This is a marmite-kind of a book. If you love eccentric characters, a basketful of ideas, plenty of tangents in the narrative and whacky humour, you will love it. If not, you might struggle to know who is who and what it is all about!

There is a frost on the morning after Oleander's funeral. When the robin wakes up, his wings are glary and frozen, and he has to shake himself for several seconds to free them before he can even think about flying. When he gets to the stone birdbath he finds that there is no water, just a large slab of ice that he can't drink or bathe in. But there is something on his table at least: not dried mealworms; not slugs. The robin likes spelt pastry but does not like smoked salmon because it tastes of fire and danger.