Nothing is known of Miss Dido Butterworth, curator of worms (retired). Museum records contain no employee of that name, though there is speculation that the name is a pseudonym for Hans Schmetterling, curator of worms (1936-55). Tim Flannery, author of several works of non-fiction, was curator of mammals at the Sydney Museum 1984-99.
'Flannery has had ample fun writing The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish and readers can share that with him.' * Sydney Morning Herald * `There's a wonderfully quirky array of characters wandering through this delightful period mystery that will not only give you insight into 1930s Sydney, but will also win you over with its warmth and humour. A wonderful read.' * Surf Coast Times * `A light-hearted murder mystery with delightfully crude jokes.' * Manly Daily * `Part Indiana Jones-style adventure, part satire on the way museums are run...It features a fanciful plot, a star-crossed hero and heroine, and some of the worst puns I've heard. Great fun.' * Australian Women's Weekly * '[Flannery] lets rip with a brilliantly daft romp that, alongside a predilection for suggestive surnames, mines the mindsets and manners of pre-war Australia to perfection.' * Australian Book Review * `You don't have to be a museum insider to enjoy the fun. Flannery pokes at anthropologists of an early era.' * Publishers Weekly * `A hilarious romp.' * Bookpage * `A fantastic mystery, lots of action, and laugh-out-loud humor...A real find for readers who love misadventure and fantastical tales.' * Suspense *