Nikki Mottram’s debut novel Crows Nest focuses on the point of view of a child protection officer in Darling Downs

With more than a decade working on the frontline with child safety, a Toowoomba mum-of-two has taken inspiration from real-life cases in penning her debut crime novel.

Pulling from her real life emotions as a mother and working in child protective services, a Toowoomba woman’s new book is leaving readers hooked for more.

Mum-of-two Nikki Mottram wrote her debut crime novel over a five-year period between moving, raising children and working. The book was officially released to stores this week.

Crows Nest centres around child protection worker Dana Gibson who, after fleeing a troublesome marriage, moves to Toowoomba.

Nikki Mottram, author of the crime novel Crows Nest. Thursday, February 2, 2023. Picture: Nev Madsen.

On her first house call to assess the children of Sandra Kirby, Dana is thrown into a new world where in the country, city rules don’t apply.

After Sandra and her friend are found murdered in bushland, Dana is drawn into an investigation and she will learn how far locals will go to stop her from uncovering the truth.

“I had really wanted to write about child protection for a long time, and I thought it would be a really interesting and unique lens to set a crime novel,” Mrs Mottram said.

“Sadly, there’s always murders and kids at risk in every area and at all times. I think reading a book just makes you think about the ones you’ve read about.”

Nikki Mottram, author of the crime novel Crows Nest. Thursday, February 2, 2023. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Mrs Mottram worked on the frontline with the Department of Families, as it was called then, for more than a decade and has taken inspiration and woven real cases into her work.

“There was one in 1991, where two women were murdered in regional Queensland,” she said.

“That was one of the ones I knew quite a bit about because I had read (the) Coronial report and that was an unsolved one, so I was thinking about those women when I wrote this book.

“I was the first time where I was working with child safety and I have children of my own … I was grappling with that a bit so I was able to funnel a lot of my emotions into this book.

“I got to plough through all my feelings and give them to Dana.”

Published through the University of Queensland Press, Crows Nest is the first book in the Dana Gibson Mystery series, and can be found at Dymocks, QBD Books, Target and more.