The Will of the Tribe

 The Will of the Tribe (1962) by Arthur W. Upfield

An unknown man is found dead in the middle of a meteor crater in the Australian desert. None of the homesteads in the area or the the aboriginal encampments admit to the man having passed through their territory--though he must have gone through the land somewhere, somehow, whether alive or dead. He wasn't dropped from a plane because nothing is broken except the back of his head where it made contact with the proverbial blunt instrument. The local police are stumped and so, Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte is sent to find out two things: 1. How did the man get to the crater without anyone taking notice. 2. What was the motive. The upper level authorities don't want Bony to bother with discovering who the man was...they know and it's all hush-hush. But how is a detective supposed to determine a motive when he knows nothing about the victim? 

Well, if anyone can, then it's Bony, the half-white, half-aboriginal policeman with a perfect record in crime-solving. His dual heritage helps him understand both the tribal customs and the white settlers and he soon realizes that both groups are keeping back knowledge about what happened to the man and how his body arrived where it was found. He'll have to be very clever indeed to get the tribesmen to reveal what he needs to know.

The story highlights the dual loyalties of those who are either of mixed race or who, being black, have been raised or employed by the white settlers. Bony with his own mixed heritage is able to help the tribal people strike a balance that allows the mystery to be unraveled fairly. Upfield makes much of Bony's individualism that allows him to advocate for true justice (rather than a slavish adherence to the letter of the law). It sometimes gets him in trouble with his superiors, but that doesn't bother him much. He knows he's too good at his job for them do much to him. 

The mystery itself isn't really much--since we have no clues about the identity of the man, there isn't any question of motive. The silence around how he got there makes it obvious that those who Bony talks with much know more than they tell and there's not much question about who is covering up. The strength in this story is in Upfield's description of the area and the depiction of the relationship between the black men and the white homesteaders. An interesting look at Australia in the early 1960s. ★★★

First line: Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte gazed upon Lucifer's Couch and marvelled.

Last line: "I shall not fail to bring off this one."

*************

Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; two car accident)