A FAMOUS NEIGHBOUR INSPIRED MY BOOK!

The debut thriller author talks about badly behaved celebrities and being an overprotective parent

- EMMA BABBINGTON

Give us your elevator pitch for The Neighbours...

When Liv learns her daughter Gracie had a distressing encounter with their TV doctor neighbour just moments before his apparent murder, she moves swiftly to protect the teenager from police suspicion. But as she uncovers a host of other likely suspects, the true killer remains hidden in plain sight.

You're News Editor here at Woman's Day - did working as a journalist inspire you?

It's very handy to be able to write about true crime for my day job when I write murder mysteries by night! But also, in the real life section where I work, we get to meet and write about everyday Australians who might not be famous but have done something amazing or been through tough times and I'm always very inspired by their stories.

Why did you want to write about neighbours?

I've always been very nosy! I had a famous neighbour living opposite when I was a teenager and I was always spying on him. He was a guitarist in a very well known band and I was always getting out my dad's binoculars to see if he had the much more famous (and better looking) singer over for tea or something. He never did.

In The Neighbours, the main character comes to the realisation she was a bit of bully as a teenager - can we ever truly change?