The Grapevine

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The Grapevine took me hostage . . . Gorgeous writing, complex, nuanced characterisation . . . and the atmospheric setting of Canberra in the summer heat . . . A fascinating, engaging book.' MARIAN KEYES

There are secrets behind every closed door in the Warrah Place neighbourhood, and who killed Antonio Marietti is the biggest one of all . . .

It's the height of summer in Australia, 1979, and on a quiet suburban cul-de-sac in Canberra a housewife is scrubbing the yellow and white chequered tiles of the bathroom floor. But all is not as it seems. For one thing, it's 3 am. For another, she is trying desperately to remove all traces of blood before they stain. Her husband seems remarkably calm, considering he has just murdered their neighbour.

As the sun rises on Warrah Place, news of Antonio Marietti's death spreads like wildfire. Gossip is exchanged in whispers and suspicion mounts. Twelve-year-old Tammy launches her own investigation, determined to find out what happened, but she is not the only one whose well-meaning efforts uncover more mysteries than they solve.

There are secrets behind every closed door in the neighbourhood, and the identity of the murderer is only one of them . . .

'Kemp re-creates 1970s Canberra with deft elegance, triggering a time-travelling sensory overload with her prose . . . The result is a novel that doesn't just inhabit its time but dissects it with the keen curiosity of an anthropologist ready to catalogue its secrets.' THE SATURDAY PAPER

'a sensational study of characters, culture clashes, identity and the quest for change, with a murder backdrop' HERALD SUN'Kemp is deft at crafting credible and complex suspects amid a 1970s suburban milieu that plays to nostalgia and pierces it, too.' THE SATURDAY AGE

'An atmospheric, slow-burn mystery with an unanticipated twist, more satisfying for drawing out the darkness and disorder under the prim veneer of suburban life' WA TODAY

'The Grapevine was a joy to read. Its flowing, witty prose and deft characterisation transported me effortlessly into a small suburban street in 1970s Australia' DIANNE YARWOOD

'With a youthful (and wilful) detective reminiscent of Tippy Chan from RWR McDonald's The Nancys and the heady nostalgia of Holly Throsby's Clarke, Kemp's debut is an engrossing slice of deceptive life.' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

Author Bio

Kate Kemp is an Australian writer living in the UK. She trained as an occupational therapist and then as a systemic psychotherapist, and has worked with families and individuals in mental health services in both Australia and the UK. In 2021, she won the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction and the Yeovil Literary Prize. The Grapevine is her first novel.