17 Years Later
WHO REALLY KILLED THE PRIMROSE FAMILY? The flawless, twisty and electrifying thriller from multi-award-winning author J.P. Pomare. Soon to be a major TV series, produced by Bruna Papandrea's Made Up Stories.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST CRIME FICTION 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2025
'Seriously good' DERVLA McTIERNAN
'There's no better storyteller in the thriller game than Pomare' HERALD SUN
'Shocking, twisty and impossible to put down' CHRISTIAN WHITE
'Pomare's gift for complex plots and drum-tight tension shines' BENJAMIN STEVENSON
'A raging river of twists and turns' WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
The violent slaughter of the Primrose family while they slept shocked the nation.
The family's young live-in chef, Bill Kareama, was swiftly charged with murder and brought to justice. But the brutal crime scarred the idyllic town of Cambridge forever.
Seventeen years later, true-crime podcaster Sloane Abbott tracks down prison psychologist TK Phillips. Once a fierce campaigner for an appeal, TK now lives a quiet life with Bill's case firmly in his past.
As Sloane lures a reluctant TK back into the fight, evidence emerges that casts new light on the Primroses - and who might have wanted them dead.
While the list of suspects grows, Bill's innocence is still far from assured. What will it cost Sloane and TK to uncover the truth?
'I love Pomare's sense of place and his unremittingly darkling imagination' THE AUSTRALIAN
'A plot well worthy of a Ngaio Marsh mystery' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
'Pomare builds a cocktail of lies and unexpected turns of events that remain a mystery until the hectic climax' COURIER MAIL
'A politically charged story that delves into social media and the failings of the justice system . . . [Pomare's] twistiest yet' SUN-HERALD
'Flawlessly plotted . . . breathless suspense' ANNA DOWNES
J.P. POMARE is an award-winning author whose debut novel, Call Me Evie (2018), won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. In the Clearing (2019) was made into a Disney+ Original Series, The Clearing, while Tell Me Lies (2020) was a #1 Audible bestseller and was shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. The Last Guests (2021) was critically acclaimed and made into a Stan Original TV series, Watching You. His fifth book, The Wrong Woman (2022), was a top-ten bestseller and was highly acclaimed, as was Home Before Night (2023). 17 Years Later (2024) was shortlisted for both the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, and is currently being adapted for the screen. The Gambler is his eighth novel.
J.P. Pomare was born in New Zealand and lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughter.