Parrot Heaven

BDTH! The Foveaux Fisherman Facebook page posts this acronym to advise Rakiura Stewart Islanders to ‘batten down the hatches’ before severe weather events. New Zealand’s southernmost librarian Maudie Sanderson reckons this warning could be applied to her life in general these days.

Haunted by a parrot and falsely accused of soliciting dk pics, Maudie navigates a minefield of rabbit holes and mental health crises as she struggles to be a fit and proper person in a pandemic-hungover world. Sidelined by buggered knees, the avid runner needs projects to maintain sanity.

Island life keeps her busy. Maudie is drawn into an axe cult, scraps with the preschool teacher, discusses The Epic of Gilgamesh in a jailhouse book club, and mis-manages a community astronomy course. When a shocking crime wreaks havoc on her family, she dons her deerstalker cap and dives into the investigation.

All the while, Maudie feels a growing kinship with the ancient desert king Gilgamesh, as the words from 5,000-year-old clay tablets guide her through life’s myriad mysteries.

This unconventional and darkly humorous whodunnit explores island life, the sandwich generation, grief after losing a pet, and a runner's post-injury journey back to the joy of running. A book for readers who appreciate libraries, pub quizzes, artichokes, poetry, splitting wood, native New Zealand birds, the eroticism of dictionary stands, and contemporary takes on ancient stories.