Cake in the Hatbox

All of the Upfield Napoleon Bonaparte mysteries are a pleasure to read, and Cake in the Hatbox is one of the best.  Bony happens to be in northwestern Australia when a local policemen is found murdered and so he is naturally called upon to lead the investigation.  Officer Stenhouse, a hard, brutal man, appears to have been shot with his own rifle, by his aborigine tracker, who has disappeared, but Bony rapidly determines that the murder scene has been staged.  Discovering the real scene of the murder, the motive, and the culprits requires all of Bony's keen intelligence and considerable skills as a tracker.  Early on he realizes, even before locating the body, that the aborigine tracker also has been killed, putting Bony immediately into conflict with the tracker's tribe, who are relentless in attempting to identify the murderer and avenge the tracker's death.  Key to the mystery are the Breens,  a rough and fiercely independent family - three giant and immensely strong brothers and their beautiful, iron-willed sister, the baker responsible for the literal "Cake in the Box" and the figurative "Cake in the Box" - mini-mysteries that are delightfully revealed as Bony solves the murders, with an exceptional ability to strike a balance between what is legally required and what is just.