diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2640876..070cb52 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ NIPs with a relay-specific implementation are listed here.
 - [x] NIP-02: Hide old contact list events
 - [ ] NIP-03: OpenTimestamps
 - [x] NIP-05: Mapping Nostr keys to DNS identifiers
-- [ ] NIP-09: Event deletion
+- [x] NIP-09: Event deletion
 - [x] NIP-11: Relay information document
 - [x] NIP-12: Generic tag search (_experimental_)
 
diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index 58e1861..b831cce 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -332,6 +332,29 @@ pub fn write_event(conn: &mut PooledConnection, e: &Event) -> Result<usize> {
             );
         }
     }
+    // if this event is a deletion, hide the referenced events from the same author.
+    if e.kind == 5 {
+        let event_candidates = e.tag_values_by_name("e");
+        let mut params: Vec<Box<dyn ToSql>> = vec![];
+        // first parameter will be author
+        params.push(Box::new(hex::decode(&e.pubkey)?));
+        event_candidates
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|x| is_hex(x) && x.len() == 64)
+            .filter_map(|x| hex::decode(x).ok())
+            .for_each(|x| params.push(Box::new(x)));
+        let query = format!(
+            "UPDATE event SET hidden=TRUE WHERE author=?, event_hash IN ({})",
+            repeat_vars(params.len() - 1)
+        );
+        let mut stmt = tx.prepare(&query)?;
+        let update_count = stmt.execute(rusqlite::params_from_iter(params))?;
+        info!(
+            "hid {} deleted events for author {:?}",
+            update_count,
+            e.get_author_prefix()
+        );
+    }
     tx.commit()?;
     Ok(ins_count)
 }
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 42d96e4..5a0c992 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ pub enum Error {
     JoinError,
     #[error("Hyper Client error")]
     HyperError(hyper::Error),
+    #[error("Hex encoding error")]
+    HexError(hex::FromHexError),
     #[error("Unknown/Undocumented")]
     UnknownError,
 }
@@ -58,6 +60,12 @@ pub enum Error {
 //    }
 //}
 
+impl From<hex::FromHexError> for Error {
+    fn from(h: hex::FromHexError) -> Self {
+        Error::HexError(h)
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<hyper::Error> for Error {
     fn from(h: hyper::Error) -> Self {
         Error::HyperError(h)
diff --git a/src/event.rs b/src/event.rs
index 1a4da87..45a3b83 100644
--- a/src/event.rs
+++ b/src/event.rs
@@ -124,6 +124,16 @@ impl Event {
         self.pubkey.chars().take(8).collect()
     }
 
+    /// Retrieve tag values
+    pub fn tag_values_by_name(&self, tag_name: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+        self.tags
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|x| x.len() > 1)
+            .filter(|x| x.get(0).unwrap() == tag_name)
+            .map(|x| x.get(1).unwrap().to_owned())
+            .collect()
+    }
+
     /// Check if this event has a valid signature.
     fn is_valid(&self) -> bool {
         // TODO: return a Result with a reason for invalid events
@@ -335,6 +345,32 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(c, expected);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn event_tag_select() {
+        let e = Event {
+            id: "999".to_owned(),
+            pubkey: "012345".to_owned(),
+            created_at: 501234,
+            kind: 1,
+            tags: vec![
+                vec!["j".to_owned(), "abc".to_owned()],
+                vec!["e".to_owned(), "foo".to_owned()],
+                vec!["e".to_owned(), "bar".to_owned()],
+                vec!["e".to_owned(), "baz".to_owned()],
+                vec![
+                    "p".to_owned(),
+                    "aaaa".to_owned(),
+                    "ws://example.com".to_owned(),
+                ],
+            ],
+            content: "this is a test".to_owned(),
+            sig: "abcde".to_owned(),
+            tagidx: None,
+        };
+        let v = e.tag_values_by_name("e");
+        assert_eq!(v, vec!["foo", "bar", "baz"]);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn event_canonical_with_tags() {
         let e = Event {