Pink—raised in criminal circles—to unravel motives tied to , , or insider profiteering, echoing real events like Phar Lap's demise. These early efforts, while demonstrating Upfield's command of Australian locales and human peril, lacked the enduring appeal of his Bonaparte narratives and received limited distribution beyond initial Hutchinson editions. Later reprints, such as those in the by Australian publishers, have revived interest in their historical depictions of resilience and intrigue.

Short Stories and Non-Fiction

Upfield contributed thirteen short stories to Walkabout magazine between 1934 and 1949, depicting aspects of Australian outback life, including interactions with Indigenous people, , and remote settlements. These narratives drew from his extensive experiences and were compiled posthumously into the volume Walkabout in 2021 by Eden Hill Publishers, marking their first book-form appearance. In , Upfield's (1932) provided a firsthand account of three poisonings in Western Australia's Murchison goldfields during the late , cases involving itinerant Snowy Rowles and strychnine-laced murders that Upfield helped investigate while traveling the region. The work detailed forensic evidence, such as traces in exhumed bodies, and Rowles's eventual conviction based on metallurgical analysis of gold-recycling tools, influencing Upfield's later fictional methods in novels like The Sands of Windee. Upfield also penned Beyond the Mirage: An Autobiography (unpublished during his lifetime but referenced in biographical accounts), reflecting on his in 1911, service, and formative travels that shaped his writing. Additional non-fiction efforts included early articles on Gallipoli experiences and rural Australian hardships, though these remained scattered in periodicals rather than collected volumes. The Murchison cases highlighted Upfield's empirical approach to crime, emphasizing over speculation, as seen in his documentation of Rowles's procurement and disposal methods. This real-world engagement contrasted with his fiction but underscored his commitment to causal mechanisms in detection.

Themes and Style

Depictions of the Australian Outback

Upfield's extensive personal experience in the Australian outback, spanning over two decades from 1911 as a boundary rider, cattle drover, rabbit trapper, and station manager, informed the vivid and realistic portrayals in his novels. His firsthand of the bush's unforgiving , including vast arid expanses and isolated stations, allowed for depictions that integrated environmental details into investigative narratives, such as tracking across hundreds of miles in works like Death of a (1945). The in Upfield's fiction is characterized by its climatic extremes—droughts, flash floods, sandstorms, and bushfires—which not only challenge characters but also drive plot progression, reflecting the causal interplay between human actions and natural forces. These elements underscore the region's isolation and self-reliance, with stations operating as micro-societies amid sparse water sources and unpredictable weather, as seen in novels set in and interiors. and , from hardy acacias to venomous reptiles, are described with precision, enhancing the sense of an ecologically harsh yet resilient landscape that demands adaptive . Critics have noted the comprehensiveness of these portrayals, which fairly represent culture and daily rhythms, including stock work and itineraries, without romanticization, grounding the detective genre in empirical realities rather than exotic stereotypes. Upfield's emphasize the outback's spatial vastness as a narrative device, where crimes unfold over immense distances, requiring intimate knowledge of tracks, waterholes, and patterns for resolution, thereby elevating environmental realism to a structural element. This approach, drawn from his own labors, distinguishes his work by embedding causal environmental factors—such as dust storms obscuring evidence—directly into the logic of detection.

