The House of Cain (1929)
"In the heart of the Australian Bush stands the House of Cain, owned by an American millionaire. Himself a threefold murderer, he has opened this strange institution as a haven for murderers whom, with his vast resources, he rescues from the hands of the law!
It is with this man that Austiline Thorpe, the beautiful fiancee of Martin Sherwood, becomes inolved. How this happens, and the final dissolution of the murder settlement, is recounted in a vivid and breathless story. In the culminating scene, Monty, famous explorer and brother to Martin, appears as a great character. A man of action and utterly fearless, he sweeps all before him, thus permitting a happy conclusion to an intensely dramatic mystery novel of love and crime in a vivid Australian setting." - from the cover note, 1st US edition.
Gripped by Drought (1932)
From the dust jacket:
"... Early in his career, Upfield wrote two thrillers ... a romance ... and a mainstream novel about a three-year drought in the Australian Outback, Gripped by Drought.
At the time Gripped by Drought was written (1931) Upfield was still employed as a boundary rider on State rabbit Fence #1 ... Gripped by Drought then was based on his personal experience of withering drought in the vast reaches of the Australian bush.
Author's Preface
THERE is no greater Australian drama than a three years' drought, and such a drought, associated with drought in the human heart, is the theme of this plain tale for plain people. The course of this fictitious drought is based on the course of a real drought. I have followed the weather records over an actual three-year drought period, and no city critic can say that such a drought is impossible. Similarly, I have followed actual wool prices over the same period. And finally, the succession of mental phases which the "new-chum" in the bush must live through, or else desert to a city, is real and based on personal experience. I should like to add that my original title for this work was the one all-sufficient word Drought. It was found, however, that already a novel under this title was in circulation, so that regretfully the present more sensational title was substituted.
KALAMUNDA, W. A. 1932
Breakaway House (1987)
Wisp of Wool and Disk of Silver (Short Story)
Submitted 1948, published 1996.
A version of the Snowy Rowles murder methodolgy, reformulated as short story.
The Great Melbourne Cup Mystery
Serialized in a Melbourne newspaper in 1933, published as a novel in 1996