Cambridge linguist Edvard Tøssentern reappears after a balloon crash in which he is presumed to have died. When he staggers in from a remote swamp, gravely ill and swollen beyond recognition, his colleagues at the research station are overjoyed. But Edvard’s discovery about a rare giant bird throws them all into the path of an international crime ring.

The Weaver Fish is a puzzle and a pastiche, but above all a richly imagined and gripping adventure story in which we encounter flesh-eating fish, mosquitoes imitating condors, dramatic explosions and remote Pacific islands. The debut novel of Australian former consultant anaesthetist Robert Edeson (member of Trinity Hall), the author’s love of learning, inventive style, and sense of fun, come through in every line.