2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards Winners announced

 

History-makers and historical crimes: 2025 Ngaio Marsh Award winners revealed in Dame Ngaios’ hometown.

A quartet of talented Kiwi writers were honoured at a special WORD Christchurch event on Thursday night as they scooped the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards for books meshing compelling narratives with important issues

In the sixteenth instalment of Aotearoa’s annual awards celebrating excellence in crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing, journalist Kirsty Johnston and academic James Hollings won Best Non-Fiction for their in-depth re-examination of our nation’s most notorious cold case in The Crewe Murders (Massey University Press), while Otago-based academic turned author Wendy Parkins scooped Best First Novel for her historical tale of gaslighting, abuse, and one woman's fight in the 19th century in The Defiance of Francis Dickinson (Affirm Press), and Auckland filmmaker and author Michael Bennett made Ngaios history by winning Best Novel for his second Hana Westerman tale Return to Blood (Simon & Schuster).

“It was a great night to cap an outstanding season for the Ngaio Marsh Awards, thanks to a terrifically strong and varied group of finalists,” says awards founder Craig Sisterson. “We were particularly stoked to have the marvellous Court Jesters involved, delivering a wonderful improv murder mystery we’re sure would have tickled theatre-loving Dame Ngaio; a full circle moment back to our original plans in 2010.”

Last night, following the interactive improv murder mystery, the 2025 Ngaios winners were revealed in among readings from the attending finalists. Parkins was stunned to find herself onstage accepting the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, joining a roll of honour for that debut prize that includes past winners like JP Pomare (Call Me Evie), RWR McDonald (The Nancys), Jacqueline Bublitz (Before You Knew My Name), Michael Bennett (Better the Blood) and last year’s winner Claire Baylis (Dice).

The judges praised Parkins’ novel, which was inspired by a sensational Edwardian trial, as a “skilfully written historical tale that soaks readers in an era and attitudes which have some scary echoes today”.

Hollings, an Associate Professor at Massey University in Wellington, was thrilled to receive the trophy for Best Non-Fiction for The Crewe Murders, on behalf of himself and Kirsty Johnston, one of Aotearoa’s leading investigative journalists. The non-fiction judging panel praised the duo for centring the Crewes in their scrupulously researched book, layered with forensic and legal detail, and went on to say: “Among a small library of writing about the Crewes and Arthur Allan Thomas, this should be regarded as the definitive record of one of New Zealand’s most infamous and troubling crimes”.

The Ngaios evening closed with more history, as acclaimed filmmaker and author Bennett

(Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) became the first-ever Best First Novel winner to then go on to win the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel with a later book. He also joined Paul Cleave, the modern King of Kiwi Crime, as the only three-time Ngaios winner, having previously won the Best Non-Fiction category in 2017 for In Dark Places, his stunning account of Teina Pora’s wrongful conviction and long fight to clear his name.

The Best Novel international judging panel, which included several leading critics from Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, praised Return to Blood for its "Excellent characters that populate a nuanced and telling plot that tackles a juxtaposition of ideas of what constitutes justice”, noting Bennett’s second novel featuring Māori sleuth Hana Westerman heralds “what’s already looking like superb crime series”.

Bennett’s Hana Westerman novels have been into several languages, become the only detective series shortlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards, won or been shortlisted for several other prestigious awards in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, United States, and Japan, and are in development for a screen series.

For more information on any of our 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards winners or finalists, or the Ngaios in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com, or founder Craig Sisterson, craigsisterson@hotmail.com

2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards Finalists Announced

 

Character first: 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists 

offer page-turning tales that explore people and place.

From a young Māori chef to a grieving family torn asunder by internet disinformation, wartime spies to comical Northland drug runners, the finalists for the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards offer readers a kaleidoscopic array of unforgettable characters, fictional and real, among compelling tales full of mystery and thrills, touching on vital issues of modern times and eras past.

“In our fifteenth anniversary season of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, we’ve been blessed with a fascinating range of entries across our three categories, from a diverse array of Kiwi voices and stories, styles, and settings, making our international judging panels’ jobs both very enjoyable and at times very tricky,” says Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson.

Now in their sixteenth season, the Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate excellence in mystery, thriller, crime, and suspense writing from Aotearoa storytellers. The 2025 finalists were announced today in Best Non-Fiction, Best First Novel, and Best Novel categories.

