Part of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, book 11
First published 1987
Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte cancels his vacation when famous author and critic Mervyn Blake turns up dead in his writing room during a house party. The assembled writers and critics, accustomed to savage reviews and professional rivalries, find themselves suspects in an actual murder. The cause of Blake's death baffles the local police. Bonaparte must navigate the petty feuds and literary egos that define this world, so different from the Australian outback where he usually works. The evidence seems random: a cat, a Ping-Pong ball, and an alcoholic gardener. Bonaparte studies the guests and their complicated relationships, applying his keen understanding of human behavior to uncover the truth. As he pieces together the puzzle, he discovers that someone among the literary elite has committed the perfect crime.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Australia
Period: 20th-century
224 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Collier Books