It is the ninth of the author's novels to feature his recurring character Detective Inspector Napoleon 'Bony' Bonaparte.

[2] Bony decides to investigate the death of a swagman in a small hut, near the fictitious town of Merino in NSW, after he notices something peculiar in the photograph taken of the scene.

The action of the novel takes place at Walls of China now in Mungo National Park, north-east of Buronga, far south-western NSW.

Writing in The Courier-Mail Warwick Lawrence commented: "Apart from its criminal plot, there is a feel of the loneliness of the outback in this book.

"[4] A. R. McElwain in the Melbourne Herald was not so taken with the work: " Mr Upfield presents a pretty straight-forward plot involving the killing, in the first place, of a tramp.