Best-selling crime writer Shelley Burr publishes Ripper just ahead of Write Around the Murray

She grew up on Newcastle's beaches but had blissful times in the North East.

"We spent time on the property in the 1990s; we'd have breakfast and were free to explore the whole day or until we got hungry," Burr said.

"We would just roam."

The now Albury-based novelist saw Glenrowan through fresh eyes when she was researching her second crime book, Ripper, which will be published on August 30.

The site of the Kelly Gang's last stand, Glenrowan is a great example of a town that has turned a dark history into an asset.

At the time Burr visited, a gallery nearby was hosting an exhibition of Mark "Chopper" Read's artwork.

"You don't have any sense of the history of the town as a kid," she said.

"We were running around and hiding in these crumbling buildings, which were historically significant but didn't mean anything to us at the time."

Burr also tapped into the interconnectedness of small towns in Ripper and how it complicates a murder investigation.

Every character in Ripper is connected to every other character in at least four ways, creating incentives to keep each other's secrets, and keep secrets from each other.

"In small towns, everybody knows everybody, and there's a wonderful side of that and an awful side of that," Burr said.

"People in Ripper love each other and can't stand each other!

"In a small town if you upset the wrong person, that can follow you around for a really long time!

"There's always an upside and a downside to it."

Burr also delves into post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the pages of Ripper.

In doing her research she was alerted to it on a personal level.

"Almost every character I write is experiencing PSTD in some way," Burr said.

"That's part of writing crime fiction but I'm also interested in the long shadow it casts.

"I was diagnosed with PTSD between writing Wake and Ripper.

"It's treatable but you have to be able to get the right help."

Burr, who is setting up a small permaculture farm near Albury and studying agriculture at the University of New England, said she read widely across diverse genres.

"I read fantasy, romance and crime fiction," she said.

"Australian crime fiction is having a wonderful moment right now."

Wake was a Top Five bestseller, won the CWA Debut Dagger Award in 2019, was shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards Debut Novel Award, the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award and the Bath Novel Award.

Burr also won the ABIA's 2023 Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year for Wake.

She will join Write Around the Murray in Albury from September 13 to 17.

Her events include a Literary Lunch at Public House on Friday, September 15, from noon and Killing It! when Jason Steger talks to Shelley Burr and Margaret Hickey about their latest crime fiction novels on Sunday, September 17, from 11.30am to 12.30pm.

For more details visit writearoundthemurray.org.au.

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