CHRIS HAMMER is an Australian crime writer whose books have dominated the bestseller lists since his debut crime novel, Scrublands in 2018. Good Reading caught up with Chris to find out what inspires his stories and to find out what he’s reading now.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The blast hits them, a shock wave … glass smashing … Somewhere a woman screams. A second explosion, and Martin looks towards the hall, what’s left of it, flames roaring and smoke pouring skywards.

Someone is targeting Martin Scarsden. They bomb his book launch and shoot up his hometown.

Fleeing for his life, he learns that nowhere is safe, not even the outback. The killers are closing in, and it’s all he can do to survive.

But who wants to kill him and why? Can he discover their deadly motives and turn the tables?

In a dramatic finale, Martin finds his fate linked to the disgraced ex-wife of a football icon, a fugitive wanted for a decades-old murder, and two 19th-century explorers from a legendary expedition.

Martin Scarsden’s most perilous, challenging and intriguing assignment yet.

**********

Chris Hammer

MEET CHRIS HAMMER

What types of things or events enable you to find the spark for your next story? Can you give us some past examples?

Often, I’m not sure where my ideas come from.

For my new book Legacy, there were a couple of initial ideas that set me going. First, after a break of five years, I decided to return to my protagonist Martin Scarsden. This was after watching the television adaptations of my books Scrublands and Silver. I realised how much I like that character

Then, in the second TV series, Martin is at a book launch (something that is not in the novel) and that got me thinking – what if the book launch went awry? So that’s the first chapter of this new book.

Then Martin flees into the outback. That’s the setting for Legacy, out on the Paroo River. And that is a landscape I’ve loved ever since visiting it while researching my non-fiction book The River over 15 years ago. Indeed, there is a chapter in The River dedicated to The Paroo.

Are your characters always with you? Do you think about them during times you are not writing?

Yes. As the year goes on and I get more and more immersed in the book, they’re increasingly with me. Some of my best ideas come when I’m not actually writing but while I’m out exercising or doing the housework or something – because they are always with me.

Do you have an imagined ending to a story before you begin?

No, not typically. The plot evolves as I write the book. However, my books typically have multiple story lines, and I might have an end point in mind for one of those story lines. Even then it might change, and even if it doesn’t, I mightn’t know how to reach that point.

All writers are different, but for me, one of the joys of writing is having the story shift and change and take on new shapes in the process of writing.

What is it about rural landscapes that inspires you to set your stories there?

I’m not entirely sure. But it’s true: there is something about an Australian country town or bush setting that I find endlessly fascinating and intriguing. It’s almost an aesthetic sense.

You meet a lot of readers in libraries and bookshops. Do any particularly stick in your mind?

Yes. Young aspiring writers – teenagers – I find them inspiring. Also, occasionally a detective will come along – their takes are always interesting. They’re always very nice, and seem to enjoy crime fiction, which is a relief. And, of course, those people who pick up some incorrect detail: the make of gun, the type of car, some other minor error.

What is a recent book you have enjoyed and would recommend?

I enjoyed reading Sulari Gentill’s Five Found Dead – it’s an amusing, modern take on Agatha Christie’s golden age classic Murder on the Orient Express.

Also, I very much liked Sam Guthrie’s debut geo-political thriller The Peak. A real page turner.

.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Hammer is a leading Australian author of crime fiction. His first novel, Scrublands, was an instant bestseller when it was published in mid-2018. It won the prestigious UK Crime Writers Association John Creasey Award for best debut crime novel in 2019 and was shortlisted for various awards in Australia and the United States. Scrublands and subsequent books have been sold into translation in multiple languages, and made into a hit television series. His follow-up books – Silver (2019), Trust (2020), Treasure & Dirt (2021), The Tilt (2022), The Seven (2023) and The Valley (2024) – are also bestsellers, and all have been shortlisted for major literary prizes. Legacy is Chris’s eighth book.

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.

Chris has also written two non-fiction books, The River (2010; 2025) and The Coast (2012). He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master’s degree in international relations from the Australian National University.