2025 NGAIO MARSH AWARD WINNERS

2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards Winners

The winners of the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards were announced in three categories: Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-Fiction. 

The Awards celebrate excellence in mystery, thriller, crime, and suspense writing by New Zealand authors. 

The winners were announced as part of a special event in conjunction with WORD Christchurch and the Court Theatre on Thursday, 25 September. Congratulations to all. 

Thanks, Craig Sisterson, for all you do for New Zealand crime writers, as well as  the entire mystery community. 

BEST NOVEL

• Return To Blood by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

• The Defiance Of Frances Dickinson by Wendy Parkins (Affirm Press)

BEST NONFICTION

• The Crewe Murders by Kirsty Johnstone & James Hollings (Massey Uni Press)

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     

2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards Finalists

There’s fresh blood aplenty in the local crime writing ranks and the usual suspects were nowhere to be found as the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists were named today. I was so pleased to be a judge in the awards process.

Now in their eighth year, the Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate the best New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller writing; fiction and non-fiction. “It’s been a remarkable year, and a tough one for our international judging panels,” said awards founder Craig Sisterson. “After record entries last year, we really weren't sure what to expect in 2017. None of our previous winners were in the running, nor some other great Kiwi crime writers who'd been multiple-times finalists. In fact, eighteen of the nineteen authors who'd been finalists in the first few years of the awards were MIA.”

But instead of a lull, this year’s Ngaios hit a new high-tide mark, powered by a flood of fresh voices joining the genre – both debutant authors and established writers turning to crime.

“Entries in our fiction categories were up fifty percent, and the quality and variety has been really outstanding,” said Sisterson. “New Zealand readers love crime, and our local authors are offering plenty of world-class writing, both traditional detective tales and books stretching the borders.”

The international judging panels (thirteen authors, critics, and editors from five countries) praised the inventiveness and freshness of the stories our Kiwi writers were producing. “Talk about judging apples and pears,” said Paddy Richardson, a two-time finalist and now one of seven judges for the Best Crime Novel category. “It was more like apples, asparagus, avocados, and melons!”

This year’s finalists will be celebrated, and winners announced, at a special WORD Christchurch event to be held on 28 October.

2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards Finalists

BEST CRIME NOVEL 
• Pancake Money by Finn Bell
• Spare Me The Truth by CJ Carver (Zaffre)
• Red Herring by Jonothan Cullinane (HarperCollins)
• Marshall's Law by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)
• The Last Time We Spoke by Fiona Sussman (Allison & Busby)

BEST FIRST NOVEL
• Dead Lemons by Finn Bell
• Red Herring by Jonothan Cullinane (HarperCollins)
• The Ice Shroud by Gordon Ell (Bush Press)
• The Student Body by Simon Wyatt (Mary Egan Publishing)
• Days are Like Grass by Sue Younger (Eunoia Publishing)

BEST NON FICTION 
• In Dark Places by Michael Bennett (Paul Little Books)
• The Scene of the Crime by Steve Braunias (HarperCollins)
• Double-Edged Sword by Simonne Butler with Andra Jenkin (Mary Egan Publishing)
• The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie by David Hastings (AUP)
• Blockbuster! by Lucy Sussex (Text Publishing)

Each category winner will receive a Ngaio Marsh Awards trophy and a cash prize.

For more information on the Ngaio Marsh Awards, this year’s finalists or comments from the judges, please contact Craig Sisterson at craigsisterson@hotmail.com