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‘Tell Me Something True is unforgettable’ KARIN SLAUGHTER
‘Michael Robotham is a born storyteller, and this is the best. I couldn’t put it down’ STEPHEN KING
‘My book of the year. A compelling, intriguing and entertaining masterpiece’ LIZ NUGENT
‘An epic elegy of love, family, morality and justice that deserves to be showered with awards’ CHRIS BROOKMYRE

I look along the road and notice how many people are standing outside their houses or watching from doorways and windows. Staring. Studying.
‘Do you think this town will ever forgive me?’ I ask.
‘Not in a million years.’

Small towns are quick to anger and slow to forgive, but Arlo Hackett doesn’t expect mercy when he emerges from a twelve-year prison sentence and makes his way back to Yulara, a waypoint on Australia’s Great Southern Road. The last time Arlo was home, his brother Luke was charged with a terrible crime and Arlo was found guilty by association.

His return to the former goldrush town is like cracking open a time capsule full of hatred and violence, along with memories of the people he loved – the ones he couldn’t save.

Yulara wants Arlo gone, or worse, but every insult and humiliation pushes him to confront what really happened all those years ago.

The truth will shock you, surprise you, and break your heart.

‘A riveting and chilling look into the dark niches of Australian small-town life’ GERALDINE BROOKS
‘This novel and its characters will stay with me forever’ DAVID BALDACCI
‘Emotional, startling, beautifully crafted’ VAL MCDERMID
‘This is the book Michael Robotham was born to write’ MICHAEL CONNELLY
‘A triumph, with a plot you can’t second guess and real emotional punch’ CHRIS CHIBNALL
‘Unforgettable characters. My favourite book this year’ ANDREA MARA
‘Most writers would be proud to produce a book half as good as Tell Me Something True’ LINWOOD BARCLAY
‘One of the best books I’ve read all year’ AJAY CHOWDHURY
‘A profoundly rich and heartbreaking novel’ JEANINE CUMMINS
‘A masterpiece of tension, poignancy and heartache’ DAILY MAIL
‘All of Michael Robotham’s immense talent is on full display in this true masterclass of storytelling’ GOOD READING
‘A masterpiece. One of my all-time favourite books’ J. P. POMARE

THE WHITE CROW was a No.1 fiction bestseller in Australia 10.07.25

Publisher Review

PRAISE FOR MICHAEL ROBOTHAM * - * An absolute master -- STEPHEN KING Will have you turning the pages compulsively * THE TIMES * Heart-stopping -- VAL MCDERMID The real deal -- DAVID BALDACCI Clever, intriguing and compelling -- RACHEL ABBOTT One of crime's greatest practitioners * THE AUSTRALIAN * Unforgettable characters * GLOBE AND MAIL * Robotham is among the world's top thriller writers -- LINWOOD BARCLAY Razor-sharp and emotionally charged -- LISA GARDNER What a terrific writer -- AJAY CHOWDHURY Tension and tenderness - Michael Robotham is that rare thing, a writer who does both brilliantly -- WILLIAM SHAW An absolute master of the craft -- DERVLA MCTIERNAN When I get a new Michael Robotham, everything else goes to one side. He's a born storyteller, and this is the best. I couldn't put it down -- STEPHEN KING A compelling, devastating story about family and the long shadows of the past. Tell Me Something True is unforgettable -- KARIN SLAUGHTER Tell Me Something True is my book of the year. This compelling, intriguing and entertaining masterpiece examines the conscience of a whole town, and should win every award going. Genius -- LIZ NUGENT This is Michael Robotham's masterpiece. From the first chapter, you know you are in the hands of a storyteller at the peak of his powers. It is tender, heartbreaking, beguiling, enraging, exhilarating and triumphant, sometimes all on the same page. An epic elegy of love, family, morality and justice that deserves to be showered with awards -- CHRIS BROOKMYRE This is the book Michael Robotham was born to write. Tell Me Something True is a skilled anthropologic dig into the heart of the small town, its characters and motivations. In Robotham's hands the small becomes big in terms of showing how the ripple effects of crime move through us no matter where and how we live. This is a universal story -- MICHAEL CONNELLY Emotional, startling and beautifully crafted; it brings small town Australia into your living room -- VAL MCDERMID This novel and its characters will stay with me forever. I ached, cried, and laughed and it felt like I bled right along with them. No one will ever forge a flawless novel, but with Tell Me Something True, Robotham has gotten as close to it as I've ever seen -- DAVID BALDACCI A triumph. A gripping page-turner with a vivid sense of place, impeccably drawn characters, a plot you can't second guess, and real emotional punch. I loved it -- CHRIS CHIBNALL Tell Me Something True is a profoundly rich and heartbreaking novel about the singular endurance of love in all its forms, even through unthinkable and compounding tragedies. Michael Robotham demonstrates uncommon insight into the suffering and survival of a family devastated by murder and its myriad aftermaths. Here is a master storyteller reminding us that hope is more powerful than grief -- JEANINE CUMMINS A small town setting with an utterly absorbing atmosphere, unforgettable characters, a multi-layered mystery, beautiful prose - a flawless novel and my favourite book this year -- ANDREA MARA Michael Robotham has at last turned his gift for psychologically complex crime novels on his own homeplace, and the result is a riveting, and chilling, look into the dark niches of Australian small-town life -- GERALDINE BROOKS Most writers would be proud to produce, in their entire career, a book half as good as Tell Me Something True. I felt the same sense of excitement reading this book as I did when I picked up Michael's first novel, The Suspect. No one can touch him when it comes to infusing crime with character and heart -- LINWOOD BARCLAY One of the best books I've read all year - beautifully written, moving and propels you to a devastating ending. I loved Michael's description of small town Australia and the great characters he created - it really is a gem -- AJAY CHOWDHURY A masterpiece. Not only my favourite Australian crime novel, but one of my favourite all-time books -- J. P. POMARE Grabbed me from the start and never let me go. A ripper of a story -- BRYAN BROWN Robotham conjures up a whole and compelling world, full of heartbreak but also hard-won hope and piercing clarity -- DEBRA OSWALD A masterpiece of tension, poignancy and heartache...Packed with compelling characters, it moves the reader to tears * DAILY MAIL * All of Michael Robotham's immense talent is on full display in this true masterclass of storytelling, at once brilliantly authentic, gritty and grounded, yet deeply compassionate * GOOD READING * Love and hope walk hand in hand with devastating actions and reactions [...] Tell Me Something True drills deep into thoughts and feelings to create a piercing and entirely captivating read * LOVEREADING *