Crime Watch

Otago Daily Times picks THE SILENT GIRL as 'Crime Thriller of the Year' for 2011

2012-01-31T15:37:00.006+13:00

Over the past few weeks there have been plenty of 'best of'' types of articles, reviews, and posts on blogs, newspapers and websites (online and in print). Of course, it is that time of year when we look back at what has passed, and try to distil all that has been read, said, and done into pithy comments and lists. Not that there is anything wrong with that - it's always good to pause and reflect, and the end of the year/start of the new year certainly provides an opportune time. While I haven't created any such lists or shared my thoughts about my 2011 crime fictionr reading (yet) here on Crime Watch, I've certainly pondered what I liked, loved, disliked and was indifferent to or underwhelmed by in terms of the 100 books I read in 2011.

It's also fascinating to see how other people felt about the books that we've read ourselves (in previous years one of my 'most underwhelming' books of the year has gone on to win a UK crime writing prize, for instance). One book that I read and enjoyed in 2011 has just got a big rap from a New Zealand newspaper; THE SILENT GIRL by Tess Gerritsen has been named 'best crime thriller of the year' by the Otago Daily Times' specialist reviewer Geoff Adams. You can read Adams' thoughts on the book here.

While it wasn't my personal 'thriller of the year', I did very much enjoyed reading THE SILENT GIRL, and certainly preferred it to the previous Gerritsen book I'd read, THE KILLING PLACE.

I gave THE SILENT GIRL 4 out of 5 stars in a review for Good Reading magazine in Australia, saying:

"The Silent Girl is Gerritsen’s first novel (of 23) to address her own Asian-American heritage in any way, and it’s all the better for it. An intriguing, layered setting, bewitching new characters, and insights into the lives of immigrants and minorities all add extra interest to the usual page-turning mystery plots and compelling heroines we’ve come to expect ..."

I also had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing Gerritsen about writing the novel for the New Zealand Herald (read article here), and meeting the author while she was touring New Zealand in August last year (see picture, right).

Have you read THE SILENT GIRL? What did you think? What was your favourite thriller of 2011?

LETHAL REFUGE by Vonnie Hughes

2012-01-31T15:10:00.001+13:00

Earlier this month, I noted that while I'd gone on holiday over the Xmas break, Kiwi crime fiction had not, with the publication of John Ling's debut political thriller THE BLASPHEMER in late December.

Ling was not the only Kiwi author to publish a crime, mystery, thriller or suspense novel over the holiday period, however, with Vonnie Hughes (a New Zealander who now lives in Australia) releasing LETHAL REFUGE on Amazon on 15 December. It is available in Kindle and paperback editions.

The novel was officially published by Wild Rose Press this month:

LETHAL REFUGE is set in New Zealand. Celie Francis is plunged into the witness protection program (the Unit) after witnessing the aftermath of a murder. There, she is expected to trust complete strangers with her life, and trust is not something Celie does well after being abandoned as a child.

Brand Turner, the psychologist for the Unit, demands trust from the relocatees so he can ease them into their new identities, but someone inside the Unit is leaking information. He and Celie are menaced and they go on the run. Should Celie trust Brand with her life?

You can read more about Vonnie Hughes and her writing at her website here.

The Return of the King?

2012-01-30T15:24:00.001+13:00

Next month Paul Thomas, one of the biggest names in Australasian crime fiction from the 1990s, returns to the crime writing stage with DEATH ON DEMAND, his first crime novel in a decade, and his first novel to feature Detective Tito Ihaka in 15 years.

Thomas won the inaugural Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel with his second novel, INSIDE DOPE, in 1995. In an overview of Australian crime writing (Thomas lived in Sydney for a time), Michael Pollack and Margaret MacNabb wrote about Thomas’ early novels, saying: "These comic novels leave the reader laughing, that’s for sure. The sparkling dialogue, absurd situations and all the crackling one-liners are pure entertainment. But there is always the shadow of doubt falling over the page…After reading Paul Thomas… one never reads a newspaper or watches a television newscast with the quite the same degree of innocence again."

You can read more about him and his crime writing history here.

In late 2010, Thomas's first three crime novels were republished as THE IHAKA TRILOGY, and I commented at the time that this was hopefully a sign that perhaps Thomas - who is also an acclaimed newspaper columnist and the author of several bestselling sports biographies - was considering a return to the crime writing page. As it turns out, that was true. DEATH ON DEMAND will be released on 28 February.

Here's a backcover blurb:

These days Maori cop Tito Ihaka is leading a quieter life in the Wairarapa. Five years earlier he'd sought to step into the shoes of his long-time boss Detective Inspector Finbar McGrail after the latter's promotion to Auckland District Commander. Dogged by the fall-out from his handling of the hit and run death of a prominent businesswoman, Ihaka was overlooked for a younger, more presentable candidate. After a men's room confrontation with his new boss's right-hand man, Ihaka was sent into exile.

Out of the blue McGrail summons him back to Auckland. Christopher Lilywhite, the businesswoman's terminally ill husband whom Ihaka suspected was behind his wife's death, wants to see him. Lilywhite confesses that he had his wife murdered, but he dealt with the hit-man at arm's length so has no idea who he is. In quick succession Lilywhite and another potential source of information are murdered.

Ihaka's old rival Detective Inspector Tony Charlton takes control of the case but with more corpses turning up and Auckland Central stretched to breaking point, he agrees to let Ihaka investigate the apparently unrelated murder of a young man about town. As the investigations expand uncovering a blackmail operation preying on married women, gang activities controlled from inside Paremeremo prison and possible police corruption, Ihaka realises that the cases are related and he's hunting a faceless and prolific hit-man. Or is the hit-man hunting him?

I was fortunate enough to read an advance version last month, and it's a rip-roaring read, packed with action and interesting characters. Without a doubt, it's great to see Ihaka back on the page.

I'll publish a full review once the book is published. In the meantime, keep an eye out for DEATH ON DEMAND. The return of Thomas certainly bolsters an already impressive line-up of contemporary Kiwi crime writers in recent years.

Literary darling Eleanor Catton discusses her next novel - an historical, astrological, murder mystery

2012-01-30T13:55:00.000+13:00

A few years ago, young Kiwi author Eleanor Catton (who was born in Canada while her New Zealand father was studying there) burst onto the literary scene with her debut novel, THE REHEARSAL, which dealt with the reactions to an affair between a male teacher and a secondary school student, contrasted with the more muted response to the death of another student.

Over the couple of years after the novel's initial publication in 2007, Catton's star continued to rise and rise, as she was awarded a Writers' Fellowship to Iowa University, won the UK-based Betty Trask Award, the Montana Best First Book Award (in New Zealand), was shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award, and longlisted for the Orange Prize, amongst other accolades and acclaim.

Late last year I stumbled across an interesting note online suggesting that Catton's second novel, which she was then working on, might include something of a murder mystery. Understandably, this piqued my interest.

Now Catton has been interviewed by the Book Council about her upcoming second novel, THE LUMINARIES, which is set in the Gold Rush era of New Zealand, in the 1860s (side note - this was named one of the 'hot books' being sold at the Frankfurt Book Fair late last year).

You can read that interview, where Catton talks about why she believes history should be strange, her (changing?) views on astrology, and the most inventive murder mysteries she's read, HERE.

A royal flush of crime writers at the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival

2012-01-27T09:58:00.000+13:00

Yesterday, the programme for the upcoming 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival's Writers and Readers Week was officially launched, and it contains a royal flush of crime writers - five world-class crime writers from here and abroad are on the programme. As already discussed here on Crime Watch, Norwegian crime king Jo Nesbo and acclaimed Scottish crime writer Denise Mina will be visiting for the Festival. Now it has also been officially announced that there will be a New Zealand crime fiction event featuring Paul Cleave, Vanda Symon and Paul Thomas, and also that Denise Mina will be appearing twice - once in a solo event, and once with American author Ron Rash, talking about how "place plays a vital and affecting role in their writing".

Click here to see the full line-up of events.

There are some terrific non-crime writing events too, but for all you crime-loving readers out there, here are the crime fiction related events at the Writers and Readers Week:

Saturday 10 March 2012 - 2pm - Denise Mina: Tartan Noir, Scottish crime
Saturday 10 March 2012 - 5pm - Jo Nesbo: Norwegian crime (note: there will also be a screening of the HEADHUNTERS film that evening, see my post from yesterday)
Sunday 11 March 2012 - 9.30am - Denise Mina and Ron Rash: Examining Place
Sunday 11 March 2012 - 11am - Paul Cleave, Vanda Symon, Paul Thomas: New Zealand crime

It's great to see the New Zealand International Arts Festival (along with a few other local arts and books festivals) embracing the crime fiction part of the books world in such a way. Hopefully the events get some great audiences, as I'm sure the sessions will be quite intriguing (Disclosure of interest - I'm involved with a couple of them as chair).

Jo Nesbø: full New Zealand tour details

2012-01-26T17:10:00.003+13:00

Last year on Crime Watch I shared the great news that terrific Norwegian crime fiction superstar Jo Nesbø would be coming to New Zealand in March 2012, including as part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington. As I said last year, Jo Nesbø would also be doing events in Auckland, Christchurch and Wanaka. I'm now pleased to share the full tour itinerary for Nesbø's visit, which includes a number of events, along with premiere screenings of the film adaptation of HEADHUNTERS. Great stuff!

Here's the full run-down from Random House, his New Zealand publisher:

Catch Jo Nesbo in NZ!

The über-cool Norwegian thriller writer, Jo Nesbo, is touring Down Under in March. He’s here to promote the Feb release of Phantom, his new Harry Hole thriller and the NZ release of film adaptation of Headhunters!

Tuesday 6 March – Auckland

12:30pm - 1:00pm: BOOK SIGNING ― Whitcoulls, cnr Queen St & Victoria St
6:00pm - 8:00pm: EVENT – Jo Nesbo in conversation with Graham Beattie followed by book signing, Event Tickets: http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/ and search for Jo Nesbo Interview & Book Signing Venue: Rialto, Broadway, Newmarket
8:30pm HEADHUNTERS MOVIE PREVIEW with a brief intro from Jo Nesbo, Movie tickets: For event details and booking information visit http://www.rialto.co.nz/, Venue: Rialto Cinemas, Broadway, Newmarket

Wednesday 7 March – Christchurch

1:15pm - 1:30pm: BOOK SIGNING – Riccarton Whitcoulls, Riccarton Mall
2:00pm - 2:15pm: BOOK SIGNING – Merivale Paper Plus, Merivale Mall
5:30pm - 7:30pm: EVENT – The Press Literary Liaison presents Jo Nesbo in conversation with Ken Strongman, Tickets available from 14 February through The Press. Please check the paper for details
8:30pm: HEADHUNTERS MOVIE PREVIEW with a brief intro from Jo Nesbo. Movie tickets: For event details and booking information visit http://www.rialto.co.nz/. Venue: The Palms, Reading Cinema, Shirley

Thursday 8 March – Wanaka

6:00pm: EVENT – An evening with Jo Nesbo. Tickets available through PaperPlus, Wanaka from 14 February. Please call 03 443 7532. Venue: Paradiso Cinema
8:30pm: HEADHUNTERS MOVIE PREVIEW with a brief intro from Jo Nesbo. Movie tickets: For event details and booking information visit http://www.rialto.co.nz/. Venue: Paradiso Cinema

Saturday 10 March – Wellington

2:30pm - 2:45pm: BOOK SIGNING – Whitcoulls, Lambton Quay
5:00pm - 7:00pm: EVENT – International Readers & Writers Festival presents Jo Nesbo in conversation with Craig Sisterson. Tickets & information.Venue: Embassy Theatre, 10 Kent Tce, City
8:00pm: HEADHUNTERS MOVIE PREVIEW with a brief intro from Jo Nesbo. Venue: Embassy Theatre, 10 Kent Tce, City. Tickets & information: http://www.rialto.co.nz/. Venue: Embassy, Kent Tce, Wellington

So there's plenty of chances to meet one of global crime fiction's biggest stars this March.

Have you read Jo Nesbø? Will you be going to any of the events?

Review: Behind the Hood by Marita Hansen

2012-01-24T18:00:00.000+13:00

In 2012 I hope to have many people other than myself regularly reviewing a range of crime, mystery, thriller and suspense books on Crime Watch. I will of course endeavour to comprehensively cover any New Zealand novels, but we'll also have reviews of crime ficiton from a variety of other countries too.

To kick things off, today I am sharing a review by thriller writer John Ling (THE BLASPHEMER) of Marita Hansen's debut thriller, BEHIND THE HOOD. Here's John's review:

BEHIND THE HOOD by Marita A. Hansen
Reviewed by John Ling

I first encountered Marita A. Hansen when we bumped into each other on Goodreads. Goodreads, of course, is the largest networking site for readers and writers. And we immediately connected because we're both Kiwis writing urban fiction set in New Zealand.

On impulse, I picked up her novel, Behind The Hood, even though she didn't ask me to.

And, in hindsight, I'm glad I did.

Behind The Hood is tough, gritty and uncompromising. The kind of story that I like to call 'faction'. Where razor-sharp realism reinforces a propulsive narrative that's so gut-wrenchingly harrowing, it can only have come from the mind and soul of someone who's actually been there and done that.

Marita, you see, grew up in Manurewa. So she understands intimately and instinctively what it means to be young and desperate in a South Auckland ghetto. And she hammers her point home with prose that's punchy, gritty and unsentimental. It's incredibly precise in the the way it examines the minutiae of street life; the daily beats of the turf wars; the struggles of the underclass. Think George Pelecanos and Richard Price -- but executed with a Kiwi flair and sensibility. And if I had to compare Behind The Hood to celluloid, I would say it most closely resembles The Wire. It's not just sharp and compelling drama; it's a sociology class wrapped up in down-and-dirty observation.

This is incendiary stuff that slashes at your soul with all the power of a switchblade. And if only our politicians could read it, they would break down, weep and get their act together.

Behind the Hood is a hard-boiled story that's frighteningly authentic. So don't read it because you want to. Read it because you have to.

It's available now as an e-book and paperback from Amazon.

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John Ling is the Amazon best-selling author of THE BLASPHEMER. You can find out more about him and his work at www.johnling.net.

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Have you read BEHIND THE HOOD? Does it sound like the kind of book that would interest you? What do you think of John's review? Do you know any other recent New Zealand crime novels, print or ebook, that should be featured on Crime Watch? Comments appreciated.

Award-winning director Jane Campion to helm New Zealand-set thriller TV series

2012-01-21T04:40:00.002+13:00

The Mountain Scene newspaper has revealed that acclaimed film director Jane Campion will soon begin filming a six-part thriller TV series near Queenstown. The fictional six-part series called Top of the Lake centres around a 12-year-old girl who is five months pregnant and goes missing under mysterious circumstances.

Oscar winner Holly Hunter (Saving Grace) and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) will feature, along with Australian and New Zealand cast members. Campion has said about the project that: “It’s a detective story that’s very much influenced by the landscape around Glenorchy and explores ideas about paradise and community".

Campion, who has a long and illustrious career, is perhaps most famous for winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Piano (which starred Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and a young Anna Paquin - Hunter and Paquin also winning Oscars for Best Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively). Campion was only the second female director ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director (she remains one of only four female nominees ever in history).

Her most recent film was the acclaimed Bright Star (2009), about the poet John Keats.

I'm looking forward to seeing what a quality storyteller like Campion, bolstered by the likes of Hunter and the Central Otago scenery and atmosphere, will come up with for a television thriller series.

"Sharp, original and clever": Dame Fiona Kidman praises New Zealand crime writing

2012-01-20T17:20:00.001+13:00

I just stumbled over something interesting today - in a recent article in the Sunday Star-Times, one of New Zealand's most popular newspapers, fifty New Zealanders - from sportspeople to actors to musicians to comedians to everyday folk - were asked what they were most optimistic about for the coming year. In amongst those fifty New Zealanders was 71-year-old Dame Fiona Kidman (pictured), a doyenne of the New Zealand literary scene. Dame Fiona, who amongst many accolades over a long and stellar career has been awarded both the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) and the Légion d’Honneur (French Legion of Honour) by the French government.

Dame Fiona is a leading contemporary novelist, poet, short story writer and scriptwriter. She is the President of Honour of the New Zealand Book Council, and has been a judge for the Commonwealth Fiction Prize. Her bibliography includes almost 30 books and more than 60 film, TV, and radio scripts. Her latest short story collection, THE TROUBLE WITH FIRE, was released in 2011 and spent several months on the bestseller list. Her book, THE BOOK OF SECRETS, has continuously been in print for the past 25 years. In short, Dame Fiona is one of the pillars of the New Zealand literary community.

So, why I am so excited about stumbling across Dame Fiona's reasons for optimism for 2012? Well, because Dame Fiona noted the burgeoning New Zealand crime fiction scene. "I am more optimistic, more buoyant, than I can recall, about the future of good local fiction," said Dame Fiona to the Sunday Star-Times. "While my own past year felt positive, my work was in the company of so many wonderful novels and short-story collections that it seems as if New Zealand writers are finding a collective voice that roars. New Zealand crime writing is the new noir here and abroad; sharp, original and clever. As readers increasingly engage with historical fiction, writers are rising to the challenge of providing work of real literary quality in the genre. I predict another great year." (emphasis added).

When a literary voice of this stature gives a nod to the quality of local crime writing, well, perhaps things really are beginning to change down here. Thank you Dame Fiona, for putting a big smile on my face.

Plenty of international authors up for Edgar Award

2012-01-20T12:58:00.002+13:00

Earlier today (NZT), the Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards (the 'Edgars'), honoring the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction. The winners will be announced at a gala banquet on April 26 in New York. A quick skim of the main award (Best Novel) nominees reveals that non-US authors feature strongly this year:

The Ranger by Ace Atkins;
Gone by Mo Hayder;
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino;
1222 by Anne Holt;
Field Gray by Philip Kerr.

By my calculation, that's an American author, a British author, a Japanese author, a Norwegian author, and a British author who sets his books in wartime Germany/Europe. So quite the geographical spread compared to most years, for a US-based award that is considered 'the Oscar of the crime writing world'.

I haven't read any of those five novels, although I have all but THE RANGER and 1222 on my TBR shelf at home, waiting to be read (I have a different Anne Holt book as well). So I can't given any thoughts on what book might be most deserving, or the favourite etc. As always, some very good books have missed out. I thought I might see Jo Nesbo's name there - he has previously been nominated for NEMESIS, and THE SNOWMAN and THE LEOPARD - both arguably better novels - were both released in the USA in 2011, so I would have thought might have featured. Also, James Lee Burke's FEAST DAY OF FOOLS has been lauded by many, and even the author himself thinks it might be his best book ever (which is an incredibly high bar), so I thought he might get some further recognition - although he seems to have been overlooked by the Edgars in recent years, in favour of newer and lesser-known authors (he has one the Award twice before).

Unfortunately there is also no nomination for Luther, even though the first series won last year's television Edgar, and many consider the second series as good or better (and Idris Elba just won a Golden Globe for the second series). However the five nominated TV shows - Blue Bloods, Justified, Whitechapel, Homeland, and Law & Order: SVU are all quality shows too. I would have maybe had Luther and Sons of Anarchy there somewhere - both have excellent writing - but that's the way these things go with awards ceremonies.

Have you read any of the five novels nominated for the Best Novel Edgar? Which is your pick to win?

You can read the full list of nominees, courtesy of Shots Mag!, here.

"A fair and balanced account of what's really happening in the Islamic world today" - local author aims high

2012-01-18T12:43:00.001+13:00

Earlier this month, I noted that Malaysian-born writer John Ling (pictured), who now lives in New Zealand and works at our national broadcaster TVNZ, released his debut thriller, THE BLASPHEMER on Amazon (Kindle) in late December.

Now an interesting interview with Ling by Lydia Koh of The Malaysian Insider has been published, talking about his debut thriller, and dealing with the politics and global issues entwined within it. Ling talks to Koh about how at times Muslims are treated as "a single monolithic block", while nothing could be further from the truth. Ling says THE BLASPHEMER, which his debut novel, but his second publication after a collection of short stories, is his attempt to "provide a fair and balanced account of what's really shaping the Islamic world today - the conflict between progressive Muslims and fundamentalist Muslims".

In the interview, Ling also shares more about the extensive research he did to ensure he dealt with the issues and the Muslim faith "in a way that's as authentic and respectful as possible", including reading the Koran, the hadith and other Muslim writings, and seeking out non-Malaysian academics to get insight into a particular strain of Islam (the central character is a Sufi Muslim who faces a death threat after he publishes a controversial book). Ling also contacted special forces personnel to gather insights for other characters.

Ling also shares some thoughts on how digital publishing is changing the author-reader relationship, the feedback he used in honing the final version of the book, and much more. You can read the full piece on the Malaysian Insider website here.

THE BLASPHEMER is currently available from Amazon Kindle exclusively for three months, but will be available from other outlets, such as Smashwords after that time.

On Amazon, the book comes complete with an afterword discussing the inspiration and background behind the story; two non-fiction essays on Islam and terrorism; and two bonus excerpts from other works-in-progress.

