Death of a Swagman is the 9th of Arthur Upfield’s Inspector Bonaparte Mysteries. A swagman is found dead in a pool of blood in a hut near the Riverina town of Merino. Bony only sees a photo of the hut but is convinced the man did not die there, and is intrigued enough to take the case. He arrives in town incognito, gets himself arrested and, as well as painting the Police Station fence a sickly yellow, he investigates as only Bony can. During the course of the investigation, he befriends the Police Sergeant’s young daughter, and, at one point, momentarily doubts his usually infallible approach to crime detection. Bony pontificates several times about the difference between city crime solving and bush police work. As often happens in small towns, people may have more than one profession: to wit the wheelright who is also the funeral director, coroner and magistrate. And a secret noughts-and-crosses code for swagmen: who’d have thought? A few twists before Bony solves the case. It may be from 1945, but it’s still a great read.