Portrayal of Indigenous Tracking Skills and Culture

Upfield's novels feature Indigenous tracking skills as a core element of crime-solving, exemplified by Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, a half-Aboriginal investigator who integrates traditional methods with to navigate Australia's vast, unforgiving landscapes. Bonaparte discerns individual identities from patterns, estimates passage times by assessing track weathering and vegetation disturbance, and predicts trajectories from behaviors and effects on traces—techniques rooted in empirical observation of environmental minutiae rather than technological aids. These abilities enable resolutions in isolated settings where standard forensics falter, as seen in cases spanning deserts and stations. The character's proficiency mirrors real Indigenous practices, with Bonaparte modeled on Leon Wood, a part-Indigenous tracker for the Queensland Police known for his acumen in pursuing fugitives across remote terrains. Upfield, having spent twelve years as a stockman and traveler in the outback from 1911 onward, incorporated firsthand encounters with such skills during expeditions covering thousands of miles, including a 1948 journey through the Kimberleys that informed depictions of trackers like Jackie Musgrave in Cake in the Hat Box (1958), who reads signs with unerring precision tied to intimate land knowledge. Historical records confirm the efficacy of these methods, as Indigenous trackers were routinely engaged by police for their superior capacity to follow trails obliterated by weather or time, outperforming non-Indigenous counterparts in empirical trials. Cultural portrayals extend beyond tracking to encompass relational bonds with the environment, tribal loyalties, and oral traditions, often conveyed through Bonaparte's heritage as a mediator between worlds—valuing Indigenous resilience against modernization's disruptions. Upfield highlights functional aspects like communal resource and spiritual attunement to "," drawing from observed survival adaptations in arid zones, though rendered through a mid-century lens that emphasizes utility over complexity. Such representations stem from Upfield's direct immersion rather than abstracted , underscoring causal between ancestral and practical dominance in conditions, as validated by his assistance to authorities in actual investigations.

Narrative Techniques and Realism

Upfield's narrative style is characterized by a leisurely and measured pace, emphasizing procedural detail over rapid action, akin to the traditions of British "Humdrum" exemplified by Freeman Wills Crofts. This approach allows for extensive descriptions of the Australian outback's harsh environmental conditions, such as drought, bushfires, and sudden floods, which serve as integral elements to the plot rather than mere backdrop. His prose, often described as dry and precise, prioritizes logical progression and character introspection, particularly through the perspective of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony), whose investigations unfold methodically without reliance on improbable coincidences or sensational twists. In terms of plotting techniques, Upfield employed meticulous construction rooted in fair-play principles, presenting clues to the reader alongside Bony's deductions to enable parallel solving of the mystery. Bony's methods integrate empirical observation, , and environmental analysis, reflecting Upfield's commitment to procedural realism over gadgetry or psychological gimmicks. For instance, in novels like The Sands of Windee (1931), the "perfect murder" —where a killer attempts to erase all traces using natural elements—demonstrates Upfield's focus on causal chains grounded in verifiable survival tactics, a technique later eerily mirrored in a real 1933 murder by Snowy Rowles, who dissolved a victim's body in acid as described in the book. Upfield's realism stems from his extensive firsthand experience in the Australian bush, including work as a tracker and stockman, which informed authentic portrayals of logistics, such as and vast distances complicating investigations. This empirical foundation extends to Bony's hybrid detection skills, blending Western scientific reasoning with Indigenous tracking knowledge derived from Upfield's observations of Aboriginal practices, presented without romanticization but as practical tools for navigating arid terrains. Such depictions prioritize causal accuracy—e.g., how wind, soil, and animal behavior influence evidence preservation—over dramatic invention, contributing to the novels' reputation for evoking the epic yet unforgiving reality of remote .

