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.
