Tell Me Something True is the crime writer’s 20th novel, developed from a manuscript he began early in his career.
Australian crime writer Michael Robotham is publishing his first novel set entirely in Australia. Tell Me Something True, his 20th novel, grew from a manuscript he began in his early twenties. British publisher Heinemann declined the project in 1988, saying a story set in a small Australian town would be difficult to sell. Robotham put the draft away and returned to it decades later.
The novel follows Arlo Hackett, who is released after 12 years in prison and returns to the fictional town of Yulara. There he becomes entangled in an old murder case in which his younger brother, who is autistic, had been accused. Robotham grew up in Gundagai and drew on the feel of a small town he knew.
Before becoming a novelist, Robotham worked as a journalist in Australia and Britain. He covered Nelson Mandela’s release and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and gained access to Moscow’s state archives. He later ghostwrote books for public figures including Geri Halliwell, Lulu and Ricky Tomlinson.
His 2002 novel The Suspect launched a nine-book series featuring clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin. Robotham’s books have been translated into 25 languages and adapted for television. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the series has sold more than a million copies and that Robotham’s overall book sales have reached 8.5 million.
Now 65, Robotham writes every day and describes himself as a writer who discovers the story as he goes. He once discarded about 50,000 words of a manuscript. Revisiting an old idea finally gave him a way to tell a story rooted in Australia.