The front covers of two books. One cover is for The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill. The second cover is for The Seven by Chris Hammer.

The Friends of the National Library present two of Australia’s preeminent crime writers in conversation with crime fiction reviewer Anna Steele.

Join us for an intriguing discussion followed by a Q&A session and book-signing.

Friends members receive 15% discount at the National Library of Australia Bookshop.

Become a member of the Friends of the National Library

About Sulari Gentill

Sulari Gentill is the author of the multi-award-winning Rowland Sinclair Mysteries, a series of (currently) ten historical crime novels set in 1930s Australia. Her widely praised standalone novel, After She Wrote Him (2024), won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel and was shortlisted for the Davitt Award. Most recently, she published The Mystery Writer (2024), and the award-winning and USA Today bestselling The Woman in the Library (2023).

Sulari lives in a small country town in the Snowy Mountains where she grows French Black Truffles and writes. She remains in love with the art of storytelling.

Image courtesy Edmund Blenkins

About Chris Hammer

Chris’s first book, Scrublands, was an instant bestseller when it was published in mid-2018. It won the prestigious UK Crime Writers Association John Creasy Award for a debut crime novel in 2019 and was shortlisted for various awards in Australia and the United States.

Scrublands has been sold into translation in several foreign languages, and has been developed into a major television series. His follow up books Silver (2019), Trust (2020), Treasure & Dirt (2021) and The Tilt (2022) - are also bestsellers, and all have been shortlisted for major literary prizes.

Before turning to fiction, Chris was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. He reported from more than thirty countries on six continents with SBS TV, while in Canberra his roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, senior writer for The Age and online political editor for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Image courtesy Allen & Unwin

About Anna Steele

Anna was Head of English at Canberra Grammar school until her retirement in 2005. Writing as Anna Creer, she reviewed crime fiction for The Canberra Times and the ACM Press for over a decade. Her reviews of crime fiction now appear in Canberra City News

Type Book event