2016 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists revealed

A FADING All Black, a teen runaway, a cop in witness protection, and a robotic private eye are among the memorable characters at the heart of novels named today as finalists for the 2016 Ngaio Marsh Awards. 

“We had a record number of entrants this year, which gave several headaches to our international judging panel,” says awards founder and Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “Not only are our local authors producing novels of exceptional international quality, they are breaking the shackles of convention and stretching the boundaries of genre to explore crime storytelling in unique and exciting ways. We were comparing apples with feijoas.” 

An extended judging process has led to two very strong shortlists, says Sisterson. This year, not only will the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, established in 2010, be presented at the Great New Zealand Crime Debate at WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival on 27 August, but also a new Best First Novel prize for debuts. 

The finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel are:

• INSIDE THE BLACK HORSE by Ray Berard (Mary Egan Publishing);

• MADE TO KILL by Adam Christopher (Titan Books);

• TRUST NO ONE by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press);

• THE LEGEND OF WINSTONE BLACKHAT by Tanya Moir (RHNZ Vintage); and

• AMERICAN BLOOD by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin).

The finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel are:

• INSIDE THE BLACK HORSE by Ray Berard (Mary Egan Publishing);

• THE FIXER by John Daniell (Upstart Press);

• THE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB by Jen Shieff (Mary Egan Publishing); and

• TWISTER by Jane Woodham (Makaro Press).

“I’d like to thank all our entrants for making our job so tough,” says Sisterson, “along with all our judges and WORD Christchurch for their ongoing support of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. Local crime writing is in fine fettle.”