If you like ... New Zealand crime novels
Annotation:One of a series of historical detective novels featuring Inspector O'Rorke and notable for its depth of research, well crafted plots and interesting characters.
Place a Hold
Annotation:Alix Bosco is the pseudonym for well-known New Zealand writer Greg McGee. This is a well-paced, thriller, based in Auckland with a believable, likeable heroine. Bosco won the 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.
Annotation:This first novel has been described as a 'gentleman’s John Grisham'. Clarke knows the sea very well - he's a Master Mariner - and he uses his knowledge to good effect in this understated but well-written and keenly observed novel set in a small Coromandel township.
Annotation:The story of Edward Hunter - a man with everything going for him, apart from the fact that his father is a serial killer. Booklist said 'Compelling, dark, and perfectly paced, New Zealand writer Cleave’s psychological thriller explores the evil lurking in us all, working relentless magic until the very last page.'
Annotation:Author of the popular memoir Miramar Dog, Edwards is also an award-winning sports journalist., This novel is based on true events and takes the reader into the dark underbelly of New Zealand society, alternating between the seemingly innocent days of 1947 and corrupt Sydney in the 1970s.
Annotation:With a plot featuring a back country setting and the disappearance of a female hitchhiker, this thriller couldn't be any more Kiwi. It's a thriller, but there are love story aspects. They give the story a depth that can be lacking in an ordinary whodunnit. Else captures the insularity and nosiness of small town life and his narrator, Ken McUrran, is completely believable.
Annotation:A religious community on the Kaipara Harbour burnt to the ground in the 1880s. When the site is excavated 130 years later, more than archaeological remains are uncovered. The story switches between the present-day and diary entries from the 1880s. It is a well-written, enjoyable read.
Annotation:Reluctant psychic James Paxton and Detective Constable Andy Stirling team up again in this sequel to Senseless. A pizza delivery boy finds a body at a house in the Auckland suburbs. This is the first in a series of beaten and stabbed bodies found by delivery people. The psychic aspects of the story are well-handled, as are the occasional touches of humour.
Annotation:Todd Blaine finds his brother in law brutally murdered in an abandoned quarry in Edinburgh. Blaine's enquiries take him to London, then to Melbourne. Murderous things happen in both places, and when he returns to his home in Wellington, things turn really nasty. There is an attempt to undermine the economy.
Annotation:Franz Josef glacier guide and sleuth Philippa Barnes is trying to recover from the loss of her parents when her former flatmate Kirsten, a journalist, is murdered at Lake Kaniere. When Philippa tries to find out more about what Kirsten was working on, she is taking on more than she bargained for. Character and plot are strong points in this story, as is the ending.
Annotation:Surrender was the winner of the first NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize, an award given to the best unpublished manuscript in New Zealand.It's the story of Diane Rowe, a Wellington-based missing persons expert, who just can't get over the brutal murder of her sister, Niki. When the prime suspect for Niki's murder turns up dead, Diane is compelled to look into it. This book has it all; great plot, flawed but likeable heroine, humour, pace, suspense. Highly recommended.
Annotation:Ngaio Marsh is ‘in the front rank of crime story writers’ according to The Times Literary Supplement. She is certainly a major figure in New Zealand literature. Her fiction is set mostly in English theatres and country houses, and features the very English Roderick Alleyn. Four of Marsh's 32 novels have New Zealand settings.
Annotation:Claire Wright is a freelance journalist who lives with her teenage daughter. When she is hired by a dodgy lawyer to write a biography of an imprisoned serial rapist she's not that keen, but the money is too good to refuse. Travis Crill is the rapist; he has always maintained his innocence and when Claire researches his case she discovers more than she really wanted to know. A cracking psychological thriller.
Annotation:Jessica Jones is trying to keep the historic Theatre Royal going in the small town of Whetford. It's a seemingly losing battle, but if the upcoming production of Agatha Christie’s ‘Appointment with Death’ is successful the theatre might get a reprieve. Then naughty girl Tamara Fitzpatrick is found dead in the theatre during rehearsals.This book falls into the Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh style of crime fiction - interesting characters, a few plot twists and a theatre setting.
Annotation:A 16-year-old girl is found dead in Albert Park. Sean Devereaux returns early from leave to investigate, while on the side he tries to find out why his neighbour is being watched by a mysterious man. Kidnapping and violence soon mix with murder in this absorbing first novel. Sanders has a good style, a strong sense of Auckland and a memorable character in Devereaux.
Annotation:Transients drift in and out of the urban landscape in Chad Taylor's gritty contemporary fiction. His characters are often unattractive and unreliable but the vivid visual quality of his work is a strength.
Annotation:Realistic but funny, Paul Thomas' trilogy features maverick Maori cop Tito Ihaka and has memorable supporting characters and pacy plots.
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These writers use New Zealand characters and settings in their thrillers and crime fiction. A Christchurch City Libraries booklist.
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