The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper
A fossil discovered at London’s Natural History Museum leads one woman back in time to nineteenth century Australia and a world of scientific discovery and dark secrets in this compelling historical mystery.
The Hunter Valley 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. Soon, Mellie shares that dream for she loves fossil hunting too…
1919
When Penelope Jane Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War I with the intention of making her peace with her father and commemorating the death of her two younger brothers in the trenches, her reception is not as she had hoped. Looking for distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London’s Natural History museum and her brothers which leads her to Bow Wow Gorge. But the gorge has a sinister reputation – 70 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…
Published 27 October 2021| Publisher: Harlequin Australia | RRP: AUD$32.99
Buy it at: Dymocks | Booktopia | A&R | Abbey’s | QBD
My Blurb (3.5 / 5 stars)
The Fossil Hunter is November’s BOTM from The Book Stack. I have been meaning to read this author’s works for some time now as I’ve really enjoyed the one short historical romance she wrote. Yet, I haven’t until now! The premise of alternate periods imbued with mystery and set in a familiar regional Australian setting were very interesting to me.
There are 2 main characters, one per time setting, and each are facing their own challenges. Yet, in the end, as past and present collided, they found in each other a kindred spirit. I have found this book to be a very easy read and definitely have enjoyed this spin of fossil hunting. However, I’m left slightly unsatisfied as I found I have questions which weren’t quite answered in the book.
My thanks to The Book Stack for this paperback copy of book in exchange of my honest thoughts
About the author
Tea is an award winning Australian author of historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling. She is the bestselling author of several novels, including The Naturalist’s Daughter, The Woman in the Green Dress, The Girl in the Painting and The Cartographer’s Secret.
Find author on: goodreads | website | facebook | instagram | twitter | pinterest
Tien's Blurb 