2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards Finalists: New Zealand Crime Writers

“When we first launched New Zealand’s own annual prizes for crime, mystery, and thriller writing in 2010, we modelled our Ngaio Marsh Awards on the Hammett Prize in North America, which celebrates literary excellence in crime writing,” says Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson. “The Ngaios have never been solely about detective fiction; instead highlighting and celebrating outstanding Kiwi storytellers whose tales, fictional and factual, explore the investigation of crime or the impact or effects of crime on people and society.” 

Finalists for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non-Fiction

        •     A NEW DAWN by Emeli Sione (Mila’s Books)

• •     THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Dr Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne (Faber)
  •     DOWNFALL: THE DESTRUCTION OF CHARLES MACKAY by Paul Diamond (Massey University Press)
  •     THE FIX by Scott Bainbridge (Bateman Books)
  •     MISSING PERSONS by Steve Braunias (HarperCollins)

Finalists for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel

•     ONE HEART ONE SPADE by Alistair Luke

•     TOO FAR FROM ANTIBES by Bede Scott (Penguin SEA)

•     BETTER THE BLOOD by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

•     SURVEILLANCE by Riley Chance (CopyPress Books)

•     THE SLOW ROLL by Simon Lendrum (Upstart Press)

•     PAPER CAGE by Tom Baragwanath (Text Publishing)

Finalists for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel

•     EXIT .45 by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)

•     BLUE HOTEL by Chad Taylor (Brio Books)

•     REMEMBER ME by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)

•     THE DOCTOR’S WIFE by Fiona Sussman (Bateman Books)

•     BETTER THE BLOOD by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

•     BLOOD MATTERS by Renée (The Cuba Press)

•     THE SLOW ROLL by Simon Lendrum (Upstart Press)

The winners of the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards will be announced at a special event held in association with WORD Christchurch in Spring (Fall in the Northern hemisphere), details and date to be confirmed soon.

For more information on any or all of our 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists, or the Ngaios in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com, or founder Craig Sisterson, craigsisterson@hotmail.com