Arthur W. Upfield's
Australian Detective

Visit the Upfield Update
Discussion Board

Home The List The Forum Bony For Sale Related Books and Info Links

Follow my Dust! A Biography of Arthur Upfield. By Jessica Hawke. Introduction by Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte.

"Follow My Dust" is not the usual kind of biography, being largely a collection of anecdotes about Upfield and the early years.

Indeed, many 'experts' have argued that the tome is none other than an autobiography that was touted around the publishers in an unfinished state in the 1940s; unsuccessfully. All Jessica Hawke did, according to this theory, is render the text into the third person.

Jessica Hawke, of course, was Upfield's close companion for the last (?15) years of his life.

It's neither the kind of book that you'd reread a lot, nor one that would ever win a prize - what really hurts is the lack of any real insight into what makes Upfield tick; you get more idea of his beliefs and motivation reading the novels!

However, it is an interesting book, and one I've no regrets about buying.

There are other books (probably easier to get) that probably tell you as much - or more, however.

First Published by William Heinemann in 1957
238 pages.
Illustrated with black and white photographs.