Murder in the Court: Ngaio winner revealed

THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD, in association with WORD Christchurch and The Press, is pleased to reveal that whodunit and who-won-it will be announced at a great event at the Court Theatre on 4 October.

“I’m thrilled that the event will be held at the Court Theatre this year,” says Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson, “both as a nod to Dame Ngaio’s own passion for the stage, and because the Court Jesters were scheduled to perform at our inaugural event in 2010, before the Christchurch earthquakes intervened.”

The event on Sunday 4 October begins at 5.00pm and will include a chance to have a drink and mingle with the finalists and an improvised murder mystery, followed by actors reading from each novel:

FIVE MINUTES ALONE by Paul Cleave (Penguin NZ)

THE PETTICOAT MEN by Barbara Ewing (Head of Zeus)

SWIMMING IN THE DARK by Paddy Richardson (Upstart Press)

THE CHILDREN’S POND by Tina Shaw (Pointer Press)

FALLOUT by Paul Thomas (Upstart Press)

“Rachael King and her WORD Christchurch team have put together a really terrific evening to honour this year’s finalists,” says Sisterson. “We’re all curious to see who’ll win from amongst this superb array of New Zealand writing talent; diverse books melding page-turning storytelling with deeper societal issues. I understand it’s been a cliffhanger decision for our international judging panel of crime fiction experts.”

The Ngaio Marsh Award is made annually for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident. This year’s winner will receive the Ngaio Marsh Award trophy, a set of Dame Ngaio’s novels courtesy of her publisher HarperCollins, and a cash prize provided by WORD Christchurch.

WORD Christchurch will also be giving away a set of the finalists’ novels to an attendee on the night.

For more information and ticketing, contact WORD Christchurch at admin@wordchristchurch.co.nz

For more on the Ngaio Marsh Award, go to www.facebook.com/NgaioMarshAward, follow on Twitter @ngaiomarshaward, or contact the Judging Convenor directly: craigsisterson@hotmail.com

Competition - Win a complete signed set of the Ngaio Marsh Award short listed books

Readers from around the world have the opportunity to win personally autographed copies of this year's Ngaio Marsh Award finalists, as the "Reading Kiwi Crime" competition kicks off for 2015. 

Going into the draw to win is simple: all you need to do is take a picture of yourself reading any New Zealand crime, mystery, or thriller title - from old classics like Ngaio Marsh, Fergus Hume, Elizabeth Messenger and Laurie Mantell, to the latest from award winners like Paul Cleave, Paul Thomas, and Neil Cross. Then share it with the Award organisers by:

1.              Tweeting the pic and tagging @ngaiomarshaward; OR

2.              Posting the pic to the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page; OR

3.              Emailing the pic to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. 

If you follow the Award's twitter account or like the Facebook page, you'll get a bonus entry in the draw. 

Just to clarify: the book in your photo doesn't have to be set in New Zealand, just written by an author connected to New Zealand (citizen, resident, grew up here, etc). If you're scratching your head for choices, here's a long list of possibilities.

So grab something from your shelf or hit your local bookstore or library, and get snapping. 

The winner will be drawn on 4 October when the winner of the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award is announced.

Ngaio Marsh Award Short List

FIVE OUTSTANDING novels full of mystery and intrigue have been announced as the shortlist for the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, which will be presented at an event held in association with WORD Christchurch in late September.

“The five books on this year’s shortlist are a superb showcase of New Zealand writing talent,” says Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “A few years ago it was common to question the quality of crime writing in this country, but these authors clearly demonstrate that our tales and our writers stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the world. The shortlist contains a diverse range of styles and stories, but each book melds page-turning entertainment with an undercurrent of deeper issues that go the very heart of our communities and society.”