Idris Elba wins Golden Globe for Luther role

2012-01-17T11:10:00.001+13:00

Congratulations to outstanding British actor Idris Elba, who yesterday (NZT) won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television award at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.

Elba won the Award for his excellent performances as the complex and compelling DCI John Luther in the tremendous Neil Cross-created and written crime drama Luther (read my review of the first season DVD here). For me, Luther is one of the very best crime dramas of the past few years, and Elba's performances are riveting, so I'm very glad to see him deservedly recognised by the Golden Globes. Cross has created a terrifically layered character, which Elba has brought to life on screen in all his volcanic and volatile glory.

Elba beat out Hugh Bonneville, (Downton Abbey), William Hurt, (Too Big to Fail), Bill Nighy, (Page Eight), and his former The Wire co-star Dominic West (The Hour) to win the award.

Through Scarpetta's eyes: my interview with Patricia Cornwell (full online version)

2012-01-12T15:57:00.001+13:00

Through Scarpetta’s eyes
Godmother of forensic fiction Patricia Cornwell talks to Craig Sisterson about fresh storytelling, transcendent ideas, and the possibility of seeing Kay Scarpetta onscreen

Not only is Patricia Cornwell not bored with Kay Scarpetta, her incredibly popular medical examiner heroine she first brought to the page more than twenty years and 100 million book sales ago, she feels her interest has been renewed over the last couple of books, including Red Mist, released in New Zealand this week. “Switching back to the first person perspective was quite important, because it gave me a renewed sense of energy,” says Cornwell, who credits Scarpetta and the way she looks at things as “the one thing I have that nobody else does”.

Cornwell, who discovered a fascination for crime writing when she was on the police beat as a young reporter in North Carolina – even going so far as to later take a job at the medical examiner’s office to learn more about “a world that most people had never seen” – says she aims to come up with something new or different from a forensic or investigative standpoint for each novel. In Red Mist, it is the type of killing which is unusual, if chillingly believable.

But while she may have sparked the forensic fiction ‘sub-genre’ that has since swept through books, TV, and film – opening up the world of pathology and autopsy to mass audiences – Cornwell says it is Scarpetta and her point of view, rather than forensics, that is really “the centrepiece” of her books. “How does she look at things, how does she work a case, how does she go about her business? It really is about this character.”

Despite Red Mist being her nineteenth Scarpetta tale, on top of five other thrillers, a children’s book, and four works of non-fiction, Cornwell says ideas are never an issue, thanks to her passion for research. “As long as I go out into the world and do things, as opposed to just sitting in my office and writing, there are so many things I can get ideas from.” Instead, the challenge is to tell a story that “is really fresh, interesting, and has a lot of energy”.

To do that, she looks for an idea that truly captivates her – “if I’m not interested in it, then you’re not going to be interested in it” – comparing the selection process to flicking through photos and finding the one that “just seems to leap out at you”, that transcends just being an image of something to be an art form with real life to it. “That’s the way I feel about an idea. I’ll be doing some kind of research, and all of a sudden it’s like the lights are brighter, and it gets bigger, and seems to leap out at you. It might be a weapon someone shows me, something someone says to me, an adventure I’ve gone on and something happens to me. It’s a feeling you get where something becomes bigger than itself.”

Red Mist, which sees Scarpetta travelling to Savannah, Georgia – a town draped in history and Spanish moss – to meet a high-security prisoner perhaps holding answers about the murder of her deputy, came from Cornwell wanting to put Scarpetta in a place she doesn’t belong, to see what happens. “It’s almost like she’s entering a very gothic world of swamps and marshlands and places that are isolated and remote. She’s out of her comfort zone. I just know that something really bad is going to happen, because she shouldn’t be there.”

While there is plenty of visual storytelling in Red Mist, a novel which shows Cornwell is back to her best, Scarpetta fans may soon get an even clearer visual representation of the popular heroine; Oscar winner Angelina Jolie is tabbed to play the fearless medical examiner in a big screen adaptation. Cornwell is cautiously hopeful this project – the latest in a long line of several attempts to bring Scarpetta to the screen – will come to fruition. “The very best people in the business are involved right now,” she says, noting an original screenplay is in the works. “I don’t want to count on it too much until there’s something really tangible, but it is the most optimistic I’ve felt, and obviously when you have an actress of Angelina Jolie’s calibre, if she did it, it would be really amazing to see what she did with this character.”

Red Mist (Little, Brown, $39.99) is out now.

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This feature article was originally published in print in the 11 December 2011 issue of the Sunday Star-Times and is reprinted in full online here with permission

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Kiwi crime on the loose in 2012 - first up: Hamilton

2012-01-12T12:32:00.000+13:00

It is great to see that local literary and arts festivals are increasingly embracing crime fiction, international and local, and including more and more crime writers amongst their event schedules.

We've had some terrific crime fiction events in the past couple of years, and things look to be going from strength to strength in 2012, with several large festivals having already announced or indicated that they will be including some great crime fiction events this year. Hopefully even more events will be added in the coming weeks and months.

First up on the festival front for lovers of crime writing is the 2012 Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival, which kicks off next month. The Festival runs for the last couple of weeks of February, and consists of many terrific events, ranging from visual arts to music, comedy, film, theatre, dance, food and wine, and books. Held during what is often the best time of the New Zealand summer, it should be great.

There are four literary/books events at this year's festival, including a crime writing event on Sunday 19 February that features local crime writers of both the fictional and true crime persuasion. I have the pleasure of hosting/MCing the crime writing event. With five fantastic New Zealand writers in attendance, and at only $10 to attend, it's a complete steal:

Crime Writers
"Delve into the mind of crime"

Scott Bainbridge
New Zealand law means that all unsolved murder files are inaccessible for a period of 70 years. Even after this period, restricted access is rarely given. Bainbridge has been given unprecedented access to the police files for ten of New Zealand¹s most baffling unsolved murders.

Joan Rosier-Jones
In Joan's latest book, market gardener Chow Yat, lives on the outskirts of Whanganui in post-WWI New Zealand, a time of particularly rampant xenophobia. In 1922 this humble, hardworking Chinese man was brutally shot and the murder remained unsolved. Through sound enquiry Rosier-Jones single-handedly all but solves the case.

Ben Sanders
At 20 years of age, Ben Sanders fascination with crime fiction has paid off having just signed a two-book contract with HarperCollins Publishers. Ben's sophisticated and edgy writing style signals the emergence of a major new talent.

Vanda Symon
Vanda is the author of the Sam Shephard detective fiction series. Her latest novel Bound, went straight to number one in the New Zealand bestsellers lists.

Paul Cleave
At 24 Paul wrote The Killing Hour. A year later he wrote The Cleaner. In 2006, six years after it was written, The Cleaner was published. It became one of the biggest selling books ever to come out of New Zealand, picking up several international contracts within it's first year and introducing Joe, the 'loveable' serial killer who works at the Christchurch Police Department.

The Crime Writers event will be held at 5pm on Sunday 19 February 2012 at the Garden Terrace restaurant. Penny's Bookstore will be selling a range of the writers' books at the event.

I really hope to see some North Island-based Crime Watch readers and crime fiction fans there on the night. It should be a great evening! Thanks to the organisers of the 2012 Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival for embracing local crime writing in such a great way.

Currently reading: ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL by Declan Burke

2012-01-10T20:49:00.000+13:00

Just popped into work (I'm not officially back until Thursday) and discovered a couple of books had been delivered in my festive season absence, including ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL by Declan Burke, which I'd ordered from Book Depository since it wasn't readily available here downunder. I really enjoy Burke's crime fiction-focused blog, and have been meaning to read some of his own crime fiction tales for a while now.

Here's a blurb for ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL:

Absolute Zero Cool is a post-modern take on the crime thriller genre. Adrift in the half-life limbo of an unpublished novel, hospital porter Billy needs to up the stakes. Euthanasia simply isn’t shocking anymore; would blowing up his hospital be enough to see Billy published, or be damned?

What follows is a gripping tale that subverts the crime genre’s grand tradition of liberal sadism, a novel that both excites and disturbs in equal measure. Absolute Zero Cool is not only an example of Irish crime writing at its best; it is an innovative, self-reflexive piece that turns every convention of crime fiction on its head.

Declan Burke’s latest book is an imaginative story that explores the human mind’s ability to both create and destroy, with equally devastating effects.

I'm looking forward to the read.

Malaysian-born Kiwi John Ling releases his debut thriller

2012-01-07T10:42:00.000+13:00

Crime Watch may have been on a bit of a hiatus over the festive season, but it seems that New Zealand-written crime fiction certainly has not. Malaysian-born writer John Ling, who now lives in New Zealand and works at our national broadcaster TVNZ, released his debut thriller, THE BLASPHEMER on Amazon just after Xmas.

Here's the backcover blurb:

When Abraham Khan releases an e-book condemning radical Islam, the consequences hit him fast and hard — an armed fanatic smashes into his home one evening, trying to kill him. He survives the harrowing attempt. Just barely. But will he survive the next one?

Maya Raines is the security operator brought in to protect Abraham. She is tough and committed. The very best at what she does. Always one step ahead of the threat.

But Abraham is no ordinary principal — he will not hide, and he will not stay silent. And as rage explodes on the streets and the nation is propelled to the brink, Maya will have to ask herself the hardest question of all: how far would you go to protect one man’s right to speak?

You can visit Ling's website here, and read more about his debut novel, including an extract, here.

You can also read about the inspiration for the book, and the character of Abraham Khan (fyi, it's not Salman Rushdie, as some may think) at Ling's own blog here.

Festive greetings

2011-12-21T19:01:00.001+13:00

I am now on holiday back in my hometown of Nelson, with almost all of my work done for the year. Sporadic Internet access means there may not be many posts on Crime Watch for the next couple of weeks, so I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone who has visited this blog in 2011, and particularly those who've taken the time to post a comment and share their views about the various crime fiction news, happenings, and issues raised here.

I hope you all have a truly wonderful festive season, filled with plenty of fun, friends and family.

Kia Kaha from Aotearoa

PS The image is of the pohutakawa tree - known as the New Zealand native Xmas tree. A nice sight along the New Zealand coastline over summer. Have a very Merry Xmas everyone!

The Weekend Herald's Thrillers of the Year

2011-12-20T14:22:00.000+13:00

Well, it's that time of year when all the 'best of' and 'favourite' lists are made for various things, including books. It's interesting to see the different perspectives (and breadth of reading) on show with various lists from around the world that are regularly cropping up this month. In terms of New Zealand, I've already mentioned the prestigious New Zealand Listener 100 Best Books List - it was great to see several local and international crime/thriller titles make the cut in 2011 (you can now read the full list and reviewer comments about each book online here).

Another great publication in New Zealand, when it comes to book features and reviews, is the Canvas magazine supplement in the Weekend Herald newspaper. And recently, Canvas published a comprehensive "essential Christmas book guide", surveying what its reviewers saw as the best books of 2011, across a variety of categories. Reviewer Michele Hewitson, who provides the regular crime/thriller round-up for Canvas, chose the following five thrillers as top of the tree in 2011:

LITTLE STAR by John Ajvide
THE AFFAIR by Lee Child
THE DROP by Michael Connelly
DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY by PD James
FEAST DAY OF FOOLS by James Lee Burke.

It seems like a solid group of choices by Hewitson. The Burke book was also on the Listener list, and I've seen PD James' book also feature on other lists overseas, as has THE DROP (which I really enjoyed too). I liked THE AFFAIR, and thought it was Child's best in a while, although I personally wouldn't have featured it ahead of several other great thrillers from 2011 (eg IRON HOUSE by John Hart, THE WRECKAGE by Michael Robotham, THE LEOPARD by Jo Nesbo, COLLECTING COOPER by Paul Cleave etc).

But that's the great thing about such lists - they can expose the readers to books we may not have read or thought about ourselves, and they also provide some great discussion-starters for us hardcore crime fiction readers. So, what have been your personal favourite crime novels of 2011? And what do you think are the best crime novels of 2011 (favourites and 'best' aren't always the same - we can like a book that we realise isn't as 'great', but like it anyway).

Jo Nesbø talks about Harry Hole (video)

2011-12-19T18:52:00.001+13:00

Tonight, I have a late-ish night ahead, as I have the privilege of interviewing superstar Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø, who will be touring New Zealand in March next year. Given the time differences between New Zealand and Norway, the interview doesn't start until midnight my time. Still, not a bad way to spend a Monday night/early Tuesday morning - getting to chat to someone like Jo Nesbø.

To mark the occasion, and to prime Crime Watch's New Zealand viewers for Nesbø's upcoming New Zealand tour, I thought I'd share with you a video of Nesbø talking about the character of Harry Hole, his popular and intriguing detective:

New Zealand set crime by a South African hand

2011-12-19T14:23:00.000+13:00

Back in 2009, in amongst my regular crime fiction-related browsing online (search for interesting crime fiction tidbits and happenings of both a New Zealand and international flavour), I stumbled across an intriguing South African author, Chris Marnewick, who had been shortlisted for the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize for a novel that was packed with crime content, and blended fact and fiction. The news got my attention for a couple of reasons: a 'crime novel' being shortlisted for a major literary award, and the fact that the author was a South African lawyer. For those who aren't aware, I am a former lawyer myself, and now currently work fulltime for a legal magazine.

Marnewick's novel, SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS, which examined the death penalty via the tale of a young warden who goes from caring for then executing condemned men to a killing spree that sees him face the gallows himself, also went on last year to win the K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award (which forms part of the South African Literary Awards), amongst other accolades.

Now, Marnewick has returned with another crime thriller, and this time he brings his talent and storytelling skills to New Zealand shores, with A SAILOR'S HONOUR, published by Umuzi in September. Here's the blurb:

Pierre de Villiers has walked a hard road. Tortured by his own army, his family killed, surviving cancer; his new life in New Zealand is supposed to bring him peace. But just when his life seems to be on an even keel, his daughter is kidnapped in Auckland and his brother-in-law's wife abducted in Durban. What possible common enemy might the brothers-in-law have? The clues to the riddle stretch from Nazi u-boats of Africa's coast to a sinister Third Force pulling the strings of darkest South African history. Determined to defend his family. De Villiers is cast opposite "the major" in a life-or-death battle raging from Auckland to Durban and Hamburg. And on a bigger stage, the major's Force is not done yet; its final statement will be its most violent."

It certainly sounds intriguing. And it's always interesting to see foreign authors using New Zealand as a setting, and to see how they utilise and evoke my home country - a place that probably seems a touch exotic and definitely at the ends of the earth for most people.

You can read a recent interview with Marnewick on the Crime Beat blog, here.

Idris Elba scoops Golden Globe nomination for playing Neil Cross's 'Luther'

2011-12-16T11:44:00.000+13:00

Idris Elba, the star of BBC AMERICA’s critically acclaimed crime drama, Luther, has been nominated for a Golden Globe® Award, it was announced this week. He was nominated in the category Best Performance By An Actor in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Perry Simon, BBC Worldwide America’s GM, Channels says: “Idris’ portrayal of John Luther breaks the mould of TV detectives. He is a central character that is quite possibly just as dangerous as the criminals he’s chasing. Idris’ stellar performance truly deserves this nomination and has set a bench-mark for quality drama on BBC AMERICA.”

Elba plays the title role in the BBC AMERICA co-production about a brilliant and emotionally impulsive detective. The mini-series was lauded by fans and critics alike when it was first broadcast on BBC AMERICA in October. TV Guide said it was, “Criminally good... Luther is Prime Suspect on crack,” USA Today called it a “...terrific six part thriller... you have to watch,” and Variety declared “Luther is well worth the investment… there haven't been many recent offerings in this genre on either side of the pond superior to Luther.”

Luther was created and written by Neil Cross, the acclaimed suspense novelist and one of the lead writers on MI-5. You can watch a trailer for Luther below:

Untold stories: an interview with Kiwi true crime writer Peter Graham

2011-12-16T06:29:00.009+13:00

Largely retired Hong Kong barrister Peter Graham talks to Craig Sisterson about a life filled with orchards, cider, and delving into history through the door of true crime writing

Writing was something that long-time barrister Peter Graham had always seen, “in the back of my mind or further forward”, as something he’d wanted to do. “I’ve always been a great booklover and reader, and yes I think it’s been an ambition of mine for a very long time,” says Graham, whose second ‘true crime’ book, So Brilliantly Clever (Awa Press, 2011) was released last month, to great reviews and a spot on the local non-fiction bestseller list.

Now largely retired from a long life in the law, including three decades as a Crown Counsel then barrister in Hong Kong, Graham spent the past three and a half years extensively researching one of New Zealand’s most notorious crimes and trials – the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder. It’s a case that has fascinated Graham since as a young lawyer he worked in the 1970s as an assistant to Brian McClelland, who had been junior counsel for Juliet Hulme.

“Before I went to Hong Kong I had the idea that I wanted to write a book about the Parker-Hulme case, because I’d become so interested in it,” recalls Graham. “In fact I tried to get hold of the Wynn Williams file on the case, with the help of Brian McClelland, but the file had gone missing. I went on to Hong Kong, and the need to earn a living intervened.”

Graham, who completed his law degree at Victoria University and worked at Chapman Tripp before moving to Christchurch, spent five years as a prosecutor in Hong Kong – for the Crown then the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which “mainly prosecuted policemen who’d amassed mega fortunes in some cases… pretty fascinating stuff” – before going to the bar. It was while working as a barrister there that he came across the story that would become his first true crime book, Vile Crimes: The Timaru Poisonings (CUP, 2007).

Vile Crimes centres on one of the most sensational court cases of the nineteenth century; in 1886 charming Timaru businessman Tom Hall Jr, the nephew of former New Zealand premier Sir John Hall, was tried first for the attempted murder of his wife, then the murder of his father-in-law, Captain Henry Cain, one of the founding fathers of Timaru, whose body had to be exhumed for evidence. “It was the most terrific scandal in its day, absolutely earth-shattering stuff,” says Graham, who stumbled across a contemporary account of the trial in a rare book catalogue. “I thought it was a great story, and it was also very fully reported, because it caused a scandal. And for me it was an interesting window into the period as well – it wasn’t just about the crime itself, it seemed to me to provide quite a bit of insight and a lot of detail into what life was like in this small, rather snobbish community in the 1880s.”

Graham, who at the time still had the idea of a book about the Parker-Hulme murder bubbling away in the back of his mind, thought the Timaru poisonings would be an easier story to tell – “which it proved to be” – due to the fact there was less material, and it was all documentary in nature, rather than involving interviews and other sources. “I thought I could teach myself to write a book by starting with this,” he says. He found time to write amongst his legal schedule, and started leading “this kind of dual life” as a lawyer and writer.

By the time he later began working on what became So Brilliantly Clever, Graham had largely retired from legal practice, to a small farm he and his wife had bought near Dunsandel. Apart from supervising a few pigs, pottering around with a small farm “and rather big garden”, writing, and a little bit of law and travelling, they grow apples, says Graham. “We have a business making apple juice and cider, so in a way that’s my day job. We make single variety apple juice called Camla Farm, and it’s my job to do the labelling, bottling, dispatching, and deliveries and that sort of thing. That occupies me some of the time.” A hint of pride creeps into his voice as Graham notes their cider has won gold medals, and they are “probably the only people in New Zealand making cider commercially with cider apples”.

Despite the fact that Graham’s first two books, and the one he has now started researching – on the case of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, an Irish pacifist and suffragist arrested without reason and executed by British Army soldiers during the 1916 Easter Rebellion – all involve historic true crime, the former barrister doesn’t think he’s “more interested in crime than anyone else”. In fact, he’s primarily interested in the past. “I can’t imagine myself writing a book about a murder that’s happened last week in Wellington, or something,” he says.

For Graham, finding such fascinating incidents merely provides an interesting doorway to explore the world as it was in a particular place during a particular time – whether it’s 1880s South Canterbury, 1950s Christchurch, or Dublin during the First World War. “I think the starting point would have to be that I’d like to think I know a good story when I see one,” he says. “You’re not just writing about a crime, you’re writing about it very much in the round. It’s a way to look at the world. You’re seeing people in extreme situations, aren’t you.”

Graham also likes to comprehensively explore untold stories – whether stories that most people have heard very little about, such as the Timaru poisonings, or stories that are very famous and people think they know about, but don’t really, such as the Parker-Hulme murder. While the incident at the core of So Brilliantly Clever had been touched upon in plays, film, and some fiction and non-fiction works, Graham felt that there was still a gap, a lack of “a full account”. He also felt that if left any longer it would become harder to gather facts, as more people involved would have passed away. “I thought it had to be done now.”

The reaction of one of the first people to read the finished book, TV journalist Janet McIntyre, probably sums up the perceptions many New Zealanders have about how much they know about the Parker-Hulme case. “She said, ‘you know, I thought I knew all about this case, but then I realised after I read about five pages, that I didn’t know about it at all’,” recalls Graham, who applied to the Court to get access to the transcript of Pauline Parker’s diary, amongst other research. “It is so much a part of history and culture in New Zealand, that everybody thinks they knew about it, but actually [we don’t], and I had to work quite hard to put together some of the most basic facts about it.”

