<i>The Grapevine </i>took me hostage . . . Gorgeous writing, complex, nuanced characterisation . . . and the atmospheric setting of Canberra in the summer heat . . . A fascinating, engaging book.' <b>MARIAN KEYES</b><br/><br/><b>There are secrets behind every closed door in the Warrah Place neighbourhood, and who killed Antonio Marietti is the biggest one of all . . . </b><br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/><b>There are secrets behind every closed door in the neighbourhood, and the identity of the murderer is only one of them . . .</b><br/><br/>'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.' <b><i>THE SATURDAY PAPER</i></b><br/><br/>'a sensational study of characters, culture clashes, identity and the quest for change, with a murder backdrop' <b><i>HERALD SUN</i></b>'Kemp is deft at crafting credible and complex suspects amid a 1970s suburban milieu that plays to nostalgia and pierces it, too.' <b><i>THE SATURDAY AGE</i></b><br/><br/>'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' <b><i>WA TODAY</i></b><br/><br/>'<i>The Grapevine</i> was a joy to read. Its flowing, witty prose and deft characterisation transported me effortlessly into a small suburban street in 1970s Australia' <b>DIANNE YARWOOD </b><br/><br/>'With a youthful (and wilful) detective reminiscent of Tippy Chan from RWR McDonald's <i>The Nancys</i> and the heady nostalgia of Holly Throsby's <i>Clarke</i>, Kemp's debut is an engrossing slice of deceptive life.' <b>BOOKS+PUBLISHING</b>