“As the likes of Val McDermid and Dennis Lehane have said, if you want to better understand a place, read its crime fiction,” says Sisterson. “Crime writing in its wider sense can deliver interesting insights alongside rollicking entertainment, and is an ideal form for delving into people and place, as well as broader societal issues. And in our case with the Ngaios, we certainly see that across both our fiction and non-fiction entries and finalists.”

The Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non-Fiction is a biennial prize first presented in 2017, and previously won by Michael Bennett, Kelly Dennett, Martin van Beynen, and Steve Braunias. From a fascinating array of 2025 entrants, this year’s six finalists explore some truly remarkable real-life tales, ranging from a fresh look at New Zealand’s most infamous cold case to the little-discussed deadly legacy of a 1930s Devonport nurse. 

The finalists are:

The Trials of Nurse Kerr by Scott Bainbridge (Bateman Books)

The Survivors by Steve Braunias (HarperCollins)

The Crewe Murders by Kirsty Johnstone & James Hollings (Massey Uni Press)

The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin)

Gangster's Paradise by Jared Savage (HarperCollins)

Far North by David White & Angus Gillies (Upstart Press)

This year’s finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, an annual award first presented in 2016, and won last year by Rotorua author Claire Baylis for DICE, her extraordinary novel providing a jury-eyed-view of a sexual assault case, are:

Dark Sky by Marie Connolly (Quentin Wilson Publishing)

Lie Down With Dogs by Syd Knight (Rusty Hills)

A Fly Under The Radar by William McCartney

The Defiance of Frances Dickinson by Wendy Parkins (Affirm Press)

The Call by Gavin Strawhan (Allen & Unwin)

Kiss of Death by Stephen Tester (Heritage Press)

“It’s really heartening each year to see the range of new voices infusing fresh perspectives into the crime and thriller backstreets of our local literary landscape,” says Sisterson. This year that ranges from a mystery set at Tekapo's Mt John Observatory to a legal thriller set against the Spanish flu epidemic, from a blackly comic crime caper from a Devonport lawyer to the gritty first novel from one of our most acclaimed screen storytellers.

Lastly, the finalists for the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, selected by an international panel of crime and thriller experts from a remarkable 15-book longlist, are:

Return to Blood by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

A Divine Fury by DV Bishop (Macmillan)

Woman, Missing by Sherryl Clark (HarperCollins)

Home Truths by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)

17 Years Later by JP Pomare (Hachette)

The Call by Gavin Strawhan (Allen & Unwin)

Prey by Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

“It’s a dazzling group of finalists to emerge from a terrific longlist, and a fascinating broader group of entries that seems to get deeper and stronger every year,” says Sisterson. “Our international judges were full of praise for the entire longlist, and remarked on the world-class writing as well as compelling storytelling in many books that didn’t become finalists, as well as the overall variety within #yeahnoir, our Kiwi take on a globally popular genre.”

The 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists will be celebrated and this year’s winners announced at a special event, “The Ngaio Marsh Awards and The Murderous Mystery”, to be held in association with WORD Christchurch at Tūranga on Thursday, 25 September. The thrilling evening includes an improv murder mystery performance by the famed Court Theatre

Beyond whodunnit: 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards Finalists Announced.

Beyond whodunnit: 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists offer page-turning tales and social critiques across time and place.

From stem cell research to sexual assault juries, the dangers of a surveillance society to mental health and animal abuse, the finalists for the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards offer readers a diverse array of page-turning mysteries and thrills entwined with societal issues, set against a variety of locales and eras from Renaissance Florence and Nazi Germany to contemporary Aotearoa.  

“While crime and thriller fiction is often talked about in terms of its page-turning plotlines, or puzzling twists and surprising reveals, nowadays it’s also a fantastic vehicle for exploring character and society,” says Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson. “Our 2024 Ngaios finalists beautifully showcase that, with a kaleidoscopic range of tales full of engaging and memorable characters, exploring a wide variety of social issues in many different places.”

Now in their fifteenth season, the Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate excellence in mystery, thriller, crime, and suspense writing from Aotearoa New Zealand storytellers. The 2024 finalists were announced today in Best First Novel, Best Novel, and Best Kids/YA categories.

