Part of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, book 25
First published 1988
Napoleon Bonaparte adopts the identity of a horse thief and hitchhikes into Cork Valley, a remote mountain settlement in New South Wales. The valley shelters a community of hard-drinking Irish settlers who operate illegal distilleries. A government officer investigating these operations has been killed, and Bonaparte must identify the murderer. The famous half-aboriginal detective infiltrates the tight-knit community, but his mission becomes complicated as he grows fond of the residents. These lawless characters possess a vitality and loyalty that Bonaparte finds appealing, even as he knows he must eventually expose one of them as a killer. The detective faces a moral dilemma between his professional duty and his personal attachment to the people he has come to respect.
Genres: 20th-century, adventure, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, moral-dilemma
Setting: Cork Valley, New South Wales
Period: 20th Century
192 pages · Paperback · Collier