Next
month the winners of the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards will be announced in
Christchurch, New Zealand, the hometown of Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of the four
Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Although
Dame Ngaio set most of her Inspector Alleyn tales (32 novels and several short
stories) in Britain, she was ‘a Kiwi’, a colonial author from the far ends of
the Empire.
So
it’s only appropriate that the literary prizes for New Zealand crime, mystery,
and thriller writing, which I helped establish back in 2010, bear her name and
image.
From
the very beginning, we’ve been proud to have an association with Shots! Magazine: columnist Mike Ripley brought
his expertise to our nascent awards as one of the founding judges, and in
recent years Ayo Onatade has been part of the international judging panel.
So
I’m very glad to visiting Shots! blog
today as part of our inaugural Ngaio Marsh Awards blog tour, and sharing with
you all some more information about some of our finalists.
It’s
been great to see the growth in New Zealand crime writing over the past few
years, with several dozen new authors joining the #yeahnoir ranks (the term for
Kiwi crime writing), both debut authors and authors from other genres making a
switch to the dark side.
Today,
I thought I’d share a bit more about our finalists in the Best First Novel
category, which celebrates the best crime writing from first-time authors. We
had a record number of entrants this year, and lots of good reads didn’t make
the finalist list. But here’s a closer look at our ‘final five’; all great new
voices with tales that span the crime writing spectrum.
DEAD LEMONS by Finn Bell (ebook)
This
powerful and fascinating tale starts with a cliff-hanger, literally.
Wheelchair-bound main character Finn is hanging from the side of a cliff above
roaring seas in New Zealand’s rural south. He’d moved from the big city after
wrecking his marriage, then his spinal column, with his drinking. Contemplating
ending it all, he muddles along thanks to a blunt counsellor, new friends, and
a growing obsession to uncover what happened to a father and daughter who
vanished years before from the remote cottage in which Finn now lives. Bell
really hits the ground running with his debut; he has a strong narrative voice
that brings plenty of freshness. There’s a zing to his writing, and he’s
unafraid to take a deep-dive into the psychological, as Finn grapples with the
demons in his own mind. Is he worthless, a ‘dead lemon’ merely bringing down
those around him? Or does he have something to offer?
RED HERRING by Jonothan
Cullinane (HarperCollins)
Kiwi filmmaker
Cullinane blends mystery and history in this terrific debut. Readers are
plunged headlong into 1950s New Zealand, where global politics are being played
out in clashes between unions and business interests on the waterfront. The
shadow of the Second World War, with its death and deprivation, still lingers.
A growing spectre of Communism domino-ing its way down through Asia looms. New
Zealand may be small and far away, but to plenty of power brokers it’s a
battleground. One they want to control. Into this murky world steps Johnny Molloy, a
soldier turned private eye who leaned hard left in the past. Hired to track a
supposedly dead man, he crosses paths with an ambitious reporter looking to
make her mark, and the pair find themselves knee-deep in the muck. Cullinane weaves a fascinating noir tale textured by
lesser-known aspects of Kiwi history. There's a muscularity and dry humour to
his storytelling. A page-turner with much more.
THE ICE SHROUD by
Gordon Ell (Bush Press)
Distinguished
wildlife photographer Gordon Ell brings his passion for nature to his first
swing at fiction, setting this intriguing murder mystery against the backdrop
of New Zealand’s spectacular
Southern Lakes region. A woman’s body spotted by jet-boating tourists, half-frozen
in a river canyon, is an abrupt introduction for new CIB head DS Malcolm
Buchan. Especially when he recognises the woman; a fact he hides from his new
colleagues. As Buchan and his
team investigate, they cross paths with powerful locals, people that feel their
wealth and influence should reign, and whatever they do in private is no-one
else’s business. Ell infuses his tale with a great sense of place, while also
delivering with interesting characters and a fascinating storyline. A bit of a
modern Kiwi take on a classic British village murder mystery, with detectives
stymied by secretive locals and the wealthy elite. Full of suspects and red
herrings, Ell’s debut is a heartily enjoyable read set in a gorgeous location.
THE STUDENT BODY by
Simon Wyatt (Mary Egan Publishing)
Former
detective Wyatt brings all his investigative experience to bear in this
page-turning police procedural set on the ‘wild west coast’ of New Zealand’s
biggest city, a place of beaches and bushlands on the outskirts of the
high-rise CBD and its suburban sprawl. A
popular teenager is strangled at a high school camp, and newly promoted DS Nick
Knight, who jettisoned his legal career to join the police, is thrust into a
high-profile investigation. The crime seems sexually motivated, and there are
plenty of secrets to unpick among the girl’s family, friends and school
teachers, and the wider community. Fans of police procedurals that delve deeply
into the inner workings of a police investigation will really enjoy this debut,
as Wyatt delivers a real sense of authenticity and lots of detail about how
modern police forces operate, issues they have to consider, and the challenges
they face. A
fast-paced procedural set on the far side of the world.
DAYS ARE LIKE GRASS by
Sue Younger (Eunoia Press)
This
is an atypical crime novel, an
elegant and emotional read that’s a deep character study and more about the lingering
impact of criminal acts, and ongoing mysteries, rather than a traditional
detective tale. It’s the kind of book that sticks with you, that days later you’ll still be
pondering the choices characters make, the varying outcomes, and questions of
justice.
Paediatric surgeon
Claire Bowerman reluctantly returns to Auckland from London with her fiancée
and teenage daughter, only to find her complicated past flaring up, threatening
everything she’s carefully built. When a family refuses medical treatment for
their tumour-stricken child, Claire is in the media glare, the sins of her own
father resurrected. Starting with a
past crime that haunts the entire book, Younger’s debut is peppered with
moments of crime and mystery, and packed with drama with a capital D. It has a
lovely page-turning quality, deeply drawn characters, and a nice touch for the contemporary
Auckland setting and landscapes.
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