A fossil discovered at London’s Natural History Museum leads one woman on a journey of scientific discovery and dark secrets in this compelling historical mystery, from bestselling author Tea Cooper.
The Fossil Hunter begins in the remote Hunter Valley, in 1847. The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is running through the bush as a monster chases her – but no one believes her story. In a bid to curb Mellie’s overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur palaeontologist with a dream. She is convinced she will one day find proof the great sea dragons, the ichthyosaur and the plesiosaur, swam in the vast inland sea that millions of years ago covered her property at Bow Wow Gorge.
Fast forward to London in the wake of WWI, in 1919, when Penelope Jane “PJ” Martindale arrives home from the battlefields. Looking for distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London’s Natural History Museum and her brothers which leads her to travel to Bow Wow Gorge, Australia. But the gorge has a sinister reputation — seventy years ago people disappeared. So, when PJ uncovers some unexpected remains, it seems as if the past is reaching into the present and she becomes determined to discover what really happened all that time ago.
Tea Cooper is a prolific author of compelling Australian historical fiction, who has excelled once again with her latest offering, The Fossil Hunter. Her previous bestsellers, The Cartographer’s Secret, The Girl in the Painting, and The Woman in the Green Dress, were much loved at Better Reading. Cooper has once again delved into her love of museums, historical relics – and the stories they tell – to produce a fascinating tale about the fossil hunters of the 19th century.
The Fossil Hunter effortlessly shifts between two timelines, which cleverly converge as the narrative picks up pace. Cooper’s meticulous research into the practice of palaeontology in the 19th century is abundantly clear — the descriptions of the fossils in the Natural History Museum in London, as well as those found in the Hunter region, are fascinating. And though this latter part is fictionalised – fossils of the extinct ichthyosaur are yet to be found in the Hunter Valley – it still made for some fabulous storytelling.
We follow PJ’s journey from London to Sydney and then to the Hunter Valley, which was once a remote, wild location. The bush was dense, and the gorge was at times treacherous. The discovery of human remains alongside ancient fossils at Bow Wow Gorge, adds a dose of mystery to The Fossil Hunter, making it a historical read with a fair share of twists and turns.
Fans of Natasha Lester and Kate Morton will absolutely devour The Fossil Hunter. It is the kind of story you can easily get swept up in. Readers interested in Australian history, museums, and the fascinating world of fossils will be especially delighted with Cooper’s stunning new historical novel.
Leave a Reply