The Birds Began to Sing

By: Jeffrey Buchanan

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Paperback | 26 August 2025

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Paperback

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23.3 x 15.5 x 2.6

Paperback

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Reggie was still missing after five days, and Gladys Harris was saying things about him that quivered in my mind, which now, four years later, I see as being that opening sentence leading me to this burden of what happened to Reggie Kingsley.

In the harbour city of New Plymouth in the 1960s, a fizz of seedy sexuality lurks beneath a veneer of respectability. Godfrey’s world revolves around the Balmoral Hotel, owned by his parents, where visiting sailors drink and local fringe-dwellers congregate.

When Reggie, the openly gay barman, goes missing, Godfrey senses something sinister. There’s a prevailing attitude of inevitability that Godfrey doesn’t understand, but he’s hungry to. Guided by his daytime-television and pulp-fiction detective heroes and a very active imagination, he attempts to solve the mystery—in the process stumbling into his own sexual adventures and discovering a new-found power in a perplexing adult world.

The Birds Began to Sing delves into a world of shadows, nods and unspoken understandings with a warmth and humour that make this novel a delight.

About the Author

Jeffrey Buchanan has written five novels concerned primarily with LGBTQI+ issues, Sucking Feijoas being his first. He worked in international development for thirty years and lives with his husband on a remote stretch of beach in North Canterbury in New Zealand’s South Island.

Industry Reviews

Winner of Michael Gifkins Prize 2024 (New Zealand)

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