Reception and Controversies

Upfield's debut novel featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, The Barrakee Mystery (published in 1929 in the as Murder Down Under in 1943), garnered initial attention for its novel setting in the Australian outback and the protagonist's mixed Aboriginal-European heritage, appealing to British and American readers seeking exotic locales in . The series quickly built a dedicated readership, with steady sales growth reported through the , enabling Upfield to sustain his career amid economic challenges; by the late , he noted in correspondence the expanding market for his works internationally. Popular appeal stemmed from vivid depictions of remote Australian landscapes and tracking techniques, which differentiated his mysteries from urban-focused contemporaries like those of , attracting enthusiasts of adventure-infused crime stories. Critics early on praised Upfield's descriptive prowess and integration of environmental realism, likening his narratives to the naturalism of and , though such comparisons highlighted his focus on setting over intricate plotting. However, contemporaneous reviews often faulted the pacing, with complaints that plots progressed slowly due to extended bush lore and , diluting in favor of atmospheric detail; for instance, Bonaparte's verbose monologues were seen as impediments to narrative momentum. In , while popular sales thrived, literary establishment figures withheld full endorsement, viewing his genre work as peripheral to national , despite his role in pioneering Australian-themed . Overall, the Bonaparte series achieved commercial success abroad before widespread domestic recognition, with early editions selling modestly but cumulatively building Upfield's reputation as a specialist in regional mysteries by the mid-1930s, evidenced by repeat publications and growing export figures to English-speaking markets. This bifurcated reception—strong with general audiences for authenticity and weaker with formal critics for structural looseness—foreshadowed ongoing debates over his blend of empirical observation and fictional invention.

Modern Critiques of Racial Portrayals

Modern literary scholars have identified several problematic elements in Upfield's portrayals of Aboriginal characters, particularly the reliance on essentialized racial traits that blend admiration with . Critics argue that depictions of Indigenous tracking skills often veer into stereotyping Aboriginal people as possessing innate, almost supernatural abilities tied to a primitive connection with the land, rather than portraying these as learned, empirical competencies honed through environmental necessity. This framing, while drawing from Upfield's own observations during his work, reinforces binaries of civilized European rationality versus instinctual Indigenous intuition, potentially exoticizing Aboriginal culture for white audiences. Analyses of the Napoleon Bonaparte series highlight Bony's hybrid identity—half-European, half-Aboriginal—as a narrative device that resolves racial tensions through individual exceptionalism, but at the cost of marginalizing broader Indigenous agency and perpetuating divisions. For instance, Bony's internal conflicts over his dual heritage are interpreted by some as Upfield's projection of ambivalence toward miscegenation and assimilation policies, rather than a nuanced exploration of Indigenous experience. Postcolonial readings contend that such portrayals, while innovative for featuring an Aboriginal in the –, still confine Indigenous characters to roles as trackers or informants subservient to white authority, echoing colonial tropes where Aboriginal figures serve narrative utility over authentic subjectivity. Broader critiques from environmental and cultural studies label Upfield's racial assumptions as outdated and discredited, including notions of Aboriginal inferiority in modern societal adaptation juxtaposed against superiority in pre-contact survival skills. These elements are seen as insufficiently challenged within the texts, with Upfield offering limited subversion of prevailing stereotypes despite his stated respect for Indigenous capabilities derived from real investigations like the Murchison murders. Academic discussions, often framed through postcolonial or identity lenses prevalent in contemporary literary studies, emphasize how these portrayals contribute to a historical pattern of problematic Indigenous representations in Australian detective fiction, prioritizing symbolic hybridity over systemic critique of racial hierarchies. Such analyses, while grounded in textual evidence, reflect interpretive priorities that may undervalue the empirical basis of Upfield's fieldwork-informed realism in favor of ideological deconstruction.