Graham is grateful for his long and interesting career as a lawyer, but says writing non-fiction books is “the most fascinating thing” he’s ever done. “I just love it. My heart is really in this, and I really try my very, very hardest to do my very, very best. It’s something I want to do, and feel I can do. So it’s something I will keep doing as long as I’m sound of mind and limb.”

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This article was first published in the print edition of NZLawyer magazine, issue 175, 16 December 2011, and is reprinted here with kind permission.

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First thoughts on a controversial remake: Ali Karim talks The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2011-12-15T17:11:00.001+13:00

Later this month, the English-language Hollywood remake of the outstanding Swedish film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's juggernaut bestseller THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO opens in cinemas.

Crime fiction fans around the world seem to have very mixed feelings about this latest Hollywood effort to cash in on foreign creativity, and make it more accessible/palatable for a wider (ie American) audience who perhaps aren't too keen on subtitled films, no matter how good.

Will Rooney Mara be able to provide a performance as Lisbeth Salander in the same league as Noomi Rapace, who set the bar so very high and seemed to embody Larsson's creation? Does the fact that terrific director David Fincher is involved give sceptics more hope than if other Hollywood heavyweights had been involved? Ditto for screenwriter Steve Zaillian? We'll all just have to wait and see.

Unless, that is, we were lucky enough to attend the world premiere in London this week. Like renowned crime fiction afficianado and commentator Ali Karim, who has written and edited for the likes of The Rap Sheet, Shots! ezine, January magazine, Crimespree magazine, and many other specialist crime fiction publications. People think I've interviewed a tonne of crime writers, but I've got nothing on Mr Karim, who has been at the forefront of crime fiction commentating for many years.

Now, Karim has shared his thoughts on the English-language remake on The Rap Sheet:

"Let me say that I enjoyed the original Swedish version directed by Niels Arden Oplev, so I was intrigued to see what the Americans might accomplish with the same material. I was not disappointed, as this new version is, in a word, mesmerizing."

Karim has much more to say about the film, and you can read his full review here.

So, are you looking forward to seeing a new version of Larrson's blockbuster? Comments welcome.

Former M15 director Stella Rimington to headline 2012 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival

2011-12-15T16:45:00.001+13:00

Okay, in the past I may have quietly grumbled about the noticeable lack of crime and thriller writers on the extensive lineups of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival (AWRF)the past three years. To recap: other than a one-off special event with Michael Connelly this year (which was outside the AWRF proper, but was an amazingly successful event that sold out, was moved to a bigger venue, and sold that out), there haven't been any crime or thriller fiction writers, international or local, invited to New Zealand's largest literary festival during the past three years that I've been back in New Zealand. This, at a time when local crime writing is going from strength to strength, and plenty of fantastic international authors have visited Auckland of their own accord at other times of the year (sometimes, very close to the Festival timeframe).

But having dealt out a few deserved brickbats to the AWRF about this ongoing oversight, now I will have to be fair and give out a bouquet to the organisers, who have just announced thriller writer Dame Stella Rimington, the first female Director-General of MI5, will attend the 2012 festival. There are many more authors, local and international, still to be announced - but hopefully this is a good sign of things to come. Rimington's attendance was announced along with two other internationals: Roddy Doyle (THE COMMITMENTS) and Australian young adult writer Emily Rodda.

Dame Stella will headline the Festival’s highly popular Soul Bar Lunch event alongside main programme appearances, is the British author of a number of gripping ‘insider’ spy novels, most recently RIPTIDE.

“It’s such a pleasure to reveal this taster of the rich line-up planned for May 2012,” says Artistic Director Anne O’Brien. “Dame Stella Rimington, Roddy Doyle and Emily Rodda will all bring fine craft, great minds and broad experiences to Auckland, not to mention providing the perfect Christmas reads, setting the tone for what will undeniably be another outstanding Auckland Writers & Readers Festival.”

The Auckland Writers & Readers Festival is New Zealand’s largest literary and ideas festival. In 2012 AWRF will run Wednesday 9 May to Sunday 13 May and will present another exciting list of international and New Zealand writers in more than 70 events, guaranteed to excite and stimulate hungry minds. The schools programme will be available in February 2012 with the full programme announced in the second half of March 2012 and tickets on sale from that time at buytickets.co.nz.

I've heard some whispers that the AWRF may be interested in (at long last) including some New Zealand crime or thriller writers in their line-up as well - which would be a terrific move, adding to what is already a very successful festival. Fingers crossed for some good news on that front as the fuller line-ups are announced early next year.

Who would you like to see at the 2012 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival?

Crime wave to strike Hamilton in February!

2011-12-14T13:14:00.001+13:00

The programme for the 2012 Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival has just been announced, and I'm very pleased to share that the organisers have picked up on the quality and growth of New Zealand crime writing, and have included what should be a terrific crime writing event.

The Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival runs for the last couple of weeks of February, and consists of many terrific events, ranging from visual arts to music, comedy, film, theatre, dance, food and wine, and books. Held during what is often the best time of the New Zealand summer, it should be great.

There are four literary/books events at next year's festival, including a crime writing one. I say crime writing because it's a bit of a double header event, covering both true crime writing and crime fiction, with five fantastic New Zealand writers in attendance. At only $10 to attend, it's a complete steal. Here's the line-up of writers for the event:

Crime Writers
"Delve into the mind of crime"

Scott Bainbridge
New Zealand law means that all unsolved murder files are inaccessible for a period of 70 years. Even after this period, restricted access is rarely given. Bainbridge has been given unprecedented access to the police files for ten of New Zealand¹s most baffling unsolved murders.

Joan Rosier-Jones
In Joan's latest book, market gardener Chow Yat, lives on the outskirts of Whanganui in post-WWI New Zealand, a time of particularly rampant xenophobia. In 1922 this humble, hardworking Chinese man was brutally shot and the murder remained unsolved. Through sound enquiry Rosier-Jones single-handedly all but solves the case.

Ben Sanders
At 20 years of age, Ben Sanders fascination with crime fiction has paid off having just signed a two-book contract with HarperCollins Publishers. Ben's sophisticated and edgy writing style signals the emergence of a major new talent.

Vanda Symon
Vanda is the author of the Sam Shephard detective fiction series. Her latest novel Bound, went straight to number one in the New Zealand bestsellers lists.

Paul Cleave
At 24 Paul wrote The Killing Hour. A year later he wrote The Cleaner. In 2006, six years after it was written, The Cleaner was published. It became one of the biggest selling books ever to come out of New Zealand, picking up several international contracts within it's first year and introducing Joe, the 'loveable' serial killer who works at the Christchurch Police Department.

The Crime Writers event will be held at 5pm on Sunday 19 February 2012 at the Garden Terrace restaurant. Penny's Bookstore will be selling a range of the writers' books at the event.

Hope to see some of the North Island-based Crime Watch readers and crime fiction fans there on the night. Should be a great evening! Thanks to the organisers of the 2012 Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival for embracing local crime writing in such a great way.

Scottish crime writer to give the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a graphic twist

2011-12-14T12:00:00.001+13:00

It has been reported today (NZT) that Scottish crime writer Denise Mina, who's recently been in the news down this way with the announcement she would be a guest at the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival (and was the subject of a very good feature by my fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judge Bernard Carpinter in a recent New Zealand Listener) willl take the reins of the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. Not to complete any rumoured fourth manuscript, but to bring Lisbeth Salander and her escapades to full vivid colour via graphic novels.

Alison Flood of The Guardian has said that, "Mina has been chosen by Larsson's literary estate to adapt the late Swedish novelist's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest into six graphic novels for DC Comics. The author, whose latest novel The End of the Wasp Season was shortlisted for the Gold Dagger award, said she had nearly finished adapting the first book, with the first volume to be out next March. The illustrator is Leonardo Manco, with whom Mina has previously collaborated on the Hellblazer comics."

You can read Flood's full article here.

It will be interesting to see Mina's graphic novel take on the Swedish crime tales. I'm fascinated by how some writers produce excellent work in a variety of mediums, while others concentrate solely on one. Different strokes for different folks, of course. Amongst the crime writers I've spoken to this year, our own Neil Cross writes film and television scripts in addition to bleak and gripping thriller novels, Robert Crais went from TV scripts to private eye novels, and Gregg Hurwitz juggles thriller writing with graphic novels, film, and TV scripts. And I thought my life was busy!

Hat tip to another of my fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judges, Graham "Bookman" Beattie, for the heads-up with the news about Mina.

Michael Connelly talks abour Harry Bosch's return in THE DROP, and the future of the book business

2011-12-13T15:45:00.000+13:00

A nationwide crime spree: my tiki tour of New Zealand crime fiction for New Zealand Author magazine (full online version)

2011-12-13T13:45:00.001+13:00

a nationwide crime spree

there’s been a noticeable growth in locally-written crime fiction in recent years. Craig Sisterson surveys the landscape from north to south, looking at the emerging hotspots

When the four finalists for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel gathered in Christchurch recently for the well-attended “Setting the Stage for Murder” event, not only did they represent some of the best examples of contemporary Kiwi-written crime fiction, but also its geographic spread across the country: Alix Bosco (revealed as playwright and screenwriter Greg McGee) from Auckland, Neil Cross from Wellington, winner Paul Cleave of Christchurch, and Paddy Richardson from Dunedin.

From Northland to Southland and everywhere in between, it’s becoming clear that more and more we have a number of local storytellers who are capable of weaving top quality tales of mystery, murder, and mayhem. Writers who have something interesting to offer readers, here and abroad, who enjoy this most thrilling (and globally popular) of genres.

As can be seen, there’s a diverse array of storytelling, setting, and styles on offer – something for everyone, reading-wise – as we take a little ‘tiki tour’ around the country.

An archaeological dig amongst the beauty of the Kaipara Harbour was the setting for Waiheke Island resident Dorothy Fowler’s intriguing debut mystery What Remains Behind (Black Swan, 2009). Switching narratives between the sabotage-affected modern-day dig and diary entries detailing events prior to a 120-year-old tragedy, Fowler also evokes a good sense of rural small town Northland, then and now. Just down the road in Mangawhai, travel specialist and former journalist Roy Vaughan has also recently debuted on New Zealand bookshelves with The Mereleigh Record Club Tour of New Zealand (Eloquent Books, 2009), which centres on a group of 60-somethings who unwittingly get caught up with an international drug ring, and a police and customs sting, as they tour New Zealand trying to recapture the rock’n’roll days of their youth.

Gulf Harbour resident Michael Green is partway through penning a page-turning thriller trilogy focused on a small group of survivors of a global pandemic. The second instalment, Blood Bond (Arrow, 2009), is set locally, and in England and on the high seas and countries in between, and Green is currently working on the third book in the series.

Overseas, many the career of a bestselling crime writer has had as its spine the creation and crafting of an intriguing hero (or two) capable can carrying an ongoing series. Readers will follow a beloved character as much (if not more) than an author. As such, it’s been terrific to see two fascinating local protagonists emerge over the past couple of years in nascent but promising series set in our biggest and most cosmopolitan city. First, we were introduced to middle-aged legal researcher Anna Markunas in Cut & Run (Penguin, 2009), a terrific thriller kickstarted by the tabloid fodder murder of a famed rugby player while in the arms of a high-profile socialite. Markunas is a terrific creation; a troubled but likeable heroine, filled with inner conflict, contradictions, doubts and authentic emotions. Combined with Bosco/McGee’s vivid and pacy storytelling, and great touch for the Auckland setting (the glitz-gilded grittiness of the CBD to the ‘mean streets’ of the southern suburbs), it’s easy to see why Cut & Run was praised by Scottish crime fiction star Val McDermid at an event last year, and went on to win the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award in November 2010. Markunas continued to develop as a fascinating and complex heroine in Slaughter Falls (Penguin, 2010), a finalist for the 2011 award, and readers will be hopeful the series continues in coming years.

Last year also saw the introduction of Detective Sergeant Sean Devereaux, the main character in local wunderkind Ben Sanders’ The Fallen (HarperCollins, 2010), which sat atop the bestseller list for several weeks and was one of the biggest-selling New Zealand books of 2010, and By Any Means (HarperCollins, 2011). Devereux is an enigmatic, intriguing hero, and his narration is peppered with pithy comments, asides, and observations. The talented Sanders, a 21 year old uni student, has a punchy, crisp prose style, and a good touch for both pace and ‘telling details’ that give you a great sense of character and place. Like Bosco/McGee, he evokes Auckland well as a gritty backdrop to his thrillers, providing international quality crime fiction in a decidedly local setting, with bodies found in Albert Park, motorway car chases, and drive-by shootings in the CBD.

The regions between our biggest city and our capital city currently provide slimmer pickings when it comes to contemporary crime fiction, despite what would seem like a plethora of intriguing landscapes, geographic and demographic, and issues that could provide great fodder and colour for a well-told thriller story. Back in the day, Dame Ngaio Marsh even brought her English gentleman detective Inspector Alleyn to the volcanic plateau in Colour Scheme (1943), a murder mystery tinged with war intrigue.

Nowadays, one pleasing exception to the central North Island crime fiction drought is Palmerston North teacher Ken Benn, who has begun a young adult thriller series with Lethal Deliveries (Penguin, 2010), an exciting tale of sports-loving teenagers who get caught up in the world of gangs and drug dealing. Shortlisted for the LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Award this year, Benn’s debut bluntly addresses the tough circumstances and troubling issues some Kiwi kids face, leaving readers on tenterhooks for book two.

The capital’s king of contemporary crime fiction is undoubtedly acclaimed screenwriter and novelist Neil Cross, who from his home in the Wellington suburbs has penned a number of terrific psychological thrillers, as well as creating the award-winning BBC TV crime drama Luther, starring Idris Elba (The Wire) in the titular role. While Cross sets his crime stories, books and TV, in his native Britain rather than his adopted home, he is a key part of the local crime fiction landscape: a twice finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award (for Burial (Simon & Schuster, 2009) and Captured (Simon and Schuster, 2010)); a popular speaker at various arts and books festivals here and abroad; and serving as an example that New Zealand-based writers can succeed on the world stage.

Cross is a master of brooding, slightly off-kilter tales in bleak yet menacing settings populated with characters neither starkly good nor evil, but smudged shades of grey. Although his novel Always the Sun, a frightening tale of the steps a gentle man takes after learning his child is being bullied, was longlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize, Cross has said that he is continually irritated and baffled by the idea that books labelled ‘literary’ are often considered superior or “more important” than books labelled ‘popular’ or ‘genre’ fiction, regardless of quality. “All that’s important is that I tell an interesting and engrossing story,” he says. Books can delve into a variety of deep themes, and should be informed by a writer’s views and how they see the world, but such complexity and insights “should come through the telling of the story” – something done very well by the best crime fiction writers here and overseas– rather than being “stapled onto the book”.

Last year, TV writer-producer Donna Malane joined Cross in the Wellington crime writers’ fraternity when her debut novel Surrender (NZSA, 2010) was published to good reviews after winning the NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize. Powered by a vivid and captivating narrative voice (first person, through the eyes of heroine Dianne Rowe), Surrender has an absorbing mystery storyline as Rowe delves into the seedy underbelly of Wellington; a drug-fuelled world of strip clubs, sex workers, and hidden dangers.

Earlier this year, Upper Hutt author Cat Connor added to her series starring FBI Agent Ellie Conway, available in e-book form from the likes of Amazon and iTunes, with an exciting third instalment, Exacerbyte, which brings Conway and her colleagues to New Zealand, on the trail of an elusive child trafficker. Wellington is also home to maritime expert Joan Druett, who has marvelously combined mystery and history in four novels and several short stories starring her part-Maori seaman Wiki Coffin.

Heading across the Cook Strait to the sun-drenched Top of the South brings us to horse-loving poet, playwright, and children’s author Lindy Kelly’s debut adult thriller Bold Blood (HarperCollins, 2009). The Nelsonian’s tale of assaults, arsons, horse theft and murder set in the high stakes world of horse breeding proved popular with readers, and hit #1 on the local bestseller list. Nelson is also home to iconic New Zealand author Maurice Gee, who over the decades has penned dozens of beloved tales, ranging from children’s to adult, fantasy to realism, and the occasional dip or two into psychological crime and thriller with the likes of In My Father’s Den and Crime Story. His latest (and perhaps last) adult novel, Access Road (Viking, 2009) scratches at the surface of a fictionalised West Auckland, revealing the menace beneath the mundane as an elderly everywoman searches for the historic reasons behind her bedridden brother’s silence.

Down the (west) coast we find ourselves amongst some of New Zealand’s most spectacular scenery for former national park worker Trish McCormack’s debut mystery, Assigned to Murder (Poutini Press, 2009), which is being taken to the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. Glacier guide Philippa investigates the murder of her old flatmate in an intriguing mystery packed with complex human relationships and stunning landscapes.

Several modern-day New Zealand crime and thriller writers call Canterbury home, the most prominent of which is Paul Cleave, winner of the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for his fourth dark Christchurch-set thriller Blood Men (Random House, 2010). Cleave’s acclaimed locally-set and written crime novels have been translated into many languages, and appeared on bestseller lists in several countries, including Germany, France, and Turkey, selling several hundred thousand copies abroad. Like Dame Ngaio herself, Cleave is succeeding abroad as a crime writer while being somewhat overlooked or underappreciated by the wider books community here at home. And, like Cross, he is showing that New Zealand crime writers can excel on the world stage, and that we should not feel any ‘cultural cringe’ about our own writing. Recently, his fifth novel, Collecting Cooper (Atria, 2011), perhaps his best novel yet, became his second book published in the United States. It sees the return of former cop and private eye Theo Tate, who after being released from prison finds himself reluctantly on the trail of a dangerous killer, and a missing student. It’s easy to see why Cleave’s writing has attracted international attention: his vivid prose crackles with energy, his characters are compelling and complex, and he delves deeply into psychology and other issues while never taking his foot off the storytelling accelerator.

Joining Cleave in calling Canterbury home are contemporary thriller writers Steve Malley – Poison Door (Createspace, 2011), a gritty Christchurch-set thriller featuring a tough cop, a troubled teen, and a vicious drug kingpin, is now available on Kindle and Smashwords.com – and Grant Shanks. The latter writes thrillers under the name Andrew Grant, including the Ngaio Marsh Award longlisted spy tale Death in the Kingdom (Monsoon Books, 2007), and its sequel Singapore Sling Shot (Monsoon Books, 2009), both of which have recently become more readily available here in New Zealand.

Heading further south we find ourselves in another hotbed of contemporary Kiwi crime fiction, as several talented authors call Dunedin home; Vanda Symon, Paddy Richardson, Liam McIlvanney, and Andrew Porteous. Earlier this year Symon, a previous Ngaio Marsh Award finalist, released Bound (Penguin, 2011), the fourth and possibly best instalment yet in her acclaimed series starring Sam Shepard, who has risen through the police ranks from sole-charge Mataura cop in Overkill (Penguin, 2007) to put-upon junior detective for the Dunedin CID. Symon hasn’t yet been published as broadly as Cleave or Cross internationally, but her storytelling skills, snappy dialogue, vivid characters and settings, and flashes of humour have impressed readers and reviewers here and abroad.

Symon was joined in the Dunedin crime family by Paddy Richardson in 2008 (creepy psychological thriller A Year to Learn a Woman), recent Scottish immigrant Liam McIlvanney in 2009 (superlative thriller All the Colours of the Town, set amongst the sectarian violence of Glasgow and Belfast) and Andrew Porteous in 2010 (A Political Affair, which was published after winning a UK-based unpublished manuscript award, and introduced part Maori Dunedin detective Lachlan Doyle).

Clearly there’s something in the water down south. Richardson has also penned Hunting Blind – a superb tale melding family drama and psychological suspense as a woman tries to uncover what happened to her kid sister, many years go – and will soon have another book hitting shelves. Traces of Red, a psychological thriller centred on a failed TV journalist who believes a convicted triple murderer is innocent, is released in November. McIlvanney is also reportedly working on another thriller starring journalist Gerry Conway, and like himself, may even emigrate his hero to New Zealand in future.

Without a doubt, New Zealand crime fiction has experienced pleasing growth in recent times, numbers and quality-wise, thanks to the books and authors mentioned here, and a few more. The snowball has started rolling down the hill, and it will be fascinating to see just how big it can get, here and abroad, if local readers who enjoy a bit of mystery and thrills in their reading become more willing to discover the talents we have right here.

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Craig Sisterson writes for a variety of publications in several countries. He is the Judging Convenor of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, and the creator of Crime Watch, a website focused on New Zealand crime and thriller writing: http://www.kiwicrime.blogspot.com/.

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This article was first published in the October/November issue of New Zealand Author magazine, the official publication of the New Zealand Society of Authors. It is reprinted in full here with the kind permission of Editor Adrian Blackburn.

Paddy Richardson talks about TRACES OF RED

2011-12-12T13:34:00.001+13:00

Last week, Paddy Richardson's third psychological thriller, TRACES OF RED, was officially launched at an event in Dunedin. The early reviews have been very positive. Richardson was of course one of the finalists for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for HUNTING BLIND. You can read US mystery author Margot Kinberg's review of that book here.

Yesterday, she spoke to Radio New Zealand about writing TRACES OF RED, which again underlines Richardson's skill at mixing creepy thriller plots that echo real life headlines with personal stories of people and relationships.