“I’m absolutely delighted that we’re celebrating some of our terrific kids’ mystery and thriller writers as a separate category this year,” says Sisterson. “Many of us develop our love of reading, and all the benefits that brings us throughout our lives, thanks to children’s authors. In Aotearoa we have amazing kids’ authors, across various forms and genres.”

The finalists for the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Kids/YA are:

Caged by Susan Brocker (Scholastic)

Katipo Joe: Wolf's Lair by Brian Falkner (Scholastic)

Miracle by Jennifer Lane (Cloud Ink Press)

 Nikolai's Quest by Diane Robinson (Rose & Fern Publishing)

 Nor'east Swell by Aaron Topp (One Tree House)

Falkner, an Auckland storyteller now living in Queensland, won the first-ever special award for Best Kids/YA in 2021. Wellington author Jennifer Lane has previously won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, while Bay of Plenty writer Susan Brocker, Auckland author Diane Robinson, and Hawke’s Bay author Aaron Topp are all first-time Ngaios finalists.

“Moving forward, we hope to award a Best Kids/YA prize biennially,” says Sisterson, “alternating it with our Best Non-Fiction category that has been running since 2017.”

This year’s finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, a prize that in recent years has gone to authors including Jacqueline Bublitz and Michael Bennett, are:

Dice by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)

El Flamingo by Nick Davies (YBK Publishers)

Devil’s Breath by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)

A Better Class of Criminal by Cristian Kelly

Mama Suzuki: Private Eye by Simon Rowe (Penguin SEA)

“It’s really heartening each year to see the range of new voices infusing fresh perspectives into the crime and thriller backstreets of our local literary landscape,” says Sisterson. “Our 2024 finalists are Kiwi storytellers based on four continents, each offering something new and exciting, from madcap capers in Latin America to an unusual Japanese sleuth or a neurodivergent professor of toxic botanicals, to former police detective Cristian Kelly and legal researcher Claire Baylis harnessing real-life expertise in captivating fictional tales.”

Lastly, the finalists for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel are:

Dice by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)

The Caretaker by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)

Ritual of Fire by DV Bishop (Macmillan)

Pet by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Devil’s Breath by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)

Going Zero by Anthony McCarten (Macmillan)

Expectant by Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

“It’s a strong group of finalists to emerge from a dazzlingly varied field,” says Sisterson. “This year’s Ngaio Marsh Awards entrants gave our international judging panels lots to chew over, and plenty of books judges enjoyed and admired didn’t become finalists. ‘Yeahnoir’, our local spin on some of the world’s most popular storytelling forms, is certainly in fine health.”  

Crime writing is a broad church nowadays, notes Sisterson, including but going beyond traditional murder mysteries and whodunnits in the style of Dames Ngaio and Agatha Christie, to deliver insights about society and humanity alongside rollicking reads.

“As the likes of Val McDermid have said, if you want to better understand a place, read its crime fiction,” says Sisterson. “Many of our finalists hold up a mirror to society, taking readers into varied lives through their stories, alongside page-turning entertainment.”

The 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists will be celebrated and this year’s winners announced at a special event held at the WORD Christchurch Festival on Wednesday, 28 August.

For more information on any or all of our 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists, or the Ngaios in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com, or founder Craig Sisterson craigsisterson@hotmail.com.

 

Ngaio Marsh Awards

 

It's official! After months of judging and some tough decisions to parse some amazing books, the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards winners were announced last night following a special Ngaios-WORD Christchurch (New Zealand) event and pub quiz MCed by Kiwi crime queen Vanda Symon, the winners are:

Best Non-Fiction: 

Missing Persons by Steve Braunias

Best First Novel: 

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett

Best Novel: 

Remember Me by Charity Norman

***

From Craig Sisterson, organizer of this amazing Award: 

Whakamihi to our winners, and all the terrific 2023 Ngaios finalists, longlistees, and entrants. 

Kia ora rawa atu to our international judging panels, readers, WORD Christchurch, and all the libraries involved in our Mystery in the Library series. Another fabulous year.

2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists announced

 Beyond whodunnit: 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists offer thrills 

and varied perspectives on violence and justice

From journalists hunting justice to communities upturned by sudden violence, the authors of the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists explore the motives and impacts of some of the starkest criminal justice issues facing Aotearoa. 

