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H.R. Kemp
ALLi Author Member
Location: Australia & New Zealand
Genres: Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Skills: Press/Media Interview, Reading/Literary Event, Self-publishing Workshop/Training, Speaking Engagement/Lecture
I'm the Australian author of the mystery suspense thrillers Lethal Legacy and Deadly Secrets. They both have political intrigue and 'not-so-young' women amateur sleuths. My short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines in Australia, the UK, the USA, and Canada.
I live in a beachside suburb of Adelaide, Australia, although I grew up in country areas near Melbourne.
My best writing space is local cafes and my best inventing is done while walking along the esplanade and marina.
My stories are about ordinary people making a difference and achieving justice. My plots are inspired by the real world: news headlines, social justice issues, political scandals, and corporate wrongdoing. It's a minefield for an overactive and inquisitive mind.
I began my creative writing adventure after taking early retirement. After a public service career spanning roles as diverse as Management Trainer, Team Facilitator, Statistician, and Laboratory Assistant, my mind buzzed with political thriller plots.
Completing a Creative Writing course at Adelaide University after numerous short courses at Writers SA and WEA, helped me hone my creative writing skills and build on my earlier studies - Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, & a Graduate Diploma in Education. These are valuable for researching my plot ideas.
My other passions include travelling. I have visited many fabulous countries and cities. I draw on my daily travel journal and copious photos to build scenes in my novels. Even though they are mainly set in Australia, some of the action plays out in locations further afield.
I am an avid theatre-goer and subscribe to the Adelaide State Theatre Company. I enjoy art exhibitions and galleries and of course, I love to read. In March each year, I take full advantage of the Adelaide Writers' Festival to discover new authors and to hear my favourites.
H.R. Kemp's books
Deadly Secrets. What unspeakable truths lurk beneath the lies?
Shelley has never been brave. But she feels compelled to find the truth about her friend’s suspicious death. Everything points to a high-level conspiracy. How is the Prime Minister involved? And what does a mining company have to do with it?
Reviews say:
"A powerful story about powerful themes"; "Intelligent, gripping thriller"
It has a mystery, intrigue, drama, and suspense. It’s a story of fighting the odds to do what’s right.
Can ordinary people thwart a powerful conspiracy?
Shelley Ormond’s life is about to change forever. Her friend, a young refugee, dies suddenly and the federal police have shrouded her case in secrecy. Shelley has never been bold, but she will have to break the rules and jeopardise her safe, public service career to learn the truth.
Her new friend Adrian, a medical researcher, is studying a mystery illness in outback communities. Young children are falling fatally ill, but there’s no obvious cause although suspicious mining activity in the area is worth investigating.
Shelley delves deeper and is drawn into a sinister world of police cover-ups, organised crime corporate greed and government corruption. If she obeys the law, the powerful will continue to break it.
The stakes are high, and the treacherous schemers will do anything to keep their deadly secrets. Lives don’t matter, not even hers.
Can they expose the plot before more lives are lost?
Will the formidable and ruthless forces behind the conspiracy stop them?
Lethal Legacy
Innocent questions can have dangerous answers.
Laura’s life is plunged into turmoil when her husband, Tom, dies suddenly. On that same night, an intruder steals papers from his home office. He’d been researching his previous employer’s Iraqi operations but hadn’t shared his concerns with Laura. Why would anyone want his files?
Turning a blind eye won’t protect her.
Learning Tom’s death could be murder, Laura takes matters into her own hands. She’s fifty-nine but it’s not too late to turn amateur sleuth. She uncovers a dark mystery, a deadly conspiracy involving organised crime and corruption. Powerful people will kill to silence their enemies but who can she trust?
Silence won’t keep her safe.
This Australian political conspiracy mystery thriller is in the style of Deadly Secrets. It has suspense, intrigue, and drama.
Editorial Reviews:
"…a fast paced and intelligent political thriller, set in the corrupt heart of Australia's corridors of power. A compelling read."
Richard Beasley, author of the Peter Tanner thrillers and Hell Has Harbour Views (adapted for TV) and the non-fiction Dead in the Water.
“A fantastic, complex tale … a really intriguing, engaging, and compelling book.”
Barry W Litherland, author of Waves Break (on Unknown Shores), Shifting Sands, Breakers, and many more.
“An interesting Australian political thriller, it’s a keeper, add it to your bookshelf.”
Richard Evans, former federal MP and author of Democracy Trilogy