Here's the blurb for TRACES OF RED:

Rebecca Thorne is a successful television journalist, but her world is thrown into turmoil when her Saturday night programme is axed because of falling ratings. Not only will she lose her job but her big story on the convicted triple murderer Connor Bligh, whom Rebecca believes is innocent, has to be abandoned.

Rebecca's lover Joe, a married man and the barrister representing Bligh, also thinks Bligh is innocent – or does he? And if he loves Rebecca so much, why is he prepared to cast her off?

Meanwhile Bligh languishes in jail, convicted of three brutal murders and continuing to protest his innocence. He's clearly not a saint – but did he do it? Rebecca refuses to let the matter lie...

In a review for the Herald on Sunday, I said TRACES OF RED showed "Richardson excels at evoking the human aspects behind the plotline". My fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judge Graham Beattie also reviewed the book last week, saying TRACES OF RED was "psychological crime fiction at its best", and "the best she has written, and that is high praise" (read here). In a year which has seen some truly terrific crime fiction released by New Zealand authors, Richardson's latest further illustrates the growing depth and quality of the genre here. The 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel is going to be another difficult call for the judges.

You can listen to Richardson talk about the writing of TRACES OF RED here. Hopefully New Zealand readers will get out there and buy this book, supporting quality local crime writing.

Through Scarpetta's Eyes: my interview with Patricia Cornwell in today's Sunday Star-Times

2011-12-11T11:12:00.000+13:00

Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Patricia Cornwell, who in a way sparked the whole forensic fiction sub-genre (which has since influenced many writers in books, film, and television) with her 1990 debut, POSTMORTEM, which introduced Kay Scarpetta and won a host of awards.

From the CSI franchise to Body of Proof, Bones, and dozens more TV shows that fill the nightly line-ups, it's easy to see that once Cornwell let the forensic/pathology/scientific side of crime fiction out of the box, it's something that has really taken hold for creators, readers, and viewers worldwide.

I had a very enjoyable half an hour chatting with Cornwell about a variety of topics, by phone, while she was touring the United Kingdom in support of her latest Kay Scarpetta novel, RED MIST.

Today, a feature article I wrote based on the interview was published in the Sunday Star-Times, New Zealand's most widely-read Sunday newspaper. If you are in New Zealand, you can read the article on page F8 of the Culture magazine in the newspaper. Go and grab a copy - there's plenty of other interesting stories in today's issue as well.

Denise Mina talks about doing things differently

2011-12-09T12:57:00.001+13:00

Recently it has been announced that acclaimed Scottish crime writer Denise Mina would be visiting New Zealand early next year, as part of the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival.

As noted on the Festival website, "Mina is a Scottish crime writer and playwright whose style has been described as ‘tartan noir’. She is the author of the Garnethill trilogy and another series featuring Patricia ‘Paddy’ Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Mina’s first Paddy Meehan novel, The Field of Blood, has become a BBC drama."

Ian Rankin has previously described Mina as "one of the most exciting writers to have emerged in Britain for years". Last month, Mina was interviewed by my fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judge Bernard Carpinter, who writes the monthly crime fiction column for the New Zealand Listener. That article is now available to read in full online. Amongst other things, Mina talks about being bored by "everything's awful endings", her most recent novel, THE END OF THE WASP SEASON, writing about a sex worker as "a full human being" rather than a caricature just to be brutally killed, why she began writing crime fiction, and much more.

It's a good piece by Carpinter, and I recommend you go and have a read (click here).

Neil Cross makes Variety's list of "Ten Screenwriters to Watch"

2011-12-08T16:50:00.000+13:00

There are many that think, due to our geographical location, that creative New Zealanders need to leave the country in order to succeed on a bigger, or global, stage. And while opportunities aplenty do exist all over the world, there are certainly examples that show you can have a world-class career, based right here in New Zealand. It may not be a well-trodden path, but it is possible.

Peter Jackson (amongst others behind the cameras, from costume designers to special effects wizards) have proven it with film. Paul Cleave is on the rise in the crime ficiton world (particularly amongst non-English speakers). And now, as highlighted by a recent article in Variety magazine (the Hollywood bible), Wellington-based Neil Cross, twice a Ngaio Marsh Award finalist, is showing that you can have one heck of a career from New Zealand suburbia.

Cross, who along with producing several terrific thriller novels has been lead writer on the acclaimed British spy show Spooks and creator and writer of the award-winning BBC series Luther, all from his Wellington home, has been chosen by Variety as one of "Ten Screenwriters to Watch", due to the film projects he is working on. Books, television, and now film; Cross could be accused of quietly taking over a small piece of the world, in a thriller writing sense.

"Don't let his dark stories and disturbed characters fool you; for a guy who has made a living out of weaving tales of crooked cops, mass murderers and scheming psychopaths, Neil Cross is a damn funny man. It's a fact that sometimes takes fans by surprise," begins the article by Justin Shady for Variety.

Read the full article here.

Almost three years ago, Cross was one of the first author interviews I ever did - for a feature in Australian books magazine, Good Reading. I remember him talking about how he'd taught himself screenwriting by adapting his own Booker longlisted novel, ALWAYS THE SUN, into a teleplay. That never sold, but it did provide a foot in the door for Cross to become involved with Spooks.

"I just like the idea of scriptwriting," he told me at the time. "It's portrayed with a sense of mystery, like you have to be one of the initiated to understand it. But, actually, I decided in the end - and I'd read a few books about how to do it - that the only way to do it was teach myself to do it."

Learn by doing; it's not a bad way to go when it comes to creative endeavours.

I've really enjoyed Cross's novels (so far I've read Holloway Falls, Burial, Captured, and Luther: the Calling) and his TV screenwriting - on both Spooks and Luther - so I am looking forward to seeing how his big screen projects turn out. As Variety have noted, he is certainly a writer to watch.

Goodbye National Crime Writing Week, hello Crime Writing Month!

2011-12-08T09:21:00.001+13:00

CWA launches two major new initiatives to connect writers with readers

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced two major new initiatives, an association to put readers in touch with writers and the expansion of the successful Crime Writing Week to an entire month next year.

Due to launch in February 2012 with a new website, the Crime Readers’ Association (CRA) will offer readers information about forthcoming books, exclusive interviews, and articles from CWA member authors. Readers will be invited to sign up to receive regular enewsletters featuring events, exclusive content, and news. In future, it’s planned that the CWA will also organise events for readers to meet authors.

National Crime Writing Week, which has run for two years, has seen members of the CWA taking part in readings, discussions, readers’ group events and workshops in bookshops, libraries, arts centres and other venues all over the country. The CWA has now decided to expand it to Crime Writing Month, beginning at the Crimefest event which runs between May 24-27 in Bristol and features some of the planet’s most successful crime writers. In a new initiative, Crime Month will wrap up with a black-tie event, where the CWA Dagger Awards will be announced. The event will incorporate all of the CWA’s non-TV awards, including for the first time the Diamond Dagger and Ellis Peters Award for historical crime.

CWA Chair Peter James said: “We’re very excited about launching these new initiatives. The idea behind the CRA is to bring readers and writers closer together. The CRA will create a bond between fans and writers and promote further the crime writing genre.

“In an age when crime writing is so popular it made sense to find a way of helping writers and readers connect. Authors could not survive without readers and the CRA acknowledges the fact and celebrates the role of the reader in the burgeoning success of the genre. The CWA has showcased members’ events and books on our website for several years now– wee see the CRA is an extension of this and we hope it will help our members to grow their careers.

“Crime Writing Month further underlines the point. Running it over a month will allow members to take part in more events than ever, getting out to meet their readers and support their local libraries. The CWA has long been concerned about the threat to libraries and Crime Writing Month will allow us to champion them as they face cutbacks. The month should be a really exciting event.”

More details of both initiatives will be announced over the coming months.

Please contact Claire McGowan at info@thecwa.co.uk for more information, or visit www.thecwa.co.uk

Guest Review: Margot Kinberg reviews Paddy Richardson's HUNTING BLIND

2011-12-07T12:03:00.001+13:00

Recently California-based mystery author and university professor Margot Kinberg visited New Zealand for a conference, which gave me the opportunity to meet Margot in person, show her around Auckland, and finangle a few Kiwi crime novels into her hands. I'm very pleased to see that Margot not only enjoyed her time in New Zealand, but she has also already read and enjoyed some of the Kiwi crime ficiton she took home with her. Today, Margot is here on Crime Watch as a guest reviewer, sharing her thoughts on Paddy Richardson's HUNTING BLIND, which was a finalist for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award.

HUNTING BLIND by Paddy Richardson (Penguin, 2010)
Reviewed by Margot Kinberg

Paddy Richardson’s Hunting Blind is a compelling story that has stayed with me. It all begins in 1988 at a school picnic in Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand. Minna Anderson and her four children are enjoying the lakeside picnic with everyone else when the unthinkable happens: Minna’s four-year-old daughter Gemma disappears. Everyone takes part in searching for the child but there is no trace of her, not even a body. The family is torn apart by the tragedy, but there is no evidence so eventually the investigation is called off. Each of the Andersons moves on as best they can but Gemma’s disappearance has left scars on everyone.

Fourteen years later, Gemma’s older sister Stephanie is finishing her psychiatry program in Dunedin. She does function, but even she admits that she cannot face the pain of her sister’s loss and really, she has never healed. Then she’s assigned a new patient Elizabeth Clark, who’s attempted suicide and is completely uncommunicative. Stephanie tries to reach out to Elizabeth is at first unsuccessful. Bit by bit, though, Elizabeth begins to trust her doctor and soon tells Stephanie her terrible story. Elizabeth’s younger sister Gracie disappeared one night, and no trace of her has been found.

Stephanie is haunted by how eerily similar Elizabeth’s story is to her own. She’s reluctant to pursue this because she knows the risks of getting too close to one’s patients. She feels compelled though and gently probes until she finds out as much as she can. Stephanie guesses that the same person who abducted Gracie might have abducted her own sister, so against her more rational judgement, she starts putting the pieces of Gemma’s disappearance together and trying to find out who wrought that havoc on her family and Elizabeth’s.

For me, this novel is much the story of how survivors of tragedy cope as it is anything else. In fact, that’s why Stephanie begins what even she admits is an irrational quest – she wants to cope and move on. Richardson effectively portrays the sense of guilt that each member of the Anderson family has for not being able to take better care of Gemma. She also shows clearly how guilt and pain affect the members of the family. The characters stay with one because they are authentic.

In fact, that authenticity is one of this novel’s strongest points. People really do behave as the members of both Stephanie Anderson’s and Elizabeth Clark’s families do in the wake of horrible loss. I found myself caring about these people because they aren’t uni-dimensional. What’s even better is that they don’t all behave in the same way. We get a real sense of how differently people cope with sudden devastating loss.

Another very strong point in this novel is the unforgettable setting. As Stephanie searches for Gemma’s abductor, she travels to several places on South Island, and each is described in lovely but not overburdening detail. One gets a really authentic sense of life there not just from the physical setting but from several other little touches that really add to the context.

The mystery itself is not an intellectual puzzler. Soon after Stephanie begins asking questions, it’s evident who abducted the two girls and how that person got close to them. But the solution makes sense given the kind of story it is, and Richardson reveals the solution in a believable way.

The story moves back and forth a bit in time, and even though I had no problem figuring out what time period was being discussed, that did stop me a bit. Also, the story’s written for the most part in the present tense. That’s not my preference, and I found it a bit difficult at first. But those are minor quibbles to be sure, and mostly a matter of preference. Overall Richardson tells a gripping and truly human story of what happens when families have to cope with the unthinkable. And to her credit, she does so with no gore, brutal, ugly violence or gratuitousness. I recommend Hunting Blind. Thanks again, Craig, for inviting me to review it.

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Margot Kinberg is a mystery novelist and professor who loves to read and talk about mystery and crime fiction. She is the author of PUBLISH OR PERISH and B-VERY FLAT, and blogs about crime fiction at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist.

Thank you Margot for the well-written and comprehensive review.

Books to film: Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum?

2011-12-06T15:15:00.001+13:00

I love books. Always have. I also love movies and TV. Always have. So of course I'm always interested to see when characters and storylines from one medium jump to the other. As we all know, the best books don't always make the best movies. But there have also been some very good moviews adapted from books (good, bad, and mediocre) over the years.

In the past couple of years, I've really enjoyed the film versions of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Shutter Island, amongst other crime fiction adaptations. I'm also looking forward to seeing how Angelina Jolie might portray Kay Scarpetta, if that project comes together.

Another big name crime writer whose work, and popular heroine, is coming to the big screen soon, is Janet Evanovich. Until recently, I hadn't read any of Evanovich's books, and in all honesty I'd probably fallen prey to listening to a few people who described the very, very popular author's work as a touch formulaic. So with a TBR pile tottering at over 300 books on my home bookshelves, I wasn't rushing to dive into a Stephanie Plum tale ahead of the many other new-to-me authors and characters to explore.

In one of those great lessons about perception and reality, last week I received a review copy of the latest Plum tale, EXPLODING EIGHTEEN, and for whatever reason, decided to read it next. And I really, really enjoyed it. I found Plum to be a very interesting heroine, with a nice mix of skills, personality, and doubts, and I particularly loved the balance of humour and action in Evanovich's storytelling. The the intriguing cast of supporting characters - that although could perhaps seem to border on caricature-ish on occasion, given their eccentricities etc, actually had some depth too - were another big plus. I found myself laughing out loud at times at the character relationships and interplay, and there was a nice narrative drive too.

Now, EXPLOSIVE EIGHTEEN was my first Stephanie Plum novel, and as I read more (as I most certainly will, having enjoyed it so much), I may find that perhaps the series is a touch 'samey' - but for now, I can hand on heart say that I was wrong to make assumptions about this popular series.

Given all that, I'm also now looking forward to seeing the film adaptation of ONE FOR THE MONEY, the first Stephanie Plum tale, due for release in January 2012. I'm not a huge Katherine Heigl fan, and she wouldn't have been who I may have pictured in the role - but like with the books, I need to be open to being impressed. Here's the trailer (which I think looks kind of fun - in that action/comedy genre that can be great to watch):

What hitherto un-adpated crime series would you most like to see brought to the big screen? Who are some of the actors or actresses that you could 'see' playing your favourite crime fiction characters? What do you think of this trailer? Of the Stephanie Plum novels?

Local 'literary crime' novel wins 2012 Lillian Ida Smith Award

2011-12-06T13:09:00.001+13:00

The New Zealand Society of Authors is pleased to announce that the recipient of the Lillian Ida Smith Award is Auckland writer John MacKinven (pictured right).

Judging panel convenor Robert Elliot says John’s manuscript outline stood out for meeting the most critical elements of the criteria set for the award and his entry deserved the opportunity to move closer to completion.

John’s project, a literary crime novel, grew out of a story of the same name ("Snow on the Desert Road") that came first equal in the Heartland short story competition in 2008.

John says he is delighted and honoured to be the recipient of this award and describes it as a vote of confidence in his work so far. "It's a tremendous psychological boost. And the financial assistance will allow me to make a big leap forward to my goal of completing the first draft before the New Year, and the final draft by April 2012."

The bi-annual Lillian Ida Smith Award was originally established in 1986 when Wanganui music teacher, Lillian Ida Smith bequested part of her estate to assist people aged 35 years or over to embark upon or further a literary career. Ida Smith had long been a passionate supporter of the arts and it was her wish that this award would be used to assist someone embarking on a career or who had not yet had sufficient opportunity to fulfil his/her potential.

Selection Panel: Rae McGregor, Adrian Blackburn, Robert Elliot.

For more information visit http://www.authors.org.nz/.

New Zealand crime fiction to be showcased at the 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival

2011-12-06T10:59:00.002+13:00

Last month I shared that international crime stars Jo Nesbo and Denise Mina would be part of the 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival in Wellington next March. It's great to see New Zealand books and arts festivals including crime fiction amongst the literary content on offer. Now, I'm very pleased to be able to share that there will also be a New Zealand crime fiction event at the 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival.

Three terrific New Zealand crime writers will be part of the event; Vanda Symon, Paul Cleave, and Paul Thomas? What, you say - Paul Thomas? But he hasn't put a crime novel out in years. That's right - but in another piece of excellent news, the King of Kiwi crime writing during the late 1990s and early 2000s is making a welcome return to the page next year with DEATH ON DEMAND, his first Detective Ihaka tale in more than a decade (read more about Thomas's crime writing here).

Here's the official blurb for the New Zealand crime fiction event:

PAUL CLEAVE, PAUL THOMAS, VANDA SYMON
New Zealand crime fiction

Three of New Zealand’s best contemporary crime writers talk about mixing violence and humour, and bringing one of the world’s most popular forms of storytelling into a distinctly New Zealand setting.

Paul Cleave’s Christchurch-set thrillers have made bestseller lists and drawn critical acclaim around the world. His debut, The Cleaner, is one of the biggest selling novels ever to come out of New Zealand, and has been optioned for film adaptation. Blood Men, a novel about a man forced to confront his violent genealogy as he hunts his wife’s killers, won the Ngaio Marsh Award. Paul Thomas dragged local murder mysteries into modernity with several critically acclaimed thrillers in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His second Detective Ihaka tale, Inside Dope, won the inaugural Ned Kelly Award. After a decade-long hiatus, Thomas and Ihaka have returned with Death on Demand. Vanda Symon is the creator of the bestselling Sam Shephard series, set in Otago and Southland. A previous finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award, her latest novel, The Faceless, is a standalone thriller told from multiple perspectives.

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There will be an official launch of the Writers and Readers week programme on 26 January, with tickets for all events going on sale on the 27th. Hope to see some of you there!

It's terrific to see more New Zealand books and arts festivals including crime fiction. I understand that there will also be New Zealand crime fiction events at several other festivals in 2012, including the Hamilton Garden Arts Festival early in the year, and the Christchurch Writers Festival in August/September. I haven't yet heard anything about the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival, but hopefully it too will include some crime fiction, international and/or local, in its 2012 line-up.

Local and international crime featured in the New Zealand Listener's 100 Best Books of 2011

2011-12-05T15:20:00.002+13:00

Last year, you might recall, I was very pleased to see several crime novels make the annual 100 Best Books list put out by the New Zealand Listener magazine (especially as the list the year before had had a distinct lack of crime, mystery or thriller fiction titles, New Zealand or international). The New Zealand Listener has long been considered one of our premier magazines. It is a weekly current affairs and entertainment magazine, renowned for having one of the best books sections around.

Near the end of each year the Listener has a “100 Best Books of the Year” issue, where its reviewers, with help from nominations from booksellers and others, compile their list of best novels, short stories, poetry, biography, memoir, and other non-fiction (eg history, science, journalism and essays, art, and food and drink) books of the year.

The 100 Best Books issue (see cover image above right) for 2011 has now hit newstands etc, and I am very pleased to share that it too includes several crime, mystery or thriller titles on the latest list:

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by SJ Watson
BOUND by Vanda Symon
DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY by PD James
FEAST DAY OF FOOLS by James Lee Burke
LUTHER: THE CALLING by Neil Cross
AN UNCERTAIN PLACE by Fred Vargas
THE WRECKAGE by Michael Robotham

So a nice mix of UK, US, New Zealand, Australian, and continental European authors, and a variety of different 'types' of crime or thriller fiction there, which is cool to see. Some cracking books there, and hopefully more Kiwi readers might give some of them a go, after reading about them in this week's issue of the Listener. Congratulations to the Kiwi crime writers who made the list.

Have you read any of the crime novels mentioned? If so, what did you think? If not, which ones catch your eye? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Paddy Richardson's TRACES OF RED launched this week

2011-12-05T10:03:00.001+13:00

Just a quick reminder that Dunedin author Paddy Richardson's third psychological thriller, TRACES OF RED, will be officially launched at Marbecks on George Street in Dunedin on Thursday night.

Richardson's last psychological thriller, HUNTING BLIND, was a #1 bestseller in New Zealand, was listed in the Listener's 100 Best Books for 2010, and was a finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award.

Early reviews for TRACES OF RED have been very positive. Here's the 'backcover blurb':

Rebecca Thorne is a successful television journalist, but her world is thrown into turmoil when her Saturday night programme is axed because of falling ratings. Not only will she lose her job but her big story on the convicted triple murderer Connor Bligh, whom Rebecca believes is innocent, has to be abandoned.

Rebecca's lover Joe, a married man and the barrister representing Bligh, also thinks Bligh is innocent – or does he? And if he loves Rebecca so much, why is he prepared to cast her off?

Meanwhile Bligh languishes in jail, convicted of three brutal murders and continuing to protest his innocence. He's clearly not a saint – but did he do it? Rebecca refuses to let the matter lie.

Paddy Richardson's fourth novel is psychological crime fiction at its best.

You can read Nicky Pellegrino's interview with Paddy Richardson about HUNTING BLIND here, and my 9mm interview with Richardson here.

Hopefully any crime fiction fans in the Otago region might head along to Marbecks on Thursday night and support this terrific local writer. And if you do, remember to get some pics and send them in!

