A Child's Book of True Crime

A Child's Book of True Crime is a novel by Australian author Chloe Hooper, published in 2001 by Penguin. It was shortlisted for the 2002 Women's Prize for Fiction.

Summary
Kate is a young schoolteacher working in a small community in Tasmania. She begins an affair with the parent of one of her students. Some chapters tell an alternate version of the same story, a murder investigation written in the style of a children's book.

Reception
A Child's Book of True Crime received mostly positive reviews. The Guardian described the book as "a Russian doll of a novel" and praised it as "beguiling".

The A.V. Club gave a mixed review, stating that the short book is "padded by redundant passages", while saying parts of the book were "vivid and witty".

The New Yorker said the novel was "suspenseful and self-conscious".

Awards
A Child's Book of True Crime was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2002.