“In a tough year for so many, including our entrants and international judges who’ve been living through a variety of rāhui and lockdowns, I’m grateful we can take this moment to celebrate some of our talented Kiwi authors whose compelling books give us insight into other lives and explore some big issues,” says Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson. 

Now in their twelfth season, the Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate excellence in mystery, thriller, crime, and suspense writing from New Zealand storytellers. 

“As people smarter than me have said, including Val McDermid and Dennis Lehane, if you want to better understand a place, read its crime fiction,” says Sisterson. “Crime writing in its wider sense can deliver plenty of deep insights alongside rollicking entertainment, and is an ideal form for delving into character and the whydunnit, as well as broader societal issues.”

From corporate crime to sexual violence, gangs to mental health, a variety of such issues are explored through the fiction and non-fiction books honoured as finalists in the 2021 Ngaios. 

This year, a special award honouring outstanding YA and children’s books has also been introduced. The finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best YA/Kids Book are: 

• KATIPO JOE by Brian Falkner (Scholastic)

• RED EDGE by Des Hunt (Scholastic)

• A TRIO OF SOPHIES by Eileen Merriman (Penguin)

• DEADHEAD by Glenn Wood (One Tree House)

 “Many of us develop our love for reading, and all the benefits that brings throughout our lives, thanks to children’s authors,” says Sisterson. “We’re delighted to now celebrate some of our best local exponents of kids’ mysteries and thrillers with a special award.” 

The finalists for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non-Fiction, a biennial prize previously won by Michael Bennett in 2017 for IN DARK PLACES, a book about the wrongful conviction of Teina Pora, and by Kelly Dennett in 2019 for THE SHORT LIFE AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF JANE FURLONG, are: 

• WEED: A NEW ZEALAND STORY by James Borrowdale (Penguin)

• ROCK COLLEGE: AN UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF MOUNT EDEN PRISON by Mark Derby (Massey University Press)

• FROM DOG COLLAR TO DOG COLLAR by Bruce Howat (Rangitawa Publishing)

• GANGLAND: NEW ZEALAND’S UNDERWORLD OF ORGANISED CRIME by Jared Savage (HarperCollins) 

• BLACK HANDS: INSIDE THE BAIN FAMILY MURDERS by Martin van Beynen (Penguin)

Each of this year’s non-fiction finalists delivered compelling stories that immersed readers in the subject matter of their books, from our most notorious prison to one of our most notorious cases, along with insights into life during and after a police career, New Zealand’s potted history with marijuana, and the rising underworld of organised crime and violent gangs. 

The finalists for the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, an annual award for crime and thriller tales from debut authors that was first won by Raymond Berard in 2016 for INSIDE THE BLACK HORSE, recently adapted into the screen drama Vegas, are: 

• THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR by Rose Carlyle (Allen & Unwin)

• THE BEAUTIFUL DEAD by Kim Hunt (Bloodhound Books)

• WHERE THE TRUTH LIES by Karina Kilmore (Simon & Schuster)

• FOR REASONS OF THEIR OWN by Chris Stuart (Original Sin Press)

• WHILE THE FANTAIL LIVES by Alan Titchall (Devon Media)

“It’s really heartening each year to see a range of new voices infusing fresh perspectives into the crime and thriller backstreets of our local literary landscape,” says Sisterson. “Hopefully we’ll see many of this year’s debut entrants keep on publishing exciting tales in future.” 

Two past Best First Novel finalists who have done just that, Nikki Crutchley and JP Pomare (who won in 2019), are among this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel finalists: 

• THE MURDER CLUB by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press) 

• SPRIGS by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)

• THE TALLY STICK by Carl Nixon (Penguin)

• THE SECRETS OF STRANGERS by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin) 

• TELL ME LIES by JP Pomare (Hachette)

“It’s a strong group of finalists to emerge from a dazzlingly varied field,” says Sisterson. “This year’s entrants gave our international judging panels lots to chew over, and plenty of books judges enjoyed and admired didn’t become finalists. ‘Yeahnoir’, our local spin on some of the world’s most popular storytelling forms, is certainly in fine health.”

