The Maker of Skulls

By Amanda Markham

WHAT IF THE TRUTH COULD DESTROY YOU? 

Mild mannered, bumbling Professor Fineas Steele has built his career in the shadow of an elaborate hoax perpetrated by a dashing national hero and celebrated explorer.  

A secret on which Fineas has built his life, career and professor's tenure.

When news of a carved granite skull and a sea captain's lucky escape from a cannibal tribe turn up on the front page of the city's newspaper, Fineas must make a decision. 

Does he protect the lies of the man who made him what he is, or undertake a perilous journey to solve the mystery behind the skull's makers and a tribe of cannibals who never really existed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Markham
• Release date: Sep 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536573114

Book preview

To Rob Parnell who made this possible.

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One

Professor Fineas Steele gaped when he read the front page of The Tribune that morning. Rare Poonditherre Skull Found, the headline read. Merchant Flees Savage Tribe.

Fineas read the headline, then read it again, just to make sure. He even squinted, wondering if he needed glasses. No… it couldn't possibly be. He stared at the headline, reading it over and over again, until the polite clearing of a throat disturbed him. On the other side of the desk, Professor Anderssen waited, arms folded.

It’s… Fineas scratched at his beard. His hands trembled and he lifted them to this face, noting a blue handkerchief that he'd lost years ago stuffed up his left sleeve. Elsewhere, a grandfather clock tocked beside a map of the south seas. Shafts of morning sun lit a forest of books piled on carpet whose colour he’d long forgotten. The newsprint crackled. Professor Anderssen cleared his throat again.

It's remarkable, Professor Anderssen, Fineas managed at last. "Truly remarkable. A Poonditherre Skull. I never would've believed it!"

Anderssen nodded. He was a slight man with the bifocals and wispy grey hair. Today, his hair looked as though he’d risen from bed without combing it.

Remarkable indeed, Professor Steele. The report says the merchant was lucky to escape with his life. The natives held him prisoner for seven months. Anderssen’s mother-of-pearl eyes grew wide as saucers. "They were going to eat him."

"Yes, yes.