Defenses of Historical Context and Empirical Basis

Upfield's depictions of and their tracking abilities in his novels drew from extensive personal experiences in the , where he worked for approximately twelve years in roles including stockman, cook, and fence-patroller after arriving in in 1911. These immersions allowed him to observe Aboriginal firsthand, including the exceptional tracking prowess that he later attributed to his protagonist Napoleon Bonaparte, modeled on the real part-Aboriginal police tracker , whom Upfield knew personally as a skilled associate. Upfield revered Aboriginal lore and incorporated detailed, accurate representations of it into his narratives, reflecting empirical knowledge gained from roaming remote areas of , , and before and after . In the historical context of early to mid-20th-century , marked by ongoing frontier violence, massacres such as those at Forrest River in the late , and systemic against Indigenous people, Upfield's portrayals stood out for their emphasis on Aboriginal intellectual and physical superiority in adapting to the harsh environment, a view he expressed explicitly in writings critiquing white societal prejudices. He argued that Aboriginal individuals possessed capabilities often undervalued by Europeans, positioning characters like Bony—who combined Indigenous tracking expertise with —as embodiments of hybrid excellence rather than stereotypes of inferiority. This approach aligned with Upfield's claim that around 80 percent of his stories derived from actual events and observations during his decade as a , ensuring that linguistic and attitudinal elements mirrored the era's realities without anachronistic imposition of later sensitivities. Further empirical grounding is evident in Upfield's familiarity with real criminal cases, such as the 1932 committed by stockman Snowy Rowles, who employed a body-disposal method Upfield had outlined in an unpublished manuscript, demonstrating the author's prescient understanding of forensic challenges and perpetrator tactics based on his acquaintanceships. Upfield's involvement in such contexts, including interactions with figures like Rowles during his Western Australian sojourns, lent authenticity to his crime plots and reinforced the practical veracity of his Indigenous skill depictions, countering critiques by highlighting causal links between lived observation and narrative construction rather than fabrication.

Adaptations and Legacy

Radio and Television Adaptations

Several of Upfield's Napoleon Bonaparte novels were adapted into radio serials by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) during the mid-20th century, reflecting the character's early popularity in broadcast media. Notable examples include the 1941 dramatization of Wings Above the Diamantina, which featured Bony investigating a missing in remote and emphasized his tracking expertise. Another adaptation was Man of Two Tribes in 1953, focusing on Bony's pursuit of a criminal evading across tribal territories. These serials typically aired in serialized format over weeks, prioritizing atmospheric soundscapes and dialogue-driven mysteries to capture Upfield's blend of detection and cultural detail. The most prominent screen adaptation was the Australian television series Boney, produced by Fauna Productions and broadcast on the ABC from 1972 to 1973. Comprising 26 episodes across two seasons of 13 each, it starred New Zealand actor as Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, portraying him as a half-Aboriginal tracker solving crimes in the Australian interior. Most episodes drew directly from Upfield's novels, such as Boney and the Claypan Mystery, though five were original stories; the series incorporated authentic locations and Aboriginal actors to evoke the books' realism, airing to positive reception for its depiction of remote policing challenges. A later series, Bony (1992), featured as a modern descendant of Upfield's character—specifically a great-great-grandson serving in the police—but deviated significantly from the original novels by updating the setting and narrative to contemporary issues, rendering it a loose rather than a faithful adaptation.

Influence on Australian Crime Fiction

Arthur Upfield exerted a foundational influence on Australian crime fiction through his creation of Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte, a half-Aboriginal detective who debuted in The Barrakee Mystery (1929), marking the emergence of the first prominent Australian in the . Drawing from his extensive experiences as a boundary-rider and station hand, Upfield integrated the Australian as an active narrative force, where vast landscapes shaped detection methods reliant on environmental knowledge and Indigenous tracking techniques. This innovation shifted the away from imported urban models prevalent in British and American detective stories, establishing a localized tradition that emphasized rural isolation, cultural tensions, and the epic scale of the Australian interior. Across 29 Bony novels published between 1929 and 1963, Upfield portrayed Bony as a among urban authorities, white settlers, and Aboriginal traditions, embedding crime-solving within broader explorations of , race, and human struggle against the land. His realistic depiction of life, informed by direct observation rather than romanticization, elevated as a medium for dissecting Australian societal fractures, including class divides and colonial legacies, thereby legitimizing the genre's capacity to reflect distinct national concerns. Upfield's success—evidenced by strong sales, such as 22,000 copies of The Mystery of Swordfish Reef in 1943—demonstrated the viability of Australian-themed mysteries, encouraging subsequent writers to exploit regional settings for suspense and cultural commentary. Upfield's legacy extended beyond Australia, influencing international authors like Tony Hillerman, who cited him as inspiration for Navajo-centered Southwestern mysteries featuring culturally attuned detectives. In Australia, his pioneering outback detective archetype and emphasis on empirical bushcraft laid groundwork for later evolutions in the genre, fostering a tradition where landscape and Indigenous elements inform plot and character, as seen in the genre's adaptation to explore evolving national themes post-1950. As the first non-American full member of the Mystery Writers of America, Upfield's international stature further validated Australian contributions, prompting recognition of crime fiction as a serious export of local realism.

