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'Painted in white, red and black ochre, the heart-shaped mask was one of the greatest creations of primitive man. The size of a dining table, it was carved with crazed, spiky lines that told of its maker’s dangerous insanity. The nose, with its wide-open nostrils, sat above a great slash of a mouth filled with jagged, blackened, pig’s teeth. But these horrors were not what one first noticed. It was the eyes that drew you in. Bloodshot. Manic. Hypnotic. They had been fashioned from pearl shells smeared with red ochre, the irises blackened spirals made from cone shells. They pulled at Archie’s soul as powerfully as a vortex.
'It’s 1932, and the Venus Island fetish, a ceremonial mask surrounded by thirty-two human skulls, now resides in the museum in Sydney. But young anthropologist Archie Meek, recently returned from an extended field trip to Venus Island, has noticed a strange discoloration of some of the skulls of the fetish. Has someone been tampering with the primitive artefact? Is there a link between the mysterious disappearance of Cecil Polkinghorne, curator of archaeology, and the fetish? And how did Eric Sopwith, retired mollusks expert, die in the museum’s storeroom?' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Book Review – The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish by Dido Butterworth, Tim Flannery
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Booklover Book Reviews 2016;
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel -
Flannery's First
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 369 2015; (p. 38)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel -
Informed Eye on Life and Death in a Museum
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3-4 January 2015; (p. 19)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel ; A Murder Unmentioned 2014 single work novel -
Delightful Romp through Museum History
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 December 2014; (p. 18)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel -
Murder at The Museum
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 December 2014; (p. 30)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel 'Tim Flannery relished the chance to let his scientist's imagination take flight while writing a most unusual debut novel...'
-
Murder at The Museum
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 December 2014; (p. 30)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel 'Tim Flannery relished the chance to let his scientist's imagination take flight while writing a most unusual debut novel...' -
Delightful Romp through Museum History
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 December 2014; (p. 18)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel -
Informed Eye on Life and Death in a Museum
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3-4 January 2015; (p. 19)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel ; A Murder Unmentioned 2014 single work novel -
Flannery's First
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 369 2015; (p. 38)
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel -
Book Review – The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish by Dido Butterworth, Tim Flannery
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Booklover Book Reviews 2016;
— Review of The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish 2014 single work novel -
Mr Carbon Tax’s New Name
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1 December 2014; (p. 11) -
Moose Lets Loose Literary Dream
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 5 December 2014; (p. 21)