Photos wanted - New Zealand-related crime writing events (win prizes)

2011-12-02T13:10:00.000+13:00

I have a favour to ask from all the Crime Watch readers out there that might have been to any author events with New Zealand crime writers (anywhere in the world) or international authors visiting New Zealand.

We're starting to build up some photo albums on the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel page on Facebook - of such events - and it would be fantastic if you could send in any photos you might have taken - whether at a local book launch, a visiting author event (eg see my picture of Val McDermid reading from TRICK OF THE DARK at the Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby last year, above), images of yourself with an international author in New Zealand, or a New Zealand author anywhere in the world (eg perhaps you met Paul Cleave or Neil Cross at Harrogate, or Vanda Symon at SheKilda, etc).

It would be great to build up some nice albums of crime writing related pics. If you or anyone you know has any such photos that you are happy to share, then please send them in to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. There will be numerous random draw spot prizes (win free books) for those that send in photos, from wherever you are in the world.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Happy Birthday Bev Robitai

2011-12-01T16:42:00.001+13:00

Just a quick note to wish New Zealand mystery writer Bev Robitai a Happy Birthday. I stumbled across Robitai and her work online last year, and read and enjoyed MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW, her debut novel, a theatre-set cosy-style mystery (see my review here, Reactions to Reading review here).

I've since met Robitai at a few Auckland-based book events, and she's a great supporter of New Zealand writing, as well as being a talented author herself. Along with getting her own books published, she has helped other local authors get their projects into ebook and paperback form, and available on sites like Smashwords, as well as distributed to stores through independent channels.

Robitai's second book, originally entitled EYE FOR AN EYE, was released earlier this year. The tale of a woman hunting down a conman who has ruined many lives has recently been re-released with a new cover, and a new title, 22 WAYS TO GET REVENGE.

Feel free to join me in wishing Robitai a very happy birthday here on Crime Watch, or on her author Facebook page here. Or, if you feel like it, perhaps give her a present she'd really appreciate, by trying one of her books, and then leaving some feedback or a review for her - I can certainly recommend MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW as a light, fun read with a great theatrical setting.

Ellis Peters Historical Award: Wartime tale wins

2011-12-01T09:17:00.001+13:00

Overnight (NZT), the winner of the 2011 Ellis Peters Historical Award was announced. Here is the official press release from the Crime Writers' Association:

Wartime tale wins historical crime fiction award

A dark tale of wartime intrigue has been named by The Crime Writers’ Association as the winner of this year’s prestigious Ellis Peters Historical Award.

Andrew Martin’s novel THE SOMME STATIONS, published by Faber and Faber, was selected for the £3,000 first prize.

The award is sponsored by the Estate of Ellis Peters, Headline Book Publishing Company and Little, Brown Book Group. It is given to the best historical crime novel (set in any period up to 35 years prior to the year in which the award will be made) by an author of any nationality, and commemorates the life and work of Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) (1913-1995), a prolific author perhaps best known as the creator of Brother Cadfael.

The judging panel said of THE SOMME STATIONS: “Martin’s novels featuring railway detective Jim Stringer reveal their treasures in subtle fashion with a winning synthesis of period atmosphere, intriguing plotting and a passion for steam railways.”

THE SOMME STATIONS plunges into the horrors of World War One trench combat. Stringer and his unit must undertake dangerous nocturnal assignments: driving the trains taking munitions to the front. Death is everywhere, as the trains travel through blasted surrealistic landscapes, and a single-minded military policeman continues to investigate a killing that occurred before the departure for France.

CWA chair Peter James said: “Yet again, our judging panel had a tough task but after much deliberation came up with a truly worthy winner. Historical crime fiction is certainly in a healthy position with so many talented writers at work.”

The winner was announced at the Athenaeum in London.

The shortlist was:

Rory Clements PRINCE
Sam Eastland THE RED COFFIN
Gordon Ferris THE HANGING SHED
RN Morris THE CLEANSING FLAMES
Imogen Robertson ISLAND OF BONES

JUDGING PANEL

Eileen Roberts (Chair) - Originator and organiser of St Hilda’s annual crime symposium in Oxford, mystery and crime enthusiast
Geoffrey Bailey - Bookseller specialising in crime
Barry Forshaw - Edits Crime Time and is a talking head for the ITV Crime Thriller author profiles and BBC TV documentaries. A prolific writer, he has been Vice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association.
Sir Bernard Ingham - Press Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and crime fiction fan
Jake Kerridge - the crime fiction critic of the Daily Telegraph

The CWA has also announced some changes to the award, effective from 2012. The Ellis Peters award will once again become a CWA Dagger and submission dates will gradually move to correspond with the other CWA awards. The changes are in line with the CWA's commitment to increase the profile of their non-TV Dagger awards. It's planned that the Ellis Peters and the other Dagger awards will be presented as part of a new awards ceremony in summer 2012. Publishers are asked to contact the CWA or visit the Daggers sub-site for the new rules in full..

For press enquiries or more information on the CWA, please visit the website, www.thecwa.co.uk, or contact media.enquiries@thecwa.co.uk

Bookman Beattie shares his thoughts on Michael Connelly's latest Harry Bosch novel

2011-11-30T15:14:00.001+13:00

My fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judge Graham "Bookman" Beattie, deservedly one of the most well-respected figures on the New Zealand books scene, regularly reviews crime novels for Radio New Zealand.

This morning, as part of Kathryn Ryan's popular 'Nine to Noon' show, Beattie reviewed THE DROP, the latest Harry Bosch thriller from Michael Connelly, who both Beattie and I think is one of the very best in the business when it comes to global contemporary crime fiction.

"In my view it's Connelly at his best, and really there aren't many better," says Beattie of THE DROP. He also praised Connelly's touch for underlying themes and ambiquities, as well as noting that he likes the character of Bosch enormously. "I read the book late into the night over the weekend, it is a must read for crime fiction fans." You can listen to Beattie's full 5mins review here, or read a near-transcript of his review at his always-informative blog, Beattie's Book Blog, here.

Are you a Michael Connelly and/or Harry Bosch fan? Have you read THE DROP? Thoughts welcome.

Currently reading: MILKSHAKE by Matt Hammond (initial thoughts and review so far)

2011-11-30T14:43:00.001+13:00

A few weeks ago I shared some information about a debut New Zealand thriller I'd come across, MILKSHAKE by Matt Hammond. The book, which seemed like something of a global conspiracy thriller, set right here amongst the forests, dairy pastures, and small towns of Aotearoa, was available in a variety of ebook formats from Smashwords (a site I've come to quite like, in terms of discovering lesser-known authors), and in Kindle format from Amazon (US$0.99), and is now also available in hardcopy/paperback format from Amazon. Here's the blurb:

On the day David Turner is supposed to emigrate to New Zealand, he witnesses a savage murder and becomes caught up in ruthless global conspiracy. A thirty year-old technological discovery threatens his own future and jeopardises the lives of millions of others as David discovers that starting a new life is about to become a deadly game of cat and mouse... and, somewhat surprisingly, cows.

The early reviews on Smashwords and Amazon have been very positive - although you always need to take those with a grain of salt - but the premise of New Zealand being unwittingly used as a testing ground for a dangerous new biofuel, and an ordinary man being unwittingly caught up in a multinational global conspiracy laced with politics, spies, environmental activists, and more, certainly had me intrigued. So I've decided to give the debut thriller a go myself, and have been reading it this week.

I'm about 60 per cent of the way through, and so far am quite enjoying it (and it's growing on me as I go). There is a good narrative drive, and plenty of action - but sometimes the writing isn't as smooth as some crime fiction fans might like. A little too much exposition and 'telling' (sometimes repeatedly - which is a pet peeve of mine, but doesn't bother some other readers as much), and Hammond seems to feel the need to regularly remind the reader of the situation the protagonist, David Turner, finds himself in (a bit too much 'spelling it out'). But despite some irritating flaws - which in all honesty aren't unexpected for a debut book that hasn't come through the editing process of a major publisher - I am still finding myself compelled to keep turning the pages. Hammond has brought together some really good ideas and interesting concepts, and also shows a nice turn of phrase and descriptive passage now and then, in amongst all the action, with some good 'visuals'. I'm certainly intrigued, or hooked, to find out how it all comes together. And whether my home country will just become a testing ground for fuel-hungry Americans.

It's a good solid debut, that might have moved into the very good/great category with some tighter editing. In all fairness, there are plenty of big-name, hugely popular bestsellers that suffer from the same flaws - plot and action-centric conspiracy thrillers where the writing is a little 'on the nose' (eg Dan Brown etc). So I imagine many, many people would enjoy MILKSHAKE, which is entertaining and interesting. I am looking forward to seeing whether the final third moves my final the book up or down in my estimation.

Comments welcome.

Booklover interview: Paul Cleave

2011-11-29T21:10:00.000+13:00

Each week in the Herald on Sunday (one of the New Zealand publications I review crime fiction for), books editor Nicky Pellegrino includes a quickfire 'Booklover' interview with an author or other famous person - asking them about the books they're reading, their favourites of all time, and more.

This past weekend, along with my monthly round-up of crime fiction picks (read here), the Booklover interview was also crime fiction-centric, with 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award winner Paul Cleave sharing his thoughts on various books. Cleave's most recent novel, COLLECTING COOPER, was published in the USA a few months ago, and I understand has just been released in Germany under the title DIE TOTEN SAMMLER (and has already hit the bestseller list there).

In the interview Cleave shares that the book that changed him was MIND HUNTER by John Douglas, a former FBI criminal profiler. "He's the guy who helped create the FBI Behavioural Science Unit," says Cleave, who at the time was concentrating on horror fiction as a budding author. "I read that book about 12 years ago. This guy pointed out that the real horror is crime. I read his books and then wrote The Cleaner."

You can read Cleave's full Booklover interview, including comments on the books he loves most, is reading now, will read next, and more, on the Herald website here.

Multiple chances to see Jo Nesbo in New Zealand next March

2011-11-29T10:56:00.001+13:00

Earlier this month I shared the terrific news that Norwegian crime writing superstar Jo Nesbo would one of the authors appearing in Wellington in March next year as part of the the 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival's "Writers and Readers Week". That should be a fantastic festival, filled with terrific event showcasing several other crime writers (including Denise Mina, and some yet-to-be-announced New Zealand authors) and other interesting authors. Nesbo is visiting New Zealand to promote his new Harry Hole thriller, PHANTOM, as well as the release of the film adaptation of his standalone thriller HEADHUNTERS.

Now, I'm very pleased to reveal that Nesbo not just be visiting Wellington, but in fact will be doing multiple events around New Zealand in March 2012, allowing many keen crime readers an opportunity to meet this talented storyteller. According to his publisher, Random House, who are "delighted" about his visit, there will be a Nesbo event and movie premiere held on the same evening in each of the following locations:

Tuesday, 6 March - AUCKLAND
Wednesday, 7 March - CHRISTCHURCH
Thursday, 8 March - WANAKA
Saturday, 10 March – WELLINGTON (presented as part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival)

Further details about each event will be announced in due course. But for now, it's just great to see that plenty of people will get a chance to meet Nesbo. It's really good to see international crime writers of his and Mina's calibre coming all the way down here to New Zealand, promoting the genre, and supporting our burgeoning crime fiction scene.

THE PHANTOM will be released in New Zealand on 3 February, and marks the return of Nesbo's popular detective Harry Hole. Here's the publisher's blurb:

Summer. A boy is lying on the floor of an Oslo apartment. He is bleeding and will soon die. In order to place his life and death in some kind of context he begins to tell his story. Outside, the church bells toll.

Autumn. Former police inspector Harry Hole returns to Oslo after three years abroad. He seeks out his old boss at Police Headquarters to request permission to investigate a homicide.

But the case is already closed: the young junkie was in all likelihood shot dead by a fellow addict. Yet, Harry is granted permission to visit the boy’s alleged killer in jail. There, he meets himself and his own history. What follows is the solitary investigation of what appears to be the first impossible case in Harry Hole’s career. And while Harry is searching, the murdered boy continues his story.

A man walks the dark streets of Oslo. The streets are his and he has always been there. He is a phantom.

Have you read any of Jo Nesbo's thrillers? What do you think of Harry Hole as a 'hero'? Are you looking forward to the film adaptation of HEADHUNTERS?

Reviews: THE DROP by Michael Connelly, THE LOCK ARTIST by Steve Hamilton, and TRACES OF RED by Paddy Richardson

2011-11-28T10:44:00.001+13:00

This year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-known newspapers. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way to getting crime fiction into the books sections of some local media. My latest column was published yesterday NZT. As I've said before, these are just 'mini-reviews' of only 100 words or so, so I can't go into great depth about any of the books, but hopefully I provide readers with a little bit of an indication.

Crime Picks

The Drop
By Michael Connelly (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)
Put simply, Michael Connelly is a modern master of crime fiction, and LAPD detective Harry Bosch is one of the genre’s greatest characters. Connelly has an uncanny knack for keeping a long-running series fresh. Now, Bosch is spending his final pre-retirement years working cold cases, including one that threatens the integrity of the new Regional Crime Lab, when he’s hauled into a fresh investigation - the seems-like-suicide death of the son of his long-time nemesis, Councilman Irvin Irving. Readers are given a gripping, high quality ride as Bosch tries to find the truth behind the collision of police and politics.

The Lock Artist
By Steve Hamilton (Orion, $29.99)
Winner of the prestigious Edgar Award, this intriguing tale centres on Michael, who survived a terrible incident as a kid, but has never spoken since. The story switches between two major periods in Michael’s life, including his teenage years where he discovers his uncanny ability to open locks, and a prank gone wrong brings him into contact with a man who will end up changing his life. A mixture of thrills and chills as Michael goes about a rollercoaster criminal career, and an interesting character study of a troubled young man trying to escape from his tough life.

Traces of Red
By Paddy Richardson (Penguin, $30.00)
Acclaimed Dunedin author Richardson once again shows her skill at mixing personal drama and creepy psychological chills in her latest novel. Struggling television journalist Rebecca Thorne needs a big story, and thinks she might have found it when she discovers despised convicted triple murderer Connor Bligh might have a chance at freedom. Richardson excels at evoking the human aspects behind the plotline, as Rebecca struggles with her status and career, her relationships with Bligh’s barrister, a married man, and her interactions with many others as she tries to dig the truth from the past.

Craig Sisterson helped establish the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. He writes about crime and thriller fiction for several publications here and overseas, and blogs at http://kiwicrime.blogspot.com.

Have you read any of these authors or books? If so, what were your thoughts? Do the reviews make you more or less likely to want to read these three books? What books should I feature next month?

Meeting Margot Kinberg

2011-11-25T18:33:00.000+13:00

It's funny, in the age of the Internet we can feel like we 'know' some people, at least in some small way, or in relation to a particular thing, even when we've never met them before. That we're familiar with them, in that one respect, at least. Email, Facebook, blogs, and other Internet-based conversations allow us to talk about and debate some of the things we are interested in, from sports to books to movies to parenting to the meaning of life, with a vast variety of people all over the world.

One of the people I've felt like I've got to know a little over the past couple of years in a crime fiction context is US-based mystery writer and university academic Margot Kinberg.

Kinberg has written two mystery novels herself (PUBLISH OR PERISH and B-VERY FLAT), starring former police officer and now university academic Joel Williams. I read and enjoyed B-VERY FLAT last year, and am looking forward to reading PUBLISH OR PERISH at some point soon. Kinberg has completed a third Joel Williams manuscript, which hopefully we will see published in the near future.

This week I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Kinberg (pictured above at an Auckland cafe), who also writes the impressive Confessions of a Mystery Novelist blog, and knows a heck of a lot about the crime fiction genre, while she was visiting New Zealand for a university conference. As is often the case when two people who share a certain interest get together, we ended up chatting for a couple of hours about all sorts of things, from crime fiction, to US and New Zealand politics (we have a nationwide election here on Saturday), to the place and power of the media, and more. It was terrific, and I'm hoping to catch up with Kinberg again before she flies home to California.

I will have more to say about Kinberg's writing (I enjoyed the academic setting, the pleasant pacing, and the interesting characters in B-VERY FLAT) in due course. But in the meantime, you can read more about her at her blog here, and in her previous 9mm interview with Crime Watch here.

Have you read any of Kinberg's mystery novels? Have you met new people from places abroad thanks to your shared interest in crime fiction? Do you enjoy commenting on the genre with people from all over the world? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Book Launch: TRACES OF RED by Paddy Richardson

2011-11-22T11:31:00.002+13:00

Q & A with Mons Kallentoft (MIDWINTER SACRIFICE)

2011-11-18T12:07:00.001+13:00

One of the great things about being a crime fiction reviewer is that I get sent books from authors I might not have otherwise tried - and some end up becoming new favourites. Over the past two and a half years I've 'discovered' many such new-to-me authors, some through my own experimenting (just trying new books from the stores or libraries), and others from publicists who've recommended someone new-to-me, to me.

Recently I received a review copy of MIDWINTER SACRIFICE by Mons Kallentoft, another exceptional writer being noticed now as part of the ever-growing Scandinavian crime wave. Whatever you think of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, one great thing about it is it has opened the wider reading world's eyes to the talented crime writers in Scandinavia (many of whom were already big successes at home and in other non-English speaking nations pre-Larsson mania), and led to more Scandinavian crime fiction being translated into English, for all of us keen crime readers to enjoy.

MIDWINTER SACRIFICE is Kallentoft's fourth novel, but his first foray into crime fiction. It's always fascinating to see published writers, who've written in other styles or genres, turning their hand to crime fiction. Published in Sweden in 2007, it has been a bestseller, and has now been translated into several languages. It introduces Malin Fors, a single mother and the most talented and ambitious detective on the local police force. Kallentoft has since written four more Malin Fors tales (MIDWINTER SACRIFICE is the first to be translated into English). The books are set in his childhood hometown of Linkoping, Sweden.

I will soon be doing a 9mm interview with Kallentoft, but in the meantime I thought you might enjoy this recent Q&A session his publisher has sent through to me:

Linkoping: how does it fit into your life?
It’s an average Swedish town where I grew up, and where I moved away from as soon as I could. I left at 20, so it is a huge part of me, and writing the stories helped me to reconnect to my childhood and young adulthood.

Would you live there again?

You can’t actually run away from who you are. In one of my earlier books I wrote about it, but it is only possible to go back in my books. These stories are like echoes from that era and I can look back and work out a lot of things and emotions.

Mercy in an author?

Mercy? No. To write you have to be merciless. You can’t turn away when the story gets too dark and scary. You have to keep going. I find the books very emotional to write because I can’t get away with side-stepping the hard bits.

Why is your main character a girl?
I was trying to do something a bit different and I talked with my wife about it. Most detectives are middle-aged and jaded, and we thought a young woman in the middle of her working life would be a good place to start. I do talk about her with my wife when I get stuck on the emotional side of things, but I reckon I know her pretty well by now – and she is definitely NOT my wife! In fact she is more like me – her frustrations with small town life come directly from my own experience.

How many other countries are you published in?
My books are now in 22 languages and I have been to many of the countries involved. I have yet to go to Romania, but I travel a lot – so one day I will!

Your first books?
They were set in Madrid and Brussels – all over the place – and I wrote about what I saw and the people I watched. They weren’t really crime novels, but they touched on the dark side of life. It was when I started to write about Linkoping that crime seemed the right genre for me!

Awards?
Pesetas was my first novel, and won the Swedish equivalent of your Whitbread Award. For a debut. The book came from the year I spent in Madrid. I also wrote a non-fiction travel and food book, Food Noir, which won a travel award. I’d like to do another one of those as I have a lot of material ready and waiting. I only need the time to do it!

How many books altogether?
Five Malin Fors novels, one travel, and novels set in Stockholm, where I live now, Belgium and Spain. If the house burned down, I’d save one called Fresh, Healthy and Spontaneous (that title is a bit of a mouthful!). It’s about a branding expert and his views on life and family, about how he applies branding strategy to manage all the details of his life. It’s a black black black comedy.

Seasons and the weather and the part they play?
I had the idea that crime novels benefit from easy symbols for the reader to catch hold of. So I have written the seasons into the Malin Fors novels. The cold is an easy way to reach people, on one level it represents the cold inside all mankind … it runs through all the characters too – emotionally and figuratively cold. I also like to give the books the feel of different colours and sounds. Midwinter Sacrifice, for instance, is icy and blue – and it is quite a silent book because the sounds are muted by the winter and snow. My Summer book (ed - "SUMMERTIME DEATH" - pictured right) has much more noise. Using seasons also gives me a tight framework for the stories. Like a Greek drama – it is all very contained!

The translation?
My English translator, Neil Smith, is excellent. He is not the first to try my books, but he is the best. It’s so hard to get it right, and he seems to capture the tone and voices in them.

Mountain or valley?
Mountain

River or Sea?
Sea

Best food?
In the Basque area of northern Spain. It is without doubt the best food in the world.

Favourite book?
The Great Gatsby. It’s perfect in every sense – form, character, plot and creation. I love reading it – every time. And also Cormac McCarthy’s book Blood Meridian.

Favourite film?
That is a really hard one. The French Connection I think. I also love those slow, stylish, mystery thrillers you can just sink into.

Favourite city?
Madrid, Hong Kong, Sydney, Bangkok … Macau because of its sense of the underbelly

Have you read MIDWINTER SACRIFICE, or any other Mons Kallentoft books? If not, do they sound intriguing? What do you think of his Q&A? Comments welcome.

Reviews: THE AFFAIR, THE RETRIBUTION, and BY ANY MEANS

2011-11-15T17:29:00.002+13:00

This year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-known newspapers. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way to getting crime fiction into the books sections of some local media.

My latest column was published a couple of weekends ago, but I didn't realise - missing that issue of the newspaper - so I hadn't yet shared the reviews online. Here they are:

Crime Watch

The Affair
By Lee Child (Bantam Press, $39.99)
A return to form for Child after the underwhelming Worth Dying For, this latest Jack Reacher tale goes back to before the beginning, to 1997 when he was still a Major in the military police. Sent undercover to Mississippi after a woman has her throat cut behind a bar just down the road from a large Army base, Reacher finds himself entangled with the attractive female sheriff, and questioning everything, unsure just who he can trust. A page-turner, The Affair sheds new light on the enigmatic wandering hero, and should please new and old fans alike.

The Retribution
By Val McDermid (Little, Brown, $34.99)
The doyenne of Tartan Noir, McDermid not only brings back her popular pairing of dysfunctional profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan (of Wire in the Blood fame) in her latest novel, but also celebrity broadcaster turned serial killer Jacko Vance. Just when Hill and Jordan are about to take themselves to another place, professionally and perhaps personally, their nemesis escapes after years behind bars, throwing them, their colleagues, and their wider lives, into disarray. McDermid creates a pulse-pounding plot, but her writing shines brightest in the emotional turmoil of her characters’ relationships.

By Any Means
By Ben Sanders (HarperCollins, $24.99)
This sophomore effort from 21-year-old Aucklander Sanders has plenty of the crisp prose, vivid imagery, and page-turning plotlines that powered his #1 bestselling debut, The Fallen, last year. Detective Sergeant Sean Devereaux juggles murder investigations: a Friday rush-hour drive-by shooting, and a suspicious double-killing in an affluent suburb. Meanwhile Devereaux’s ex-cop buddy John Hale finds himself chasing kidnappers, and being chased by the Police. While there are flaws (a tendency to get ‘listy’ with musical references or travel details), overall Sanders has crafted another very enjoyable thriller, set right here in our biggest city.

Craig Sisterson helped establish the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. He writes about crime and thriller fiction for several publications here and overseas, and blogs at http://kiwicrime.blogspot.com/.

BLOOD ROOTS launch party this weekend

2011-11-15T12:18:00.001+13:00

As I mentioned last month, New Zealand writer Michael Green has now brought his post-apocalyptic 'Blood Line' thriller trilogy to a close with the completion of BLOOD ROOTS, the third book.

I've now been sent an invitation for myself and any Crime Watch readers who may be interested and in the area to attend the book launch celebration at the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club this weekend.

Not only can you enjoy a good event and a great book, but support a terrific charity - as, like with his first thriller novel, BLOOD LINE, Green is donating all his author royalties to Lifeline (read about his reasons for supporting this very worthwhile charity here).

The Blood Line trilogy is a thriller series set in Gulf Harbour, New Zealand (a scenic area north of Auckland), the UK, and on the high seas in between. It narrates the fortunes of various branches of the Chatfield family as they struggle to survive a deadly world-wide pandemic.

Here are the official details about the book launch:

At The Gulf Harbour Yacht Club

1299 Laurie Southwick Parade, Gulf Harbour, Whangaparaoa
Sunday 20 November 2011 - 3PM
Cash bar (nibbles provided)
Copies of Blood Line & Blood Bond will also be available (the first two books in the trilogy)

If you can't make the book launch, but would like to order a copy of BLOOD ROOTS, you can do so through the author's website here.

So Brilliantly Clever: New Zealand author takes a detailed look at a decades-old crime

2011-11-14T16:43:00.000+13:00

Previously on Crime Watch I've talked a little about bestselling crime writer Anne Perry, who writes some very good historical crime fiction, but also has been entwined in historic real-life crime herself; she was one of the teenage perpetrators of the infamous Parker-Hulme murder in 1950s New Zealand that was made into an acclaimed film, Heavenly Creatures, by Sir Peter Jackson (the first film to star a young Kate Winslet).

Last year, a new documentary, Anne Perry: Interiors (filmmaker: Dana Linkiewicz), looking at Perry's reclusive life, her almost single-minded dedication to writing, and her tiny band of close friends and devoted supporters that she surrounds herself with, living in otherwise rural isolation near the small Scottish village of Portmahomack, was released, and had screenings here in New Zealand. At the time there were some stories in the local media, including some that spoke to lawyer and true crime writer Peter Graham, who had been working on a book on the Parker-Hulme murder, about his thoughts on Perry and the way she came across in the documentary.

Now Graham's true crime book, SO BRILLIANTLY CLEVER, is being released this week by Awa Press.

You can read more about the book here, and a good story in The Press here. Apparently there is also a story in this week's New Zealand Listener about Graham and his research into the long-ago murder.

Ian Rankin wishes he'd never read Brady's book

2011-11-07T17:52:00.000+13:00

Each week in the Herald on Sunday (one of the New Zealand publications I review crime fiction for), books editor Nicky Pellegrino includes a quickfire 'Booklover' interview with an author or other famous person - asking them about the books they're reading, their favourites of all time, and more.

This week's interviewee was acclaimed Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, whose latest thriller, THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD (the second book in the Malcolm Fox/Complaints series) was released recently.

Amongst other things, Rankin shares that the book he wished he'd never read was THE GATES OF JANUS by Moors Murderer Ian Brady. "Brady is an infamous serial killer and this book is his credo. I read it only for research purposes and it made my skin crawl," says Rankin.

I've watched a few documentaries about the Moors Murders, and read a little bit about Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, but haven't ever read THE GATES OF JANUS - after Rankin's comments I probably wouldn't want to either - or anything that Hindley wrote herself. Although I used to be reasonably fascinated by true crime when I was younger, I don't read a lot of it lately - and I'm not sure how much I'd want to read about a serial killer's justifications for what they did.

On a sunnier note, you can read more about the books Rankin is currently reading, and has really enjoyed, in the full Booklover interview here.

Crime aplenty: Jo Nesbo and Denise Mina announced for 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival

2011-11-03T11:05:00.000+13:00

In some terrific news that I can finally reveal, it's now been announced that there will be some strong crime writing content as part of the prestigious 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival, to be held in Wellington next year. The Festival will include 300 arts events over 24 days in late February and March next year, and a Writers & Readers Week is also part of the festivities. Amongst the visiting international writers for 2012 are two big names from European crime fiction: Norwegian Jo Nesbo, and Scottish writer Denise Mina.

I understand there will also be a New Zealand crime writing event, with several local writers. More details about the full Festival line-up will be released in due course. It's great to see important local festivals, such as the New Zealand Arts Festival, starting to embrace and include crime fiction, particularly local crime fiction, more and more, in their line-ups. I'm very much looking forward to the 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival.

You can read more about the international authors attending, and their events, here.

Going bump in the night: Kiwi writer Chad Taylor featured on Guardian's Halloween reading list

2011-11-01T17:51:00.003+13:00

All around the world, people are recovering from a wide array of Halloween festivities. Let's be honest, Halloween can be a pretty fun sort of celebration whether you're young or old, with its costumes, creepy films, and all sorts of let-your-hair-down shenanigans. After all, we all like to be frightened, at least a little, now then.

As Darragh MacManus of The Guardian says, "Halloween is my favourite holiday, though I'm not quite sure why. It may be some blood-deep ethnic link to the ancient Celtic festival from whence it came; it may be the fact that I'm crazy-stupid for slasher movies and monkey nuts. Either way, Halloween puts the frights on Christmas, terrorises Easter and sends Valentine's Day bawling for its mommy. And one of the best ways to spend 31 October is by curling up with a creepy book, in a room lit by candles, with stiff drink and loaded revolver close at hand. Just in case."

In preparation for Halloween, The Guardian put together a Halloween reading list packed with "novels that are eerie, horrifying or disturbing in unusual and different ways" (eschewing the obvious choices such as Stephen King's THE SHINING). And from a New Zealand crime writing perspective, it's great to see Kiwi author Chad Taylor feature for his book SHIRKER. McManus says "this tale of one man cheating death is one of the best crime novels I've ever read. Beautiful artful prose, a great, twisting noir story, and a seriously spooky, sexy atmosphere." High praise indeed.

You can read the rest of McManus's spooky reading list here.

Do you like reading crime and thrillers that veer to the scary/horror end of the spectrum? What did you do to celebrate Halloween? What are some of your favourite 'scary' novels?

Don't give up your day job - writing while working

2011-10-26T13:29:00.000+13:00

Most writers, even the biggest big name bestsellers, wrote their earliest novels while holding down another fulltime job, grabbing time for their personal creativity in amongst the (at times gruelling) day-to-day requirements of whatever else they needed to do to earn money and/or raise a family. Many writers continue to work in other areas even after they're published (the life of a full-time author is a dream for most - something only a small percentage of writers, even amongst those who are published, achieve).

At the same time, many budding writers say they wish they could write their novel/play/screenplay/children's book - if only they could find the time, in amongst their busy, busy life. But those that have been successfully published have often had similarly busy, busy working lives. So how do they manage to juggle writing with other responsibilities? How do they manage to create when they have to snatch writing time here and there, before work, or when they're tired at the end of a demanding day?

An upcoming free public event in Auckland takes a look at this very issue, and seems well worth attending for published and budding writers alike, as well as interested readers.

Trading Places is a panel event to be chaired by Ian Wedde (New Zealand Poet Laureate 2011-2013, novelist and curator). Wedde is joined on the panel by high-profile New Zealanders:

Gareth Morgan, economist, investment manager, adventure traveller and published author;
Tessa Duder, children’s writer and literary ambassador;
Geoff Walker, publisher, editor and writer; and
Juliet Bergh, doctor, screen writer and director.

Wedde and the panellists will share their insights in to how they balance their working lives with writing, how they make time to write, nurturing their creativity and contributing to the creative economy, and avoiding procrastination.

Trading Places is a free public event, to be held at Auckland’s Central City Library, Level 2, 44-46 Lorne Street, on Tuesday 15 November. Crime Watch readers are invited to join Wedde and the panellists for a glass of wine from 7pm for a 7.30pm start; available on a first come/first served basis.

Trading Places is proudly sponsored by the New Zealand Book Council, Auckland City Libraries and the National Library, whose aim is to foster New Zealanders’ creativity.

Hat tip to Bookman Beattie for the heads-up about the event.

A great day...

2011-10-24T01:08:00.000+13:00

9mm: An interview with Bev Robitai

2011-10-19T15:56:00.000+13:00

The 9mm series has been on a bit of slow burn in the past few months, but don't worry, it will continue to be a regular feature here on Crime Watch (hopefully an increasingly regular feature moving forward, rather than the once every few weeks thing it's become recently).

Today, for the 57th instalment of the popular series, I am sharing my 9mm interview with New Zealand mystery writer Bev Robitai, who lives on Auckland's North Shore. I first came across Robitai's work last year, when I read her theatre-set debut mystery MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW, having purchased the ebook from Smashwords. You can read my review of that novel here, and another well-written review here (Reactions to Reading).

Robitai is a photographer for publications in New Zealand and overseas and a freelance writer for magazines like Next. Born in the United Kingdom, she has lived on Auckland's North Shore for 12 years, and spent the prior two decades in Nelson (my hometown). Although MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW is set in a fictional town, it was inspired by Robitai's experiences in the Nelson theatre community.

Robitai released her second mystery novel, AN EYE FOR AN EYE, in April (read more here), and I understand she is working on more crime novels too. You can read more about her at her website here.

But for now, Robitai stares down the barrel of 9mm.

9MM: AN INTERVIEW WITH BEV ROBITAI

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?
I’m enjoying the unfolding of Jack Reacher as Lee Child reveals more of his story in each book. He was such an enigma at first. I’m also falling back in love with Ngaio Marsh’s Roderick Alleyn – he’s so intelligent, charming, and funny.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?
Hm, I guess you mean something more advanced than Orlando the Marmalade Cat? Then Swallows & Amazons and all Arthur Ransome’s stories. I read them on the sofa with my mum and learned to speed-read so she didn’t turn the page before I’d finished.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?
Plenty of published non-fiction articles. I’ve attempted a romance or two but got stuck on how to keep two intelligent characters apart until the end. It’s so hard to think of plausible reasons two perfectly sane people couldn’t sort out their differences! Short stories I’ve never liked much because if I enjoy a character I want to live with them for a whole book.

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise.
READ! My greatest luxury is pushing everything else aside to dive into a great crime novel. Second choice – photography. At least that gets me out in the fresh air, and has been a secondary career for a good few years. I love theatre production too for the variety of creative skills it uses.

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?
My real hometown is Staines in England and I’d send visitors to the little ‘village green’ beside the Thames on the day the swan-uppers go by. A slice of medieval history in a lovely riverside setting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Upping

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?
If I pick a young Goldie Hawn because my husband likes her, then can I pick who’d play him…that seems fair, doesn’t it? I’d choose Richard Gere. No wait, Mark Harmon - he’s got more sense of fun. Oh no wait, I want David Tennant. Yes!

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?
The one I’m writing at the moment, Body on the Stage, because I love the surprises when the characters become friends and interact. And I get to write all the comedy lines! Eye for an Eye was my first finished book and I’m still excited with it, even though Murder in the Second Row was published first and has had all the attention so far.

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?
My biggest thrill was seeing my book in the library. It’s a proper book when it’s in the library! It’s pretty cool seeing it on the shelves in Borders too, but seeing several copies as ‘out on loan’ in the library catalogue is hugely satisfying. It was a great buzz seeing it mentioned on Crime Watch too, thanks for that! J

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?
I launched Murder in the Second Row in Nelson, in the theatre I’d used as the setting. An old boyfriend I hadn’t seen for 30 years drove all the way up from Christchurch to surprise me, and I didn’t even recognise him until my husband brought him over to where I was signing books and introduced him. That felt a bit weird! It’s hard to compete with C.J. Box’s answer to this question though – what a classic.

Thank you Bev Robitai. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch.

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Have you read MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW, or EYE FOR AN EYE? What do you think of Robitai's writing? Do you like crime fiction set in the theatre?

Confessions of a teen fiction writer: my NZ Listener feature article on Harlan Coben now available to read in full online

2011-10-18T19:25:00.000+13:00

As I said a couple of weeks ago, the 8-14 October 2011 issue of the New Zealand Listener (which came out on 1 October), included my large feature on award-drenched crime writer Harlan Coben, who's latest book SHELTER takes a turn into the teen fiction world, centring on the adventures and escapades of Myron Bolitar's nephew Mickey, and his new friends. The article also included a side-bar on other adult fiction thriller writers who had recently turned to the young adult market. The article, and side-bar, is now available to read in full online, at the Listener website here (or click on the image above).

I really enjoyed talking to Coben a few weeks ago for the article; he's an intelligent, interesting guy with a good sense of humour. I read SHELTER before the interview, and really enjoyed it - unlike some adult writers who've turned their hand to teen fiction, Coben hasn't simplified the storylines and issues too much - in essence, SHELTER is a good suspense novel that just happens to have a teenager at the centre of it.

Have you read SHELTER, or any of Coben's other tales? Do you like reading teen crime fiction, even as an adult? What do you think of the feature interview? What were your favourite crime or thriller novels as a teen reader yourself? Comments welcome.

Galaxy Book Awards honour crime fiction and more

2011-10-18T13:04:00.001+13:00

The 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards nominees have been released, with a few crime writers featuring. One of the Awards' eleven categories is for the Thriller & Crime Novel of the Year, but crime writers also feature in some of the other more general categories too.

The Galaxy National Book Awards tout themselves at 'the Oscars of the book industry', and they certainly highlight and celebrate a variety of books, with categories ranging from crime, to children's books, to cookery/food books, to biography/autobiography, to audiobooks, and more. It's good to see that crime/thriller writing has its own category (not every genre does, as there are catch-all categories like 'popular fiction' and 'paperback of the year', etc). The nominees for the Thriller & Crime Novel of the Year in association with iBookstore are:

Before I Go To Sleep S.J. Watson (Doubleday)
The Fear Index Robert Harris (Hutchinson)
Heartstone C J Sansom (Pan)
The Family Martina Cole (Headline)
The Impossible Dead Ian Rankin (Orion)
Trick Of The Dark Val McDermid (Sphere)

Acclaimed new crime writer SJ Watson, who recently won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for his debut Before I Go To Sleep, features strongly in the Galaxy line-ups; also receiving nominations for New Writer of the Year, and AudioBook of the Year.

American thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz is nominated in the Paperback of the Year category for his excellent thriller You're Next (read my review here, and my feature article on Hurwitz discussing that novel here). Norwegian star Jo Nesbo (The Leopard) has been nominated for International Writer of the Year, finding himself up against the likes of Haruki Murakami, and Booker nominee AD Miller (Snowdrops) has also been nominated in the New Writer of the Year category. It is nice to see crime getting something of a look-in, especially in awards which are made across genres. Though like any awards nominee lists, there's bound to be plenty to discuss in terms of people left off the list, and whether people think the nominated books are better than others that seem overlooked.

The winners will be revealed on 4th November at a ceremony at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in west London, which will be hosted by comedian Dara O'Briain. The event will be staged and filmed by Cactus TV, with a series of six programmes about the awards to be screened between 13th November and 17th December on More4. Cactus TV Managing DirectorAmanda Ross said, "It will be far more interesting for the viewers to experience the event in bite-size chunks spread across six shows, as we will be able to properly focus on the category winners."

You can read more about the 2011 Galaxy Book Awards at the website here. Graham Beattie has a full list of the categories and nominees here.

Happy Birthday Ben Sanders

2011-10-17T14:29:00.000+13:00

Today, wunderkind Auckland crime writer Ben Sanders turns the ripe old age of 22, so Happy Birthday Ben! With two quality crime novels already under his belt, and a third on the way in his Sean Devereaux and John Hale series, Sanders (pictured right, with Michael Connelly in Auckland earlier this year)looks to have a very promising crime writing career ahead of him.

To mark Sanders' birthday, I thought I would republish my reviews of each of his first two novels, #1 bestseller THE FALLEN, and sequel BY ANY MEANS. I enjoyed both these books, although of course they're not without flaws, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Sanders develops as a crime writer over the coming years; he could be part of a new wave of Kiwi crime writers that may put New Zealand squarely on the international map again. You can also read my recent interview with Sanders for the New Zealand Herald here, and his 9mm interview with Crime Watch here. But for now, here are my reviews:

The Fallen by Ben Sanders (HarperCollins, 2010)
A man dazedly regains consciousness, only to find himself handcuffed, feeling like "he's been bathed in something corrosive", and with his head adhered to the carpet by his own clotted blood.

So starts this debut crime thriller from North Shore engineering student and nascent author, Ben Sanders, an adroit barely-20-something being touted as "a major new talent" with a "sophisticated and edgy" writing style.

The Fallen then quickly switches to the first-person narration of street-savvy Auckland police detective Sean Devereaux, a hero who quickly displays some classic crime fiction traits. Devereaux has a tendency to trust his own morals, instincts and judgment more than "the rules" of his superiors; his narration is peppered with pithy comments and observations about the case and the wider world that are tinged with both smart-aleck humour and the occasionally jaded eye of someone who's already seen plenty - "criminal investigation is inherently recession-proof"; but at the core he's someone who cares, even if at times he may not want to.

Devereaux returns early from leave to investigate the brutal slaying of a 16-year-old "Epsom princess", whose bashed body is discovered on the edge of a flowerbed in Albert Park. "I wondered what she could have done to deserve such a fate," reflects Devereaux, "but as always when I asked myself that question, my subconscious churned up the same answer: nothing".

Off the clock Devereaux is busying himself playing white knight for his attractive neighbour - finding out why she's being watched by a mysterious man. As he juggles his official and unofficial duties, the latter with the help of "strong but silent" security specialist John Hale (formerly an investigator with both the army and the New Zealand Police), Devereaux opens the proverbial Pandora's Box. His after-hours activities peel the scab from a scam run by senior colleagues and he and Hale are dropped right into an escalating cycle of kidnapping, murder, and violence.

Sanders writes in a punchy, crisp style, employing short sentences and terse but telling descriptions - rather than languid or overwrought prose - to evoke a strong sense of the various Auckland settings, and his characters' thoughts, actions, and motivations. There is a sleekness to his storytelling that would be impressive for any crime writer, let alone one so young.

He sprinkles musical references throughout; Devereaux, like the author, has a passion for rock, from REM to Neil Young. Sanders has reportedly been enamoured with crime fiction since he was an adolescent, and fellow fans of the genre will be able to spot the influence of varying big-name international bestsellers in aspects of The Fallen. Hale has echoes of Robert Crais' Joe Pike, while Sanders' ability to evoke an essence of Auckland as Devereaux travels the city's streets is almost Connelly-esque.

But just like a new band that has echoes of those that have gone before, the real question isn't whether a newcomer is completely unlike anything else, but whether he or she provides something enjoyable and a little different. More importantly, whether they're any good. With The Fallen, Sanders comes up trumps on that front: Devereaux's first outing is an absorbing debut that also entices with future promise.

The young man from the North Shore has added to the mounting evidence that New Zealand can produce native, compelling crime fiction to match the international offerings readers buy and enjoy in droves.

This review was first published in the 31 July 2010 issue of the New Zealand Herald.

By Any Means by Ben Sanders (HarperCollins, 2011)

Young Aucklander Ben Sanders, who juggles novel writing with his university civil engineering studies, burst onto the local books scene last year with The Fallen, a gritty crime thriller that introduced Detective Sean Devereaux and ex-cop John Hale, and was packed with murder, kidnapping, and police corruption. All set amongst the seamy streets and suburbs of our largest city. Now, 21-year-old Sanders returns, as do Devereaux and Hale, with By Any Means, the follow up to his #1 bestselling debut.

In the first sentence, a bus driver is killed, shot by an unknown gunman on Auckland’s bustling Albert Street during Friday rush hour. Detective Sean Devereaux picks up the case, only to discover wildly conflicting witness accounts then a sense the victim wasn’t the true target. But then, who was? At the same time Devereaux is dealing with a double killing in the affluent suburbs: the wife and daughter of a prominent finance company director. Murder-suicide or double homicide? The police turn their attention to the husband, but Devereaux has doubts. Meanwhile, John Hale is largely unavailable to assist, as he’s witnessed a kidnapping, and finds himself the target of a dogged senior police officer as he tries to do his own private investigations.

Sanders writes in a crisp and punchy style, powering a storyline that can hook you early and keep the pages whirring. He often has a very nice way with words when it comes to pithy descriptions of people and places, using some vivid imagery, although at times some of the travel around Auckland, and the use of musical references, can get a touch too ‘listy’, which could bother some readers. Overall, By Any Means is a solid sophomore effort, and shows that Sanders is no one-hit wonder. I’m certainly looking forward to the next Sean Devereaux and John Hale tale.

This review was first published in the Friday, 26 August 2011 issue of NZLawyer magazine.

Happy Birthday Mr Sanders! I hope to be reviewing many more of your crime novels in the coming years.

RWC Semifinal 1: France vs Wales (Manotti vs Bauer)

2011-10-15T17:03:00.000+13:00

After four tremendously exciting real-life quarterfinals in the Rugby World Cup 2011 last weeked, we now move on to the final four. While I would have picked McGilloway's BORDERLANDS over Belinda Bauer's BLACKLANDS, in a close call, crime fiction wise, the Welsh overcame the Irish on the field. And likewise French flair overcame English pragmatism, rugby-wise, meaning we've said goodbye to Mark Billingham as well. So this week we find ourselves with an intriguing France vs Wales match-up in the first quarterfinal.

As neither rugby team has made much of a change to their sides, and both will be looking to play a similar game tonight as took them to victory last week, I've decided to keep the crime fiction match-up the same as well (I was almost tempted to substitute in a Fred Vargas book that I purchased this year as France's representative, but decided to stick with Manotti).

So here we go for semifinal numero uno:

Representing Wales: BLACKLANDS by Belinda Bauer
Another debutant on the crime fiction scene, Welsh author Bauer certainly hit the ground running with BLACKLANDS, which won the CWA Gold Dagger last year - a rare feat for a first novel. I read BLACKLANDS late last year, and enjoyed it. The novel centres on 12-year-old Steven Lamb, who spends his free time searching the windswept moors outside his small town, hoping to find trace of his uncle Billy whose disappearance two decades ago fractured the impoverished family in such a way that even though Steven wasn't born when it happened, he experiences the ongoing effects of the tragedy.

Desperate for closure, Steven turns to an imprisoned paedophile, writing him a letter that he hopes might garner some much-needed clues - but instead opening Pandora's Box to an even worse nightmare. I liked the way that even though Bauer's debut was seemingly simple in storyline terms and the way she writes, there was plenty going on underneath. BLACKLANDS delves deeply into character and human frailties, gives convincing “voice” to both child and child killer, and ably depicts the dark underbelly of English village life.

Result: Well, since I haven't read the Manotti book yet, it's probably a little tough to judge (although that does fit with not really knowing what France is going to offer tonight on the rugby field, to be fair - which France will indeed turn up). All in all, I'm probably in a similar place as rugby fans - I'm impressed by Bauer (and the Welsh team), and they're operating at a high level, but the French (Manotti) are an unknown quanitity that could swoop in, be brilliant (to read, or on the field), or fall far short. Coin toss territory.

Facebook users: you can now 'like' Vanda Symon

2011-10-14T18:39:00.001+13:00

News in today that after much harassment at the recent SheKilda conference in Melbourne, contemporary Kiwi crime queen Vanda Symon has finally added herself to Facebook, creating an author page that readers and others can 'like' (ie it's not a personal page that you 'friend'). This will be another easy way for those interested in Symon's excellent Sam Shephard books, or her upcoming standalone thriller, FACELESS to stay up to date with what is happening in Symon's writing world.

It's great to see New Zealand-based authors Neil Cross and Paul Cleave deservedly getting more and more attention overseas, but Symon is another terrific Kiwi crime writer who I think many readers would really enjoy, given the chance. Hopefully in future more overseas readers will have the opportunity to read Symon's books, as and when they become more available (her Facebook page might be a good way of keeping up with any developments on the international distribution front, of course).

You can 'like' Vanda Symon's Facebook author page here.

CWA announces the shortlist for the Ellis Peters Historical Award

2011-10-14T09:42:00.001+13:00

The Crime Writers’ Association has announced the shortlist for this year’s prestigious Ellis Peters Historical Award. The award is sponsored by the Estate of Ellis Peters, Headline Book Publishing Company and Little, Brown Book Group. It is given to the best historical crime novel (set in any period up to 35 years prior to the year in which the award will be made) by an author of any nationality, and commemorates the life and work of Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) (1913-1995), a prolific author perhaps best known as the creator of Brother Cadfael.

CWA chair Peter James said: “Historical fiction remains as popular as ever and has seen the creation of some of crime writing’s most enduring characters. This year’s books continue that fine tradition.“

The winner will be announced on November 30 at the Athenaeum in London. The shortlist is:

Rory Clements, PRINCE: Rory Clements won the Ellis Peters award last year for Revenger, the second instalment in his John Shakespeare series. Prince is the third book to feature this Elizabethan intelligencer, and finds Shakespeare caught up in the infighting between the Queen's rival favourites, Robert Cecil and Lord Essex, as he investigates a series of bombings targeting Dutch immigrants in London. There are some clever references to twenty-first-century concerns, as well as the wit and breakneck pace we have come to expect from Clements.
Sam Eastland, THE RED COFFIN: Sam Eastland's second novel sees the return of the brilliant special investigator Inspector Pekkala, once the trusted advisor of Tsar Nicholas II, now forced to work for Stalin. It is 1939 and rogue Russian soldiers are trying to precipitate war with Germany before Stalin's secret weapon is ready-- a super tank known as the "red coffin". This manages to be a superbly entertaining thriller while fully conveying the horrors of life under Stalin.
Gordon Ferris, THE HANGING SHED: The Hanging Shed was a massive success even before its print incarnation hit the bookshops, when it became one of the most downloaded books in Britain after being released on the Amazon Kindle. The setting is Glasgow in 1946, and the author's delineation of the immediate post-war years has a bristling immediacy. Ferris’s protagonist Brodie is an ex-policeman, forced to save a childhood friend from hanging via a daunting odyssey through the dangerous backstreets of the Gorbals, obstructed by both bent coppers and murderous razor gangs.
Andrew Martin, THE SOMME STATIONS: Martin's novels featuring railway detective Jim Stringer reveal their treasures in subtle fashion with a winning synthesis of period atmosphere, intriguing plotting and a passion for steam railways. The Somme Station plunges into the horrors of WW1 trench combat. Stringer and his unit must undertake dangerous nocturnal assignments: driving the trains taking munitions to the front. Death is everywhere, as the trains travel through blasted surrealistic landscapes, and a single-minded military policeman continues to investigate a killing that occurred before the departure for France.
RN Morris, THE CLEANSING FLAMES: Reading this splendid fourth entry in the RN Morris sequence of riffs on the detective Porfiry from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is a bittersweet experience, as Morris is about to put the character on hold. In the new book, St Petersburg is in flames, and the fires are harbingers of the revolution that will tear the country apart. After a post-winter thaw, a body surfaces in a canal, and Porfiry is in business again. As before, character building, locale, and historical detail are all beautifully balanced.
Imogen Robertson, ISLAND OF BONES: This is Imogen Robertson's third novel to feature her wilful heroine Mrs Harriet Westerman and gives us some background to her sleuthing sidekick, the eccentric and reclusive amateur anatomist Gabriel Crowther, as the duo head to the Lake District to investigate when one corpse too many is found in the ancestral tomb at Gabriel's family seat. Robertson expertly juggles family politics, murder mystery and kidnap thriller, while giving a fascinating picture of country life in the late 18th century.

The Judging Panel for the Ellis Peters Historical Award consists of:

Eileen Roberts (Chair) - Originator and organiser of St Hilda’s annual crime symposium in Oxford, mystery and crime enthusiast
Geoffrey Bailey - Bookseller specialising in crime
Barry Forshaw - Edits Crime Time and is a talking head for the ITV Crime Thriller author profiles and BBC TV documentaries. A prolific writer, he has been Vice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association.
Sir Bernard Ingham - Press Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and crime fiction fan
Jake Kerridge - the crime fiction critic of the Daily Telegraph

For press enquiries or more information on the CWA, please visit the website, www.thecwa.co.uk, or contact media.enquiries@thecwa.co.uk.

A touch of crime amongst the NZ Film and TV awards nominees

2011-10-13T13:23:00.002+13:00

Well, the nominees for the 2012 AFTA Awards (the Aotearoa New Zealand Film & TV Awards) have been announced today, and scanning through the eye-glazingly-long list of nominees in the 61 categories (yes, 61, crazy, I know - it's like the Golden Globes, with news media categories added on), I can see that there is some local crime fiction and true crime content amongst those being lauded.

I'll leave aside for the moment any comments re: the plethora of categories for reality TV (even split into 'contructed' and 'observational' reality TV categories) and news media, while those that are the true initial creators - the writers - are relegated to one single TV writing category that combines drama and comedy (while actors and others have multiple categories, split into drama, comedy, lead and supporting, male and female, etc) - that's a personal pet peeve of mine, the way writers, who start it all when it comes to storytelling, are still overlooked and underappreciated by the media and public etc.

Anyway, onto the good news; there are some highlights for crime-loving fans amongst the many awards. Back in 2009 the excellent dramatisation of the real-life David Dougherty miscarriage of justice case (Until Proven Innocent) deservedly starred at the awards, picking up seven trophies. Writer-producer Donna Malane went on to publish her debut crime novel last year, SURRENDER, and now her TV work has received several more nominations, with her telemovie Bloodlines (based on another NZ true crime story) being nominated for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Script, and Best Director. Congratulations to Malane and her team.

I watched and enjoyed Bloodlines; personally I didn't think it quite reached the heights of Until Proven Innocent, which was truly superb, but it was still a very good telemovie. Incidentally, Bloodlines already won the Best TV Drama Script Award at the Scriptwriting Awards of NZ.

A feature film, Predicament, based on Kiwi thriller writer Ronald Hugh Morrieson's darkly twisting third novel (published posthumously in 1975), has also been nominated in several categories. Morrieson, who was born, lived, wrote, and died in Hawera, South Taranaki (a small rural town) is a very interesting character in New Zealand's literary history. He scratched at the dark underbelly of rural New Zealand life, but wasn't really appreciated until after his own death in 1972; his tales were considered too dark, twisted, and violent.

He is widely celebrated as writing the best opening line ever in a New Zealand novel: "The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut", from THE SCARECROW, a tragicomic tale of a sex killer in a small town, published in Sydney in 1963 and made into a film in 1982. In fact, the film version was I believe the first New Zealand film ever to win official selection at Cannes. And we don't have a history of crime fiction; hmmpphhh!

The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature states that, "Conservative critics had diffculty with the violence and sexuality of his writing and its failure to conform to the high culture models that dominated the literary values of the period".

Predicament, which stars Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame, is the fourth film to be made from Morrieson's writing (all well after his death), after adaptations in the 1980s of THE SCARECROW, CAME A HOT FRIDAY (pictured left, starring Billy T James), and PALLET ON THE FLOOR.

You can read a review of the film here (more positive about the book than the film). It has received ten nominations, in the Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Music, Best Sound, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up, Best Visual Effects. No nominations for acting though.

Other thriller, mystery, and crime-themed nominees include acclaimed TV show Outrageous Fortune. You can read the full list of nominees here.

Did you watch Bloodlines, Predicament, or Outrageous Fortune? Have you read any of Morrieson's work? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Murder, global conspiracies, and... cows?

2011-10-13T01:53:00.002+13:00

It's great to see more writers joining the small but growing crime fiction wave we have here in New Zealand. This week saw the release of Nelson-based writer Matt Hammond's debut thriller, MILKSHAKE, on Amazon and Smashwords. I understand it will soon be available in print copy as well.

Hammond works for the New Zealand government, having immigrated from the UK with his wife and kids in 2002, "inspired by the scenery and the laidback lifestyle". He has been working on the manuscript that became MILKSHAKE for several years, and it has evolved into a "fast-paced, ecologically focused thriller":

On the day David Turner is supposed to emigrate to New Zealand, he witnesses a savage murder and becomes caught up in ruthless global conspiracy.

A thirty year-old technological discovery threatens his own future and jeopardises the lives of millions of others as David discovers that starting a new life is about to become a deadly game of cat and mouse... and, somewhat surprisingly, cows.

Modifying milk so that ethanol can be processed from it could be the solution to an impending global oil crisis, but drinking it will kill you. Can the truth be uncovered before an entire country is sacrificed to satisfy the world's demand for bio-fuel?

It's kind of cool that Hammond has brought the dairy industry into his conspiracy thriller, as it is quite a big part of the New Zealand landscape. Although little old New Zealand only has about 0.06 per cent of the world's population (ie 1/1500th), we are responsible for around 30 per cent (ie 500/1500ths) of the global dairy export industry, which is pretty 'wow'; punching above our weight 500 times over.

Since I've had a fairly good experience with some books first published on Smashwords (eg MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW by Bev Robitai) - belying the small publisher/ebook publisher prejudices - I'm going to give MILKSHAKE a go too.

Do you like the sound of a global thriller set in the agricultural industry?

Bringing a post-apocalyptic thriller trilogy to a close: BLOOD ROOTS by Michael Green

2011-10-12T16:36:00.001+13:00

I'm pleased to share that the third instalment in Gulf Harbour-based author Michael Green's post-apocalyptic 'Blood Line' thriller trilogy will soon be available. BLOOD ROOTS is scheduled for release next month.

I read, and enjoyed, the second book in the series, BLOOD BOND, on its release in late 2009. You can read my NZLawyer review here. I'm looking forward to seeing how Green brings his saga of the Chatfield family - apparently the only survivors of a global pandemic, thanks to a rogue familial gene - to a climax.

Green, who is now in his mid 60s, was born in England but has lived in Auckland for a few decades (having transferred here as the IT Manager of a large British multinational). He has had a lifelong love of sailing, worked in the Merchant Navy in his younger years, now lives on a yacht in Gulf Harbour, north of Auckland, and travels to Europe each year for the New Zealand winter. Before he started his thriller trilogy he also wrote a humorous sailing-inspired book, BIG AGGIE SAILS THE GULF.

You can read more about Michael Green in a Crime Watch bio here and his website here.

I do like his fairly lively website bio, which begins by stating that Green "arrived in this world with a 'hell of a bang'. He was born during an air raid in May 1944, under the kitchen table in his grandmother's cottage in Sevenoaks, Kent, England."

When Green retired from his IT consultancy business in 2003, he found he had more time to write, and notes in his blog that "like many who retire, I also felt it was time to ‘put something back’. " Combining his goals of writing a novel, and raising money for charity, he began work on a thriller, inspired by the SARS outbreak, looking at how the few survivors of a global pandemic that got out of control might act, and interact, when everything was stripped away from them.

Green aimed to raise $10,000 for the telephone counselling charity Lifeline - a cause close to his heart due to New Zealand's high youth suicide rate, and the fact that years ago he'd lost his son, and an aunt back in England, in that way. Green self-published THE CRUCIAL GENE, using his toastmaster skills to market the book - he sold out the print run (and more) by talking to Lions, Rotary, and Probus Clubs, and was able to exceed his planned donation to LifeLine. The book was then picked up by Randon House, and republished in late 2008 as BLOOD LINE (with some minor edits to make it a 'tighter' novel). BLOOD BOND followed in late 2009, with the third and final instalment in the trilogy, BLOOD ROOTS, released soon.

In BLOOD ROOTS, the Chatfield family, scattered across the globe, continue to fight for survival. Their only hope is to form one strong community together, but power struggles, violence and deception keep them apart. In this thrilling conclusion, the New Zealand community makes a last desperate bid to return to their relatives and blood roots in England. Along the way they discover more survivors of the super-SARS pandemic, but is this new addition to the gene pool more trouble than it's worth?

You can read more about each book in the trilogy, including an extract from each of the three books, at Green's website here.

Do you like post-apocalyptic style thrillers? Have you read BLOOD LINE or BLOOD BOND?

True crime: does a new book from a Kiwi author lift the lid on a controversial UK murder case?

2011-10-11T17:12:00.002+13:00

Although I tend to focus on fictional crime rather than true crime, occasionally a real-life case catches my eye, as has happened in the past day or so thanks to reports about the publication of a new New Zealand book that might be about to create something of a storm in the international security intelligence world, apparently lifting the lid on a strange and intrigue-filled true life British murder case from the 1980s.

A Christchurch man claims in A THORN IN THEIR SIDE: THE HILDA MURRELL MURDER, that he has "explosive new evidence" suggesting the British security service was responsible for the murder of the rose grower and anti-nuclear campaigner, and framed then-teenaged petty thief Andrew George(who was eventually arrested in 2005).

Christchurch-based Robert Green is the nephew of 78-year-old Hilda Murrell, who was kidnapped, stabbed, bashed and left to die in a field in England in 1984. A former British Navy commander, Green has never believed the official story that the murder was a botched burglary, and after years of research has now written, under extreme secrecy, A THORN IN THEIR SIDE: THE HILDA MURRELL MURDER.

George is serving a life sentence after being convicted of Murrell’s abduction and murder following a five-week trial in 2005. "We have discovered fresh evidence which would acquit him," Green told ONE News yesterday (read story here). Such evidence apparently includes DNA and witness statements, and Green now believes that the murder was committed by "state security operatives for political reasons".

As reported by the Shropshire Star this week, "While police favoured a ‘burglary gone wrong’ theory, there were allegations that it was a state murder connected to Hilda’s work to expose risks at the planned Sizewell nuclear reactor, and also to the sinking of Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in the Falklands War, when Mr Green was working in Navy intelligence."

It's always hard to know with these things - there are so many conspiracy theories out there in the world, but then again, there are also plenty of examples of governments and people in power, in western democracies - not just dictatorships and third world continents - putting what they believe is important and in the 'national interest' etc, ahead of the rights and even lives of others. Growing up in a place like New Zealand, as a kid you see the world through a 'good guys and bad guys" lens, always assuming that 'we' are the good guys. As you get older, you learn that there are plenty of examples where bad things have been done by those on "our" side too. So who knows what the truth is in the Murrell case?

For me, I'd never heard of this case before, but it certainly sounds intriguing. One of those real life cases that rival fictional crime or thriller tales - although of course we should never forget that it is real-life people involved, and who have faced nasty consequences. Green and co-writer Kate Dewes have reportedly written the book, following years of research, largely in secrecy due to security concerns - their homes have reportedly been burgled, and bugged, and their car tampered with, etc.

A press release on Beattie's Book Blog suggests that A THORN IN THEIR SIDE "is likely to be a major embarrassment to politicians, security services, police and the justice system in the UK, so Green and Dewes were anxious to ensure that publication could not be stopped, as has been the case with other books involving the British security services. Hence the decision to publish in New Zealand and the high level of security." Apparently the publishers even had to contact the authors by sending mail to other addresses and arranging phone calls to be made from other people’s homes. Meetings in Christchurch and Masterton, where the publsihers are based, were always held in noisy cafes, with cellphones left in respective cars.

It almost sounds like a movie. You can read much more about Hilda Murrell and various theories etc, here and here.

Do any of my international readers of Crime Watch remember the Murrell case? What do you think of the allegations - paranoid conspiracy theory, or do you think there might be something to them? Do you enjoy reading true crime books, and getting behind the headlines and soundbites to learn more about real-life cases? I'd love to read your perspectives on this.

A nationwide crime spree: dastardly deeds the length and breadth of New Zealand

2011-10-10T14:24:00.008+13:00

"L Recently I wrote a large feature article for New Zealand Author, the magazine of the local Society of Authors, taking a nationwide look at the state of contemporary crime fiction in New Zealand. I understand from an author contact that the article has been published in the current (October/November 2011) issue of the magazine (cover image, see right), although I haven't yet seen the print version of the article myself.

I've written a lot about New Zealand crime fiction in the past couple of years, for magazines, newspapers and websites here and overseas, from author interviews to reviews to speaking and/or writing in general about New Zealand crime fiction (why we should read it, etc) - so I was a bit worried about getting a little jaded about the whole thing.

However, I really enjoyed writing this feature, as I decided to take a bit of a north to south tiki tour of our country, pulling together in one piece the variety of writers and writing styles we have in our burgeoning crime fiction community, all across the country. It was really pleasing to see that we did indeed have a pretty comprehensive geographic spread (in author locations and story settings), even when I just largely focused on books that had been published in the past couple of years or so (2009-2011).

As I said in the introduction to the feature (which I hope to be able to share with you here online in due course), "From Northland to Southland and everywhere in between, it’s becoming clear that more and more we have a number of local storytellers who are capable of weaving top quality tales of mystery, murder, and mayhem. Writers who have something interesting to offer readers, here and abroad, who enjoy this most thrilling (and globally popular) of genres."

One of the cool things was that I couldn't even mention all the books and authors I wanted to (although it was a very comprehensive piece) for fear of getting far too encyclopaedic or 'listy', and cutting out all room for any insight comment etc. That is a great sign of the growth of contemporary Kiwi crime fiction.

As I've discovered, there are crime, mystery, and thriller writers all across our small but diverse nation, which is great to see. Here are the authors mentioned in the article, with links to their websites or articles etc relating to their most recent books. As I said, there are also others who've published in the 2009-2011 period who I couldn't include for space reasons, as well as of course some other local crime writers from previous years:

NORTHLAND: Dorothy Fowler, Michael Green, Roy Vaughan
AUCKLAND: Alix Bosco, Ben Sanders
CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND: Ken Benn
WELLINGTON: Neil Cross, Donna Malane, Cat Connor, Joan Druett
TOP OF THE SOUTH: Lindy Kelly, Maurice Gee
WEST COAST: Trish McCormack
CANTEBURY: Paul Cleave, Steve Malley, Andrew Grant
OTAGO: Vanda Symon, Paddy Richardson, Liam McIlvanney, Andrew Porteous

As can be seen, we're fairly well served, geographically - although it would be good perhaps to see some more Central North Island set crime fiction - after all that's a fairly interesting part of the country, and a very large area between Auckland and Wellington, ranging from the agricultural regions of the Waikato, Manawatu and Taranaki to the volcanic plateaus of Rotorua, Taupo and surrounds, to the sun-drenched Coromandel, the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast, and much, much more. As I said in the article, "The regions between our biggest city and our capital city currently provide slimmer pickings when it comes to contemporary crime fiction, despite what would seem like a plethora of intriguing landscapes, geographic and demographic, and issues that could provide great fodder and colour for a well-told thriller story."

I will talk more about the geographic spread of contemporary (and historic) Kiwi crime fiction at a later stage, and some of the other authors from various regions, but for now, I'd be very interested in your comments about geography and crime fiction, whether Kiwi or overseas.

What do you think of my little Aotearoa tiki-tour? What New Zealand locations do you think would make a fantastic setting? Which Kiwi authors do you think use setting best? Which other crime authors from various Kiwi regions stand out to you, whether contemporary or historic? Comments and discussion welcome.

RWC Quarterfinal 4: Argentina vs New Zealand (Martinez vs Symon)

2011-10-09T19:03:00.003+13:00

For the fourth and final instalment in my quarterfinal round of rugby-themed international crime fiction posts, we have Argentina vs New Zealand. In rugby terms, this is being picked as the least-close of the quarterfinal match-ups, the only one that shouldn't be able to go either way (1 vs 8, in effect), but you never know. The ball can bounce in funny ways...

As for the crime fiction, well, let's take a look at a book from each country that I've read and/or purchased in the past year or so.

Representing Argentina: THE BOOK OF MURDER by Guillermo Martinez
I saw this book in the Brisbane airport bookshop when I was travelling a few months ago, and grabbed it. Unfortunately I haven't yet got around to reading it, but I will endeavour to do so soon. I understand that Martinez's novels are of the psychological suspense and literary thriller variety; this one certainly looks intriguing.

The narrator is an up-and-coming young writer who has little in common with Kloster — a literary giant whose disturbing crime novels dominate the bestseller lists. However, they have both, at one time, employed the secretarial services of the alluring Luciana B. Out of the past, Luciana makes a desperate plea to the young writer. She thinks that Kloster is slowly killing off everyone close to her — can he help before her grandmother and younger sister are murdered?

While the narrator suspects her misfortunes have driven her mad, Kloster has a powerful motive; and eerie parallels surface between the murders in Kloster’s books and the real-life deaths surrounding Luciana. As the body count multiplies, the question arises: Can words really kill?

Representing New Zealand: BOUND by Vanda Symon
Symon's fourth and latest novel starring Dunedin police detective Sam Shephard is in my opinion her best yet. And the others have all been good to great, too. I read and really, really enjoyed BOUND earlier this year.

Symon kick-starts her latest thrilling tale with a brutal home invasion; a businessman is killed with a shot gun; his wife, who watched him die, nearly chokes to death, gagged and tied to a chair. As Shephard and her CID colleagues investigate, it becomes clear that the businessman's succes might not have been all that legitimate, leading the police eventually to a couple of lowlifes suspected of an earlier cop killing. But while Shephard's colleagues are happy they might be able to kill two birds with one stone, she's uneasy, and keeps investigating - much to the chagrin of her police peers.

BOUND is top notch crime fiction; excellent storytelling with real verve and energy, starring one of the most enjoyably readable heroines on the crime fiction scene.

Result: As I haven't read THE BOOK OF MURDER yet, it would be unfair for me to speculate whether this contest will go the same way as the rugby (ie, a likely New Zealand victory). All I will say is that, like the All Blacks, Symon's BOUND is a very strong contender that would take a heck of a performance from the Argentinians to overcome.

Comments welcome.

RWC Quarterfinal 3: Australia vs South Africa (Corris vs Smith)

2011-10-09T18:35:00.002+13:00

As I said yesterday, one of the biggest sporting events on the planet is currently being staged right here in New Zealand; the Rugby World Cup 2011. As a way of celebrating crime fiction from around the world, and joining in the 'everything rugby themed' atmosphere down this way at the moment, I'm creating crime fiction posts that mirror the playoff games being played. So for the next eight games (four quarterfinals, two semifinals, one 3rd/4th playoff, one final) I will highlight a crime, mystery, or thriller novel from each of the countries playing the game, that I have either read or purchased in the past year or so.

Yesterday Wales overcame Ireland, and France overcame England in the rugby games (probably the reverse of what I would have picked in the crime fiction match-ups). Today it's the turn of the Southern Hemisphere.

The third quarterfinal sees Australia taking on South Africa. Should be a titanic battle.

Representing Australia: FOLLOW THE MONEY by Peter Corris
Although THE WRECKAGE by Michael Robotham is probably the best crime novel written by an Australian I've read in 2011, it's not set in Australia, so to represent the Lucky Country in this crime fiction match-up I'm picking the latest novel from another great Australian crime writer, Peter Corris. I read FOLLOW THE MONEY in January this year, in preparation for interviewing Corris.

The ‘godfather of Australian crime writing’, Corris has been penning his acclaimed Cliff Hardy tales for decades. This new instalment sees the aging hero in a slump; he’s lost his private eye license and his entire life savings - embezzled by a dodgy financial advisor, who later wound up dead. But then Hardy’s unofficially ‘hired’ by a slick, desperate lawyer to find out whether the embezzler faked his own death; an assignment that has the budding granddad entwined with ethnic gangs and Sydney’s gritty underbelly. There are a lot of things to like about FOLLOW THE MONEY, and I'd definitely read more of Corris and Hardy.

Representing South Africa: MIXED BLOOD by Roger Smith
South Africa is definitely gaining in stature on the international crime fiction stage. Deon Meyer has garnered plenty of acclaim, and other authors like Smith and Margie Orford, amongst several others, are certainly putting their indigenous crime fiction on the map. I read MIXED BLOOD in April this year.

Reluctant bank robber Jack Burn is on the run after a heist in the United States that left $3 million missing and one cop dead. Hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, he is desperate to build a new life for his pregnant wife and young son. But on a tranquil evening in their new suburban neighborhood they are the victims of a random gangland assault that changes everything.

Benny Mongrel, an ex-con night watchman guarding a building site next to Burn’s home, is another man desperate to escape his past. After years in the ghetto gangs of Cape Town he knows who went into Burn’s house. And what the American did to them. He also knows his only chance to save his own brown skin is to forget what he saw. Burn’s actions on that night trap them both in a cat-and-mouse game with Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard—a corrupt Afrikaner cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ—and Disaster Zondi, a fastidious Zulu detective who wishes to settle an old score. Once Gatsby smells those missing American millions, the four men are drawn into a web of murder and vengeance.

I really enjoyed MIXED BLOOD. It twists and turns in a violent yet engaging journey, that is filled with memorable characters. I'll definitely be reading more of Smith's work (as well as more South African crime fiction in general).

Result: while the rugby is a toss-up that could go either way depending how the teams play this evening, if I had to pick a winner between these books, I might go for MIXED BLOOD, even though Corris has had an illustrious career. I will be reading many more of Corris's Cliff Hardy books, but for me, MIXED BLOOD might just pip FOLLOW THE MONEY on the day. Whether this is an omen for the rugby quarterfinal, we'll just have to wait and see.

Have you read either of these books, or authors? Do you like Australian and/or South African crime fiction?

The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2011: Winners Revealed

2011-10-08T23:52:00.013+13:00

Cactus TV and ITV3, in partnership with the Crime Writers' Association (CWA), are pleased to announce the winners of the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2011, a celebration of all things criminal in literature, TV and film.

A host of famous faces from the TV, Film and Publishing crime scenes gathered on the black carpet for a gala awards ceremony celebrating the very best law-breaking of the year at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. Marcus Brigstocke returned to lead the charge as presenter, in an evening which perfectly topped the six-week build up over the 2011 season documentary series The A-Z of Crime, featuring the shortlisted nominees for the ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger 2011.

Winners on the night were:

ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger 2011: Peter James
CWA Gold Dagger: Tom Franklin's Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
CWA Ian Fleming: Steel Dagger for Best Thriller: Steve Hamilton's The Lock Artist
CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger: S.J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep.

The CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger was awarded to S.J. Watson, named the best new crime author of the year for Before I Go To Sleep. With the film rights already owned by Ridley Scott we hope to see the film version back to blag the Film Dagger before too long! It was a tough slog to the finish however, and each of the shortlisted authors (Danny Miller for Kiss Me Quick, Sam Hawken for The Dead Woman of Juarez, and Conor Fitzgerald for The Dogs of Rome) are sure to become regular faces on the black carpet.
SJ Watson said: "I'm stunned and delighted! It was such an honour to have been shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, but to have actually won, especially when up against such fine books, is incredible!"

Tom Franklin's Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter beat of stiff competition for CWA Gold Dagger from A.D. Miller's Snowdrops, Denise Mina's The End of The Wasp Season, and The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton, in a fitting climax to the evening. Tom Franklin said: "What an amazing long list! What an amazing short list! I'm truly happy just for the company, and everything else is gravy. All my thanks."

Steve Hamilton did not leave the night empty-handed however - as much like his protagonist Mike who picks locks and breaks safes, The Lock Artist snuck past its rivals to win the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller. The title saw off competition from S.J.Watson's Before I Go To Sleep, The Good Son by Michael Gruber and Craig Smith's Cold Rain.

Steve Hamilton said: "Ian Fleming's work represents everything I've always loved about storytelling, whether it be books or movies. I can't even express how honoured I am to receive an award with his name on it."

ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger 2011 was given to Peter James. Peter James said: "The is a wonderful award that strikes at the very heart of what good books are all about: Enthralling readers with gripping, page-turning fiction - and decided not by an elite committee but by the very people who read and loved them - the general public. I don't think there can be a higher accolade for any author and I could not be more thrilled."

The viewers had been voting over the 6 week Crime Thriller Season to decide on the winner of the People's Bestseller Award. Amanda Ross, creator and Executive Producer of the Awards said: "It was amazing to see such a close fought contest and thanks to the success of the pre-awards series, more people than ever before voted for their favourite author".

TV and film are the perfect media for crime fiction, and some of the genre's best-loved detectives - from Marple to Morse - have been immortalised in this way. This year's Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards honoured the stars of the small and silver screens, as well as the films and series they feature in. The nominees included actors Idris Elba, last year's Best Actress Dagger winner Maxine Peake, Brenda Blethyn, Rufus Sewell and Rafe Spall, and the winners are as follows:

THE FILM DAGGER: True Grit (Paramount Pictures)
THE TV DAGGER: Case Histories (Ruby Films, BBC One)
THE INTERNATIONAL TV DAGGER: The Killing, (Arrow Films, BBC4)
BEST ACTRESS DAGGER: Sofie Gråbøl for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC4)
BEST ACTOR DAGGER: Idris Elba for Luther (BBC One) - pictured
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR DAGGER: Rafe Spall for The Shadow Line (Company Pictures, BBC Two)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS DAGGER: Ann Eleonora Jørgensen for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC 4)

RWC Quarterfinal 2: England vs France (Billingham vs Manotti)

2011-10-08T14:00:00.000+13:00

As I said earlier today, one of the biggest sporting events on the planet is currently being staged right here in New Zealand; the Rugby World Cup 2011. As a way of celebrating crime fiction from around the world, and joining in the 'everything rugby themed' atmosphere down this way at the moment, I'm creating crime fiction posts that mirror the playoff games being played. So for the next eight games (four quarterfinals, two semifinals, one 3rd/4th playoff, one final) I will highlight a crime, mystery, or thriller novel from each of the countries playing the game, that I have either read or purchased in the past year or so.

Second up (following the Celtic tussle), it's another ding-dong battle with plenty of history and tradition, as England meet France in the second quarterfinal of RWC 2011. Like the Ireland vs Wales game, I'm intending to go and watch the game at 'The Cloud' in downtown Auckland - a fan zone with food, drink, activities, and tonnes of big screens to watch the action. But onto the crime fiction match-up:

Representing England: GOOD AS DEAD by Mark Billingham
Just as England is the home of rugby (in the 'where it was created' sense), you could make an argument that England is something of the home of modern detective fiction - or at least the place where it first rose to great popularity with the likes of Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, then Agatha Christie (the bestselling author of all time, in any genre). As such, there's plenty of choices you could make to represent England in a crime fiction sense, but in terms of picking just one to highlight, I'm going to go with the most recent English born and based author, English setting, novel that I've read; GOOD AS DEAD by Mark Billingham.

Few if any are better than Billingham when it comes to contemporary British crime. His tenth novel to feature DI Tom Thorne finds the gritty London copper in a race-against time to save police officer Helen Weeks (from IN THE DARK), who’s being held hostage by a dairy owner who’s snapped. What does the gunman want? Not money or his personal safety, but for the Police to properly investigate the death of his son in custody; he’s sure it wasn’t suicide.

For me, Billingham never disappoints, and GOOD AS DEAD was no exception. An exciting plot (more of a 'ticking clock' type pace than Billingham usually uses) marries with compelling characters, and continuing threads that run throughout the series, to create a great, gripping read that will leave longtime readers wondering what is next for DI Tom Thorne. Billingham also gets you thinking about a few issues, salting in some nuggest of social commentary, in amongst the page-turning prose.

Representing France: THE LORRAINE CONNECTION by Dominique Manotti
In all honesty, I haven't yet read any French crime fiction - which is a travesty considering I go out of my way to source, purchase, and read plenty of translated crime fiction, and crime fiction from a variety of countries. I do have some French crime fiction that I have bought, but not yet read, however, including THE LORRAINE CONNECTION by Dominique Manotti, which I purchased earlier this year.

When a cathode ray tube factory in a small French town is hit first by a strike and then by a suspicious fire, the battle for the takeover of the plant’s beleaguered parent company heats up. The Lorraine factory is at the center of a strategic battle being played out in Paris, Brussels, and Asia for the takeover of the ailing state-owned electronics giant Thomson. Accusations of foul play fly, and rival contender Alcatel calls in its intrepid head of security Charles Montoya to investigate. He soon uncovers explosive revelations and a trail of murders, dirty tricks, blackmail, and corporate malfeasance.

Result: well, it's a bit unfair for me to call this one, considering I haven't yet read Manotti's book (not that not watching the games or knowing very much prevents far too many people commenting about the rugby on talkback radio and the Internet etc, of course). As for the real game, although I'd like to see France win - as badly as they've been playing, they have some flair and can play great rugby on their day - plus, it would be nice for them to finally do to someone else what they've done to New Zealand a couple of times - I think England will edge it in the end. But you never know in the oval ball game.

So, who do you think should win, England vs France - in the rugby, or the crime fiction context?

Updated (Sunday 9 October): Well, well, well. In the real life rugby result, the Manottis stormed out of the gate, getting a great first-half lead that the Billinghams just couldn't overcome. Another great RWC 2011 upset that sees Martin Johnson and his lads heading home to Blighty. There was certainly plenty of francophile celebrating here in Auckland last night, that's for sure. Here I am with a very proud and happy Frenchman at the Cloud, just after the final whistle.

Allez les bleus!

RWC Quarterfinal 1: Ireland vs Wales (McGilloway vs Bauer)

2011-10-08T12:27:00.002+13:00

Currently, one of the biggest sporting events on the planet (some say the third biggest after the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics) is being held right here in New Zealand; the Rugby World Cup 2011. As you can imagine, all sorts of rugby-themed and linked things are happening up and down the country, and plenty of the the world's sporting media have their lens and pens (laptops) turned this way.

Given this weekend marks the kick-off of the knock-out stages of the tournament, I thought I would use this opportunity to have a little fun, and create crime fiction posts that mirror the games being played (ie the quarterfinal line-up). So for the next eight games over the next three weekends (four quarterfinals, two semifinals, one 3rd/4th playoff, one final) I will highlight a crime, mystery, or thriller novel from each of the countries playing the game, that I have either read or purchased in the past year or so.

First up, it's the Celts in the Ireland vs Wales quarterfinal, later this afternoon/evening in New Zealand:

Representing Ireland: BORDERLANDS by Brian McGilloway
I'd heard some good things about Irish writer Brian McGilloway before I bought a copy of BORDERLANDS and read it in January this year. McGilloway's debut novel introduces Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin, and involves a murder case where the body of a local teenager is found on the 'borderlands' that span Ireland and Northern Ireland. The only clues are a gold ring placed on the girl's finger and an old photograph, left where she died. Then another teenager is murdered, and things become further complicated when Devlin unearths a link between the recent killings and the disappearance of a prostitute twenty-five years earlier a case in which he believes one of his own colleagues is implicated.

I really, really enjoyed BORDERLANDS, and I'm very much looking forward to reading more of McGilloway's writing (I already have BLEED A RIVER DEEP on my TBR bookshelf at home). He has a nice writing style, and a great touch for weaving plot, theme, setting, and character together into something polished yet still distinctive. It's certainly one of the better debut crime novels I've read in the past few years, and a worthy initial representative of Ireland in my little RWC-themed blog series here.

Representing Wales: BLACKLANDS by Belinda Bauer
Another debutant on the crime fiction scene, Welsh author Bauer certainly hit the ground running with BLACKLANDS, which won the CWA Gold Dagger last year - a rare feat for a first novel. I read BLACKLANDS late last year, and enjoyed it. The novel centres on 12-year-old Steven Lamb, who spends his free time searching the windswept moors outside his small town, hoping to find trace of his uncle Billy whose disappearance two decades ago fractured the impoverished family in such a way that even though Steven wasn't born when it happened, he experiences the ongoing effects of the tragedy.

Desperate for closure, Steven turns to an imprisoned paedophile, writing him a letter that he hopes might garner some much-needed clues - but instead opening Pandora's Box to an even worse nightmare. I liked the way that even though Bauer's debut was seemingly simple in storyline terms and the way she writes, there was plenty going on underneath. BLACKLANDS delves deeply into character and human frailties, gives convincing “voice” to both child and child killer, and ably depicts the dark underbelly of English village life.

Result: for me, although I'm picking Wales to beat Ireland in the rugby, I think I'd have to go with BORDERLANDS over BLACKLANDS in the crime fiction match-up, in a close call. Both are very good books, and worthy representatives of their respective crime writing and rugby playing nations, but I'd probably rush back to read more McGilloway before more Bauer, just.

UPDATE: In the real-life result, the Bauers took down the McGilloways 22-10, deservedly moving ahead to the semifinals of RWC 2011. One of the form teams of the entire competition, the boyos from the valleys are certainly playing some scintillating rugby, and it will be a great game between them and France next weekend.

I enjoyed the Celtic tussle down at 'party central' in Auckland, where the game was displayed on huge screens and thousands of fans gathered, dressed up in their teams' colours. Here's a pic of me and a friend with a very happy Welshman, now living in New Zealand, following the final whistle (see left).

So, what do you think of Irish and Welsh rugby, and crime fiction? Comments welcome.