Nicholas Drayson

Working up the nerve to invite Rose Mbikwa to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball, Mr. Malik, a reserved, honorable widower, is suddenly confronted by the return of his school nemesis, the flashy Harry Kahn, who also sets his sights on Rose.

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa

As Asas do Amor

Which is the greater mystery: the breeding habits of the platypus or the workings of the human heart? In 1883 young British naturalist William Caldwell arrives in Australia with a mission: to determine for the scientific record whether the platypus really does lay eggs. But first he must travel overland to the Burnett River in Queensland, where he intends to set up camp. On his journey he is by turns hindered and assisted by a cast of characters, including a drunken bullocky and an inscrutable, poetical bushman. Once there, William commences his investigations and encounters the local Aboriginal people, enlisting their help and ultimately learning their tragic history. He also meets a young blind woman with many closely held secrets of her own. Love and the Platypus is a delightful, captivating novel that examines the obsessive nature of scientific enquiry and its environmental consequences, and the wonders of nature and of romantic love.

Love and the Platypus

“A charming love triangle in Nairobi, Kenya, forms the center of a novel that manages to be both sweet and gripping.” —Publishers Weekly For the past three years, Mr. Malik, a widower and avid birdwatcher, has been secretly in love with Rose Mbikwa, the lovely woman who leads the Tuesday morning bird walk sponsored by the East African Ornithological Society. Beneath his unassuming exterior and carefully sculpted comb-over lies a warm and passionate heart. But just as he gets up the nerve to ask Rose to the annual Nairobi Hunt Club Ball—Nairobi’s social event of the season—a boyhood nemesis arrives and becomes equally enraptured with Rose. Rather than force her to choose between them, the two men agree to a clever solution: whoever can identify the most species of birds in one week’s time will win the privilege of asking Ms. Mbikwa to the ball. Set against a lush Kenyan landscape rich with wildlife and political intrigue, this humorous novel is a “welcome respite from our crazy world” (USA Today). “This charming novel . . . If you are a fan of Alexander McCall Smith’s, you’ll find Drayson’s knowing, sprightly writing just as entertaining.” —People “[This book is] a sheer delight for birders and nonbirders alike.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “As bright and perky as a purple-backed sunbird.” —TheNew York Times Book Review

A Novel

Abandoned on an island soon to be obliterated by volcanic activity, a condemned man observes local flora and fauna, deteriorates as a human, and recounts his idolatry of friend Charles Darwin and their shared interest in beetles. A first novel. Reprint.

Confessing a Murder

Ein bezaubernder Liebesroman, den man mit einem Lächeln zuklappt Mr. Malik ist ein warmherziger, schüchterner Mann mit einem großen Geheimnis: Er ist bis über beide Ohren verliebt in Rose, die Leiterin der örtlichen Gruppe von Vogelbeobachtern. Während er noch überlegt, wie er die Dame seines Herzens als Begleiterin zum jährlichen Nairobi Hunt Ball gewinnen kann, trifft der charmante Draufgänger Harry Khan in der Stadt ein. Auch er hat bald ein Auge auf Rose geworfen und möchte sie ebenfalls zum Ball einladen. Da schreiten die Gentlemen aus Mr. Maliks Club ein und schlagen den beiden Rivalen eine Wette vor ... «Selten war ein Buch auf so charmante Art witzig wie dieses.» Frankfurter Neue Presse

Nicholas Drayson

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