NGAIO MARSH AWARD BEST NOVEL LONGLIST

2025 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel Longlist: New Zealand

The longlist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel 

· RETURN TO BLOOD by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

· THE HITCHHIKER by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)

· A DIVINE FURY by DV Bishop (Macmillan)

· LEAVE THE GIRLS BEHIND by Jacqueline Bublitz (Allen & Unwin)

· WOMAN, MISSING by Sherryl Clark (HQ Fiction)

· HELL’S BELLS by Jill Johnson (Black & White)

· THE MIRES by Tina Makereti (Ultimo Press)

· A FLY UNDER THE RADAR by William McCartney

· HOME TRUTHS by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)

· 17 YEARS LATER by JP Pomare (Hachette)

· OKIWI BROWN by Cristina Sanders (The Cuba Press)

· A HOUSE BUILT ON SAND by Tina Shaw (Text Publishing)

· THE CALL by Gavin Strawhan (Allen & Unwin)

· PREY by Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

· THE BOOKSHOP DETECTIVES: DEAD GIRL