After much deliberation, the international judging panel has selected the following five finalists:

         FIVE MINUTES ALONE by Paul Cleave (Penguin NZ)

         THE PETTICOAT MEN by Barbara Ewing (Head of Zeus)

         SWIMMING IN THE DARK by Paddy Richardson (Upstart Press)

         THE CHILDREN’S POND by Tina Shaw (Pointer Press)

         FALLOUT by Paul Thomas (Upstart Press)

The judges praised Cleave’s FIVE MINUTES ALONE as “gritty and thoroughly absorbing”, a “one-sitting” novel that “evokes complex feelings regarding retribution and morality”. Ewing’s THE PETTICOAT MEN is “an immaculately researched” take on a real-life 1870s event that is “spirited, full of strong characters” and “a joy to read”.  The panel hailed SWIMMING IN THE DARK as “an elegantly delivered, disturbing, and ultimately very human tale” that showcased Richardson’s talent for “damaged characters and tackling grey areas”. Tina Shaw authors a “mesmerising” character study in THE CHILDREN’S POND, using deft and spare language to craft a tale with a sublime sense of both place and menace that is “a delight to read”. Paul Thomas’s FALLOUT is “compelling and character-rich”, a “superb continuation” of the Ihaka series; “excellent writing… funny, but also serious.”

The Ngaio Marsh Award is made annually for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident. This year’s winner will receive the Ngaio Marsh Award trophy, a set of Dame Ngaio’s novels courtesy of her publisher HarperCollins, and a cash prize provided by WORD Christchurch.  

The Award’s namesake, Dame Ngaio Marsh, was a Christchurch mystery writer and theatre director renowned worldwide as one of the four “Queens of Crime” of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. More than thirty years after her death her books remain in print and beloved by many generations of readers. The Ngaio Marsh Award was established in 2010 with the blessing of Dame Ngaio’s closest living relative, John Dacres-Manning.

And Then There Were Nine!

THREE debut novelists and two established authors dipping their creative pens in the crime and mystery well for the first time help bring a fresh look to the longlist for the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, revealed today. “It is fantastic to see more and more talented New Zealand writers bringing their unique voices, perspectives, and interests to one of the world’s most popular storytelling genres,” said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “Crime fiction is a broad church nowadays, and this year’s excellent longlist illustrates that well. It will be very interesting to see which of these books the judges prefer.” The nine longlisted titles are:

DROWNING CITY by Ben Atkins (Random House)

FIVE MINUTES ALONE by Paul Cleave (Atria)

DATABYTE by Cat Connor (Rebel ePublishers)

THE PETTICOAT MEN by Barbara Ewing (Head of Zeus)

A HISTORY OF CRIME: THE SOUTHERN DOUBLE-CROSS by Dinah Holman (Ravensbourne Books)

TRILEMMA by Jennifer Mortimer (Oceanview Publishing)

SWIMMING IN THE DARK by Paddy Richardson (Upstart Press)

THE CHILDREN’S POND by Tina Shaw (Pointer Press)

FALLOUT by Paul Thomas (Upstart Press)

The judging panel (crime fiction experts from New Zealand, Australia, the United States, United Kingdom and Iceland) will announce the finalists in May. The winner will be revealed at a special event held later this year in association with WORD Christchurch, which has supported the Award since its establishment in 2010.

For more information, please contact: Craig Sisterson, Judging Convenor: ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com

Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist

Craig Sisterston (Crime Watch) has announced the longlist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best New Zealand Crime Novel. On Saturday, 30 August, the fifth recipient of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced following the Great New Zealand Crime Debate event at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival 2014.

The shortlist for the Ngaio Marsh Award will be announced in August. However, it was thought that it would be good to announce the 8 books on the longlist.

The longlisted titles for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award are as follows –

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Joe Victim by Paul Cleave

The Beckoning Ice by Joan Druett

Frederick’s Coat by Alan Duff

My Sister’s Keeper by Donna Malane

Where Dead Men Go by Liam McIlvanney

Cross Fingers by Paddy Richardson

Only the Dead by Ben Sanders

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

H/T to Janet Rudolph and Mystery FanFare.