Nikki Mottram talks to Cheryl about how her career as a child protection officer influenced her debut crime novel, Crows Nest, which is out now.

About the author:

Nikki Mottram uses her background in child protection in her crime fiction. She has a psychology degree from The University of Queensland and has worked in London and Australia in positions protecting and promoting the welfare of children at risk of harm. She has been published in the Boroondara Literary Awards anthology and shortlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize and the Hal Porter Short Story Competition. In 2018, she was the recipient of a Katharine Susannah Pritchard Writers’ Centre Fellowship. She grew up and resides in Toowoomba, and brings to her work an understanding of rural communities, their customs and their secrets.