Dead As A Dodo

While lecturing in England, Homer confronts the criminal dons of Oxford William Dubchick is too keen a student of the writings of Charles Darwin to not see that the world of biology has evolved past him. Decades ago, he was the foremost mind in Oxford University’s department of natural sciences, but as the field’s focus narrowed to the microscopic level he became nothing more than a gray-haired, cantankerous relic. He has a small fiefdom, manned by Helen Farfrae, a committed disciple who, Dubchick is annoyed to learn, someone is trying to kill. It is into this world that Homer Kelly, Emersonian scholar and part-time sleuth, comes to spend a semester lecturing. Though expecting a vacation, he finds Oxford to be a swamp of theft, fraud, and murder. Besides the attempts on Farfrae’s life, he must reckon with a murdered priest, the theft of a dodo’s portrait, and suspicious claims that long-lost Darwinian artifacts have been found. With an academic climate like this, it’s amazing that any of the Oxford dons live to see tenure.

MISSION DEAD AS A DODO Mission Brief: Somebody is on an extinction operation, stealing all the last specimens of highly endangered species. This mysterious crook has somehow managed to discover the impossible ? a living specimen of Raphus cucullatus, aka, the dodo. Yes, the same flightless bird that was hunted to oblivion in Mauritius more than 300 years ago! This dodo has become the single most priceless creature on the planet and it must be rescued immediately. Without delay, Animal Intelligence Agency agents are assigned to this urgent mission. NOTE: The Animal Intelligence Agency is a multi-species nongovernmental agency. Specially trained Animal and Human agents work undercover to save animals and save the world. Some of them have a licence to kill. Agent no. 002 Species: Panthera tigris tigris Name: Bagcha Currently the only agent with a licence to kill. He is the most dangerous and experienced operative, with the scars to prove it. Agent no. 015 Species: Semnopithecus entellus Name: Kela This operative was formerly a disgraced agent, stripped of his number. However, after his sterling performance in Mission Tiger by the Tail, his number and privileges have been restored. Agent no. 11.5 Species: Homo sapiens sapiens Name: Rana One of only two people in the world who use JungleSpeak to communicate across species. Extremely good with computers and all things tech. Far from dangerous or lethal. However, his intelligence is a real contribution to a mission. His allergies are a real problem. Indications are that the mission will take the agents to Mauritius, America, and as far off as the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. They must not fail, come what may. This dodo must not die.

What do dodos, Adolf Hitler and the small pox virus have in common? They’re all DEAD. But sometimes, unexpected things happen. When Kevin Smith, a money-minded auctioneer and Ned, his booze-loving, failed-writer dad are shipwrecked in the Indian Ocean, they have absolutely no idea of the series of weird incidents that are about to follow. • Dodos coming back to life. • A Greek god solving writer’s block issues. • Poop getting auctioned. …they just have no idea.

Visiting Oxford, the Harvard professor/sleuth gets a crash course in Darwin’s survival of the fittest in a high-spirited whodunit that’s “vintage Langton” (Booklist). William Dubchick is too keen a student of the writings of Charles Darwin to not see that the world of biology has evolved past him. Decades ago, he was the foremost mind in Oxford University’s department of natural sciences, but as the field’s focus narrowed to the microscopic level he became nothing more than a gray-haired, cantankerous relic. He has a small fiefdom, manned by Helen Farfrae, a committed disciple who, Dubchick is annoyed to learn, someone is trying to kill. It is into this world that Homer Kelly, Emersonian scholar and part-time sleuth, comes to spend a semester lecturing. Though expecting a vacation, he finds Oxford to be a swamp of theft, fraud, and murder. Besides the attempts on Farfrae’s life, he must reckon with a murdered priest, the theft of a dodo’s portrait, and suspicious claims that long-lost Darwinian artifacts have been found. With an academic climate like this, it’s amazing that any of the Oxford dons live to see tenure.

Upon reading in a book that he is extinct, a dodo bird attempts to set the British government straight.

No other nonhuman source has served as the basis for more metaphors than animals. Speaking of Animals is a dictionary of animal metaphors that are current in American English. It is comprehensive, historical, and metaphor-based. Each entry refers to the other dictionaries that catalog that same metaphor, and the dates of first appearance in writing are supplied, where possible, for both the metaphor and the name of the source. The main text is organized alphabetically by metaphor rather than by animal or animal behavior; all the metaphors are classified according to their animal source in a list at the end of the book. An animal metaphor is a word, phrase, or sentence that expresses a resemblance or similarity between someone or something and a particular animal or animal class. True metaphors are single words, such as the noun tiger, the verb hog, and the adjective chicken. Phrasal metaphors combine true metaphors with other words, such as blind tiger, hog the road, and chicken colonel. Other animal metaphors take the form of similes, such as like rats leaving a sinking ship and prickly as a hedgehog. Still others take the form of proverbs, such as Don't count your chickens before they hatch and Let sleeping dogs lie. The horse is the animal most frequently referred to in metaphors, followed closely by the dog. The Bible is the most prolific literary source of animal metaphors, followed closely by Shakespeare.

From the authors of the breakout best seller All my friends are dead comes a brand-new illustrated compendium of the humorous existential ruminations of people, animals, legendary monsters, and inanimate objects.