Part of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, book 20
First published 1983
Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte confronts a murder that threatens to tear apart a remote Australian community. The half-Aboriginal detective arrives to investigate the death of a local prophet whose inflammatory predictions had divided the townspeople. Bonaparte discovers the victim had been warning residents about an impending disaster that would destroy their way of life. As he interviews the hostile locals, Bonaparte realizes the killer might be someone who feared the prophet's visions would come true. The detective must navigate racial tensions and religious fervor while piecing together the truth behind the murder. Bonaparte's unique background allows him to understand both the Aboriginal spiritual elements and the white settlers' fears. The case forces him to question whether some truths are too dangerous to reveal. Bonaparte races against time as the community edges closer to the very conflict the dead prophet had predicted.
Genres: australia, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, race-against-time
Setting: Australia
Period: 20th-century
225 pages · Hardcover · Amereon Ltd