Posthumous Publications and Enduring Appeal

Following Upfield's death on 13 February 1964, only one novel featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte was published posthumously: The Lake Frome Monster in 1966 by William Heinemann. This work, the thirty-second in the Bony series, was completed from an unfinished manuscript and detailed notes by Upfield's associates J. L. Price and Dorothy Strange, who revised it to maintain narrative coherence while preserving Upfield's style and setting near the South Australian desert lake. The plot centers on Bony investigating a disappearance amid mysterious deaths, blending empirical deduction with environmental realism drawn from Upfield's experience. Upfield's novels retain appeal through their authentic portrayal of Australia's remote interior, where vast landscapes and isolation drive the mysteries, offering readers an immersive absent in urban-centric . Bony's hybrid methodology—merging Western forensics with Aboriginal tracking—highlights causal mechanisms of detection rooted in observable evidence, such as spoor analysis and environmental cues, which Upfield validated through personal fieldwork and consultations with Indigenous trackers. This endures as a to formulaic tropes, influencing later Australian authors by prioritizing empirical realism over contrived plots. Modern editions, including reprints by ETT Imprint in 2020 and digital formats via Kindle and audio, sustain accessibility, with collectors and enthusiasts citing the series' evocation of mid-20th-century life and societal shifts in remote communities as reasons for renewed interest. While some dated racial depictions prompt disclaimers in adaptations, defenders attribute enduring value to Upfield's firsthand data on causation and his pioneering role in elevating Indigenous expertise within narratives, earning him full membership in the as the first non-American.

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  37. https://crossexaminingcrime.com/2025/03/03/the-spirit-of-australia-the-crime-fiction-of-arthur-w-upfield-1988-by-ray-b-browne/
  38. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/arthur-w-upfield
  39. https://jiescribano.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/arthur-upfield-1890-1964/
  40. https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/turning-pages-why-its-time-to-give-arthur-upfield-another-crack-of-the-whip-20150712-gi9vww.html
  41. https://theaustralianlegend.wordpress.com/2018/12/30/cake-in-the-hat-box/
  42. http://gadetection.pbworks.com/Upfield%2C%2BArthur
  43. https://greencardamom.github.io/BooksAndWriters/aupfiel.htm
  44. https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:193209/UQ193209_OA.pdf
  45. https://www.postcolonialweb.org/australia/upfield/2.html
  46. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/queensland-review/article/place-ecology-and-environmental-writing-in-the-queensland-novels-of-arthur-upfield/0D8D4ABBB781A91BABCDB4338330CD7B
  47. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/JASAL/article/view/10118/10014
  48. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1177180118818187
  49. https://www.postcolonialweb.org/australia/upfield/milner1.html
  50. https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/34267746
  51. https://www.amazon.in/Wings-Above-Diamantina-Radio-Serial/dp/B0B7CNDC2X
  52. https://www.famousfix.com/list/radio-plays-about-aboriginal-australians
  53. https://arthurupfield.com/main/page_tv.html
  54. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159157/
  55. https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/boney
  56. https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianTV/comments/1m2pctv/bony_19901992/
  57. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101051/
  58. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-the-australian-novel/australian-crime-novel-18301950/E4FE0E456B0EA78C542D2D0CE185BB47
  59. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lake-frome-monster-arthur-w-upfield/1002976892
  60. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1583387.The_Lake_Frome_Monster
  61. https://arthurupfield.com.au/
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