The winners of the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards will be announced at a special streaming event on Saturday 30 October, held in association with WORD Christchurch.

A video. of the finalists can also be seen below.

2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards Announced

 Through the eyes of children: debut tales win Ngaio Marsh Awards

Fresh voices came to the fore at WORD Christchurch Spring Festival on Saturday afternoon as Becky Manawatu and RWR McDonald were named the winners of the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

Both winners were first-time novelists, and while their winning books were different in many ways, each was told in large part from the perspective of young children dealing with loss and violence in small-town New Zealand, each included a rich cast of diverse characters, and each expertly blended lighter moments with dark events in tense tales that could make readers gasp and laugh.

Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu) scooped the Best Novel prize for AUĒ (Makaro Press), a novel infused with domestic violence and gang life, told from the perspectives of eight-year-old Arama, his teenage brother Tauriki, and young woman Jade. She’s the first debut author to win Best Novel since 2010.

"A breath-taking expose of lives lived on the margins, and the fight for redemption and absolution,” said the judges. “Manawatu doesn’t use crime as a plot device but shows it woven into the fabric of her characters’ lives, defining them, sometimes destroying them, and serving as a perverse unifier.”

AUĒ joins THIS MORTAL BOY by Fiona Kidman as the only novels to have won both the Ngaio Marsh Award and the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

RWR McDonald grew up on a sheep and deer farm in South Otago, and now lives in Melbourne with his two daughters and extended rainbow family. He won the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel for THE NANCYS (Allen & Unwin), an exuberant small-town murder mystery where eleven-year-old Tippy Chan teams with her visiting uncle and his boyfriend to solve the murder of her teacher.

“Hilarious and inventive; the dynamic between the young protagonist and the adult characters is unusual and special,” said the judges. “A clever hat-tip to one of the most indelible female characters in the genre, and a story that blends crime and humour in unexpected ways.”

It’s a little surreal to realise this is the tenth anniversary of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, said founder Craig Sisterson. The awards were established in 2010 to celebrate excellence in local crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing. Sisterson noted that the Ngaios were modelled somewhat on the Hammett Prize in North America, which has been won by the likes of Margaret Atwood and focuses on ‘literary excellence’ in novels entwined with crime, so isn’t restricted to detective novels or whodunnits.

“We’ve been blessed to have some extraordinary books to consider and celebrate over the past decade, and this year has further added to the growing depth and diversity of local crime writing.”

Becky Manawatu received a trophy and $1,000 courtesy of WORD Christchurch. McDonald won a trophy and cash prize from the Ngaio Marsh Awards. “We feel very fortunate to have been able to hold a real life event before a live audience to celebrate our finalists and winners this year,” said Sisterson. “Huge thanks to Rachael King and WORD Christchurch for all their hard work in such a challenging year, as well as for their ongoing support every year since we launched in 2010.”

2020 Ngaio Marsh Finalists

A diverse array of fresh contenders have amassed to challenge New Zealand’s king of crime fiction as the finalists for the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards were revealed today.

“Ten years after we launched the Ngaio Marsh Awards to help celebrate excellence in local crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing it’s heartening to see so many new voices infusing and stretching our #yeahnoir community,” says founder Craig Sisterson. 

“While we’ve had around 80 debut authors enter the Ngaios in recent years, it’s also been fantastic to see many experienced Kiwi storytellers become first-time Ngaios entrants as they’ve entertained readers and explored society through these types of stories.”

Along with the finalists in the Best First Novel category, for the first time two debut authors – Becky Manawatu and RWR McDonald – have been named finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. Two of the other finalists – Gudrun Frerichs and Renée – are also first-time crime and thriller writers (having previously published in other genres). They’re joined by 2019 Best First Novel winner JP Pomare and three-time Best Novel winner Paul Cleave. 

The finalists for the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards are: 

BEST NOVEL

Whatever it Takes by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press)

Girl from the Tree House by Gudrun Frerichs

Auē by Becky Manawatu (Mākaro Press)

The Nancys by RWR McDonald (Allen & Unwin)

In the Clearing by JP Pomare (Hachette NZ)

The Wild Card by Renée (The Cuba Press)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Tugga’s Mob by Stephen Johnson (Clan Destine Press)

Auē by Becky Manawatu (Mākaro Press)

The Nancys by RWR McDonald Allen & Unwin)

Into the Void by Christina O’Reilly

This year’s finalists are a fascinating group of Kiwi storytellers who’ve collectively won or been shortlisted for accolades in New Zealand and overseas including the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement, the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, the Australian Book Industry Awards, the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, the Saint-Maur Crime Novel of the Year in France, and the Edgar Awards and Barry Awards in the United States. 

“Our international judging panels have been dealing with a range of rāhui and lockdown situations this year but have thoroughly enjoyed reading the range and quality of stories offered by our Kiwi authors,” says Sisterson. “There were differing favourites, tough decisions, and some great reads our judges loved that didn’t become finalists. A decade on from our inaugural Ngaio Marsh Awards, our local genre is certainly in great health.”

Each category of the Ngaio Marsh Awards is judged by a separate international panel, consisting of book critics for print and online publications, bestselling authors, university academics, and festival directors from the USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealan.

The finalists for the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards will be celebrated, and winners announced, at the WORD Christchurch Spring Festival, being held from 29 October to 1 November. 

“It’s been a tough year for so many people,” says Sisterson. “We’re glad to be able to highlight some great Kiwi storytelling. All over the world, people turned to the fruits of the creative industries while in lockdown – reading books and watching films and shows for entertainment, learning, comfort, and escape. While we were saddened to have to cancel a dozen or more library events in April and May, to help keep everyone safe, we’re stoked we now have a chance to once again celebrate some of our local authors. We’re grateful for the support of Rachael King and WORD Christchurch, and the efforts of all New Zealanders.”

A video of the finalists can be seen below:-

For more information on this year’s finalist authors and books, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact founder and judging convenor Craig Sisterson - craigsisterson@hotmail.com

Doin’ It For Themselves: 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award longlist revealed

A widow on the run while living with mental illness, a teenager growing up in a rural cult, and a pre-teen girl in small-town Otago inspired by Nancy Drew to investigate the murder of her schoolteacher are among a diverse array of heroines whose stories and escapades have today been named on the longlist for the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

“In what has been a really unusual year for so many people around the world, we’re really glad to be able to once again highlight some great Kiwi storytelling,” says founder Craig Sisterson. “So many people turned to the creative sector while in lockdown – reading books and watching films and shows for entertainment, comfort, and escape. While we were saddened to have to cancel a dozen or more library events in April and May, to help keep everyone safe, we are stoked we can now celebrate some of our local authors.”

The Ngaio Marsh Awards judges, spread throughout the world and in a variety of rāhui and lockdown situations, were impressed by the variety of this year’s entrants and the many new voices who had joined the ‘yeahnoir’ scene, says Sisterson. “Along with some wonderful debut authors, we’ve had a number of experienced writers from other genres – ranging from kids’ books to literary fiction to playwrighting and paranormal romance – bring their storytelling talents to the crime, thriller, and suspense realm for the first time.”

The Ngaio Marsh Awards have celebrated the best New Zealand crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing since 2010. The longlist for this year’s Best Novel prize is:

SHADOW OF A DOUBT by SL Beaumont (Paperback Writers Publishing)

TRUST ME, I'M DEAD by Sherryl Clark (Verve Books)

WHATEVER IT TAKES by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press)

ONE SINGLE THING by Tina Clough (Lightpool Publishing)

GIRL FROM THE TREE HOUSE by Gudrun Frerichs

AUE by Becky Manawatu (Makaro Press)

THE NANCYS by RWR McDonald (Allen & Unwin)

HIDE by SJ Morgan (MidnightSun Publishing)

THE GREAT DIVIDE by LJM Owen

IN THE CLEARING by JP Pomare (Hachette)

THE WILD CARD by Renee (Cuba Press)

A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE by Nalini Singh (Hachette)

The longlist is currently being considered by a judging panel of crime, thriller, and suspense writing experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

The finalists for both this Best Novel category and Best First Novel will be announced later this year. The finalists will be celebrated, and the winners announced, as part of a special event at this year’s WORD Christchurch Festival, held from 29 October to 1 November.

An online video highlighting the  twelve longlisted books can be seen below.

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

For more information on this year’s longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact founder and judging convenor Craig Sisterson, craigsisterson@hotmail.com