'Cake in a Hat Box' is the 19th in Arthur Upfield's Bony series, featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland State Police.
A policeman is found murdered on a road in the rugged MacDonnell Ranges and his black tracker is missing, also believed dead. Bony has an ally in a tribe of Aboriginals bent on revenge.

This Bony book is filled with a collection of outback characters, some stoic, some downright bizarre. Despite Bony's occasional laconic attitude, Upfield gives us fast-paced novel with an original plot, a few twists, especially the motive and the murderer. Upfield's extensive knowledge of the outback and the aboriginal culture shines through in all his Bony novel.

(from http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Hat-Napoleon-Bonaparte-Mysteries/dp/0891905677). A policeman is found murdered on a road in the rugged MacDonnell Ranges and his black tracker is missing, also believed dead. Boney has an ally in a tribe of Aboriginals bent on revenge.