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.”

And Then There Were Nine: Longlist revealed for 2016 Ngaio Marsh Award

A record number of entrants and a kaleidoscopic range of crime tales illustrates the growth of New Zealand crime writing but provided a real challenge for the judges of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, who have revealed the long-list for their 2016 award today.

“In past years our judging panels have had some very close calls when it came to picking the winner, or tough choices for who’d be finalists, but this is the first time we’ve had such a log-jam of good books battling for the longlist,” says Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “Even with nearly a dozen debutant authors entering our new Best First Novel category instead, and the majority of our past winners and finalists not being in the running this year, the pool has never been broader or deeper.”

“That’s terrific for our local crime writing scene, of course, but does make life hard for the judges, and means some good novels that judges’ enjoyed have missed out. So I’d like to thank all the entrants this year, along with everyone who has come out and supported our Murder in the Library series of events up and down the country, celebrating local crime writers, the past few weeks.”

The longlist for the 2016 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime novel is:

• 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);
• STARLIGHT PENINSULA by Charlotte Grimshaw (Vintage);
• COLD HARD MURDER by Trish McCormack (Glacier Press);
• THE LEGEND OF WINSTONE BLACKHAT by Tanya Moir (Vintage);
• THE MISTAKE by Grant Nicol (Number Thirteen Press);
• AMERICAN BLOOD by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin);
• SOMETHING IS ROTTEN by Adam Sarafis (Echo Publishing).

The judging panel of seven crime writing experts from New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Nordic countries, will announce the finalists in late July. The winner will be announced at the 2016 WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival on 27 August.

The Ngaio Marsh Awards were established in 2010 and are made annually for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novels written by New Zealand citizens and residents. For more information, visit the Awards' Facebook page here or email ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com