Q&A: Shelley Burr, Author of Ripper

Q&A: Shelley Burr, Author of Ripper

Briefly tell us about your book.

Ripper is about Rainier, a picturesque country town that is best known for a series of brutal murders committed there seventeen years ago. Now in economic decline, the town grapples with a proposal to let a dark tourism company run a tour of the murder sites. Before they can come to a decision, the tour operator is murdered in an eerie copycat of the first Rainier Ripper murder.

What was the research process like for the book?

Due to the twists and turns the story takes, I did a lot of research that I can’t talk about without spoiling the story.

The main character Gemma runs a tea shop, and so as I was writing Ripper I had a ready excuse to stop in any cute little tea shop I saw when we were travelling. That was my favourite part of the research.

Does the creative process get easier for you with each book?

No, but I went into writing Ripper thinking it would be easier! I learned a lot from writing WAKE, and had such careful plans to avoid all the mistakes that made drafting and editing more difficult than it needed to be. It turns out that just created space for me to make new and exciting mistakes.

That said, there are benefits to the second time around. At times when I felt completely exasperated with it and ready to give up, I remembered when I’d felt the same way writing WAKE.

Who are some of your favourite authors? Or favourite books?

I love Australian crime fiction. I’m looking forward to the next books from Chris Hammer, Dinuka McKenzie and Kylie Orr. 2023 has been another strong year for debut crime fiction – I loved Mali Waugh’s Judgement Day and Michelle Prak’s The Rush.

What’s your daily writing routine like and what are you working on at the moment?

I’m writing full time now, which is a big difference from writing WAKE. I used to get my writing done after my daughter’s bedtime, but now I write during school hours.

We have a little bit of land, and I have a pod to use as my office. I go there to write, away from the distractions of my house. I’m lucky to be able to do that.

At the moment I’m deep in planning and research for a third book. I’ve taken down the post-it note murder board for Ripper, but I’m not quite ready to put up a new one.

Buy a copy of Ripper here.

Reviews

A Town in Shreds: Read an Extract from Ripper by Shelley Burr

Review | Extract

5 September 2023

A Town in Shreds: Read an Extract from Ripper by Shelley Burr

    Ripping Rural Aussie Crime: Read Our Review of Ripper by Shelley Burr

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    5 September 2023

    Ripping Rural Aussie Crime: Read Our Review of Ripper by Shelley Burr

      Your Preview Verdict: Ripper by Shelley Burr

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      28 August 2023

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        10 July 2023

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            Publisher details

            Ripper
            Author
            Shelley Burr
            Publisher
            Hachette
            Genre
            Fiction
            Released
            30 August, 2023
            ISBN
            9780733647857

            Synopsis

            Gemma Guillory has lived in Rainier her entire lifeShe knows the tiny town's ins and outs like the back of her hand, the people like they are her family, their quirks as if they were her own.

            She knows her once-charming town is now remembered for one reason, and one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper's trail of death seventeen years ago was her innocuous little teashop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her police officer husband and their marriage to this day and that some of her neighbours are desperate - desperate enough to welcome a dark tourism company keen to cash in on Rainier's reputation as the murder town.

            When the tour operator is killed by a Ripper copycat on Gemma's doorstep, the unease that has lurked quietly in the original killer's wake turns to foreboding, and she's drawn into the investigation. Unbeknownst to her, so is a prisoner named Lane Holland.

            Gemma knows her town. She knows her people. Doesn't she?

            Shelley Burr
            About the author

            Shelley Burr

            Shelley Burr grew up on Newcastle's beaches and her grandparents' farm in Glenrowan, and on the road between the two. When not writing, she works in environmental policy in Canberra and is studying agriculture at the University of New England, with a focus on soil science. She is an alumnus of the ACT Writers Hardcopy program (2018) and a Varuna fellow. WAKE won the CWA Debut Dagger Award in 2019 and was shortlisted for the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award and the Bath Novel Award.

            Books by Shelley Burr

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            1. Christine Bath says:

              I am confused about the Dean Shackwell and his possible vasectomy side story, does this mean he is not Nico Tanner’s father and if so why did he return to Rainier for his cover to be blown? Just a loose end that is bothering me,

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