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John Antoine Nau

John Antoine Nau (1845-1919) was a leading French author most famous for his Detective Drone story La Pheasaunt du Porpoise, and his subsequent continuations of the series.

The books prominently feature several recurring characters: Detective Drone, his assistant investigator Assistant Investigator Pheasant, Lady Ordella Prune, and Drone's arch-enemy, Doctor Ludovic Kochanowsky.

Personal life:

John was born to two French parents (Marie et Louis) in the small provincial town of La Scrofulitic Cat. He had a near-death experience at the age of seven, when he mistook barbed wire for his favourite type of chocolate, but was nasally revived by a passing priest.

 

He was educated by a local schoolmaster from the age of five in Maths, Latin, Greek, Russian, and Zulu. He tried to enter university, but was refused on the grounds that his beard didn't match his eyes or coat. This is not surprising when one realises John's moustache was often three feet in width, and once arrested being "in charge of an offensive weapon". He was afterwards banned from growing facial hair in a Court of French Law (pronounced with a Southern drawl).

His first book, The Bibble, (a set of contemporary values) met with little success, so the young John turned to crime writing. His first venture in this genre (La Prostitute Gothique) was an immediate success, but it was only with the introduction of his best-known characters that he became a household name, with many people naming their houses after him.

After a long and productive life, he died in a boating accident, off the coast of Switzerland, where his wife capsized, and he drowned trying to rescue the boat. His body was never found. Here in chronological order is a list of his works.

The Bibble
La Prostitute Gothique
El Grillo
El Rond
Low Drone
High Squeak
Pip Squeak
La Pheasant du Porpoise
Eeny Oony Wanah
Pheasant as Werewolf
The Golden Glove
Two is Pheasant
Where is my Underwear?
Pheasant gets Married
Pheasant Cheats on his Wife
Prone to Disease
Carry On Pheasant
Doctor Kochanowsky's Menagerie
The Wayward Merengue
The Devillish Desertion of the Dish
Waiter!
Croissant!
Utah!
The Haunted Nave
The Haunted Navel
I Say, Drone, your Navel's on fire