New Zealand crime writing
is going from strength to strength, with the quality of #yeahnoir being increasingly
recognised on the international stage. There are ever-increasing numbers of
writers tapping out crime on their keyboards, scribbling murder into notebooks.
Part of this renaissance
of New Zealand crime writing can be attributed to the establishment of our
national awards. Excellence in Kiwi crime, thriller, mystery, and suspense
writing has been recognised by the Ngaio Marsh Awards since 2010.
Dame Ngaio Marsh was New
Zealand’s most successful crime writer. She wrote 32 novels starring Detective
Chief inspector Roderick Alleyn from 1935 to 1982, as well as short stories and works of non-fiction, and was heralded
as one of the Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction alongside
Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy Sayers – esteemed company,
indeed. Her works were
published around the world, and such was her prestige that in 1949 Penguin
Publishing and Collins produced the Marsh Million, where 100, 000 copies of ten
of her novels were printed and released on a single day. This put her in the
exclusive company of Agatha Christie, H.G. Wells, and George Bernard Shaw.
Ngaio Marsh received many accolades for her
writing, including being awarded the Grand Master Award from the Mystery
Writers of America, and the first honorary doctorate awarded by the University
of Canterbury. She also was made an OBE, then later a Dame Commander of the
British Empire in 1966 for her services to literature and theatre.
We are truly honoured to have Ngaio Marsh’s name for
our awards recognising the best of New Zealand crime, thriller, mystery, and
suspense storytelling. The awards are now in their ninth year, and 2018
attracted a record number of entries. The evolution of the awards has brought
in new categories, with this being the third year of separately recognising the
growing number of debut crime novels.
Here are the finalists for
this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel.
The Floating Basin by Carolyn Hawes
Detective Ru Clement has
his hands full with the discovery of a body at the floating basin, a marina in
a tidal basin on the outskirts of Westport. The victim, Richard Irwin, had
recently returned to the town after thirty years, and had settled at a new
sub-division that was causing problems of its own. The small West Coast town
hides many secrets and Clement struggles to figure out where past and present
collide to find the killer. His own volatile family situation does not make
unravelling the mystery any easier.
Hawes beautifully captures
the isolation and wildness of the West Coast, and the particular variety of
people who inhabit it. She collects an intriguing cast of characters, and
skilfully weaves Clements personal family life dilemmas through a well told
story.
Broken Silence by Helen Vivienne Fletcher (HVF Publishing)
Seventeen-year-old Kelsey
has a tough life. Her mother is hospitalised with dementia, her
Broken Silence is a young
adult psychological thriller that is tense and dramatic. With Kelsey, Fletcher presents
a confused and vulnerable young woman and captures how difficult it is to
escape abusive relationships. Her brittleness and unpredictable reactions to
events evoke a multitude of emotions in the reader. With themes of violence and
abuse this is a compelling and often uncomfortable read.
All our Secrets by Jennifer Lane (Rosa Mira Books)
Eleven-year-old Gracie
Barrett is a young girl in a chaotic family living in the Australian town of
Coongahoola. This may be a small town, but it has had its pivotal events in the
past, including the notorious River Picnic of 1974, the results of which were
the River Children, a group of kids born that certain period later, whose
parentage was questionable. Now, when River Children start being killed the
town is wrapped in fear and everyone is under suspicion, especially The
Believers, a cult lead by the charismatic St Bede. Gracie fears for her brother
Elijah, a river child, but her apprehensions are overridden by her
dysfunctional family; her estranged Dad, her mother who is in the thrall of St
Bede, not to mention her exuberant twin toddler siblings and her devout Grandma
Bett. Gracie tries to take matters into her own hands, but it all gets out of
her control when she realises who is responsible.
Jennifer Lane has created
an extraordinary and fresh voice in the form of Gracie Barrett. She is an
engaging character, warm and observant, offering a unique perspective on the
events that occur in Coongahoola. Lane captures the complex nature of families,
as well as the machinations of a small town under immense stress. This is a
cracker story.
The Sound of Her Voice by Nathan Blackwell (Mary Egan Publishing)
Detective Matt Buchanan
has seen a lot of pain and destruction in his time on the force – too much. He
is haunted by the unsolved case of missing 14-year-old school girl Sam Coats,
and sickened by the discovery of the time-weathered remains of another teenage
girl in the mangroves of Auckland. He is bringing up his own teenage daughter,
which makes the cases even closer to the bone, makes it feel personal. The
investigation leads him on a trail of darkness that leaves Buchanan questioning
everything he believes in and compels him to cross the line of right and wrong.
Nathan Blackwell is an
ex-detective and his experiences enable him to give authenticity and insight
into the criminal world and the police. He has created a character in Buchanan
who is a tortured soul, someone who is empathic and in tune with the victims,
seeking justice and fairness for them at any cost. The prologue throws the
reader straight into the thick of a desperate situation, giving a taste of some
of the confronting style to come. This is a riveting read.
Nothing Bad Happens Here by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press)
Miller Hatcher is a
journalist on a mission to write that feature that will get her the promotion
she deserves. She is sent to the idyllic Coromandel town of Castle Bay to
investigate when the body of missing tourist Bethany Haliwell is discovered nearby
after four months. Hatcher is one of an influx of media intent on getting a
scoop on the story and when the only accommodation she can find is at a
wellness retreat she finds herself in the company of an eclectic group of women
struggling with their demons, and with a unique insight into the local
community. Following an anonymous tip, she attempts to uncover the truth behind
the crime, and when another young woman disappears, Hatcher begins to realise
Castle Bay is not the safe haven it may appear to be.
Nothing
Bad Happens Here is a pacey and gripping read. Nikki Crutchly has
created an intriguing protagonist in Miller Hatcher, whose flaws and demons
make her both appealing and annoying, and whose position as a journalist allows
her to tackle the mystery without being encumbered by the rules and
restrictions placed on the police investigators. Great characterisation
combined with a fantastic sense of place make this crime thriller a terrific
read.
The
winners of the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards will be named at the WORD Christchurch
Festival on 1 September. The finalists will be celebrated at events as part of
the festival.
Vanda
Symon is a judge of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. She is a crime writer, radio host,
and former pharmacist from Dunedin. She has written five crime novels, is a
three-time Ngaios finalist, and recently completed a PhD looking at the
communication of science in crime writing. Her first novel, OVERKILL, is now available
in the UK and US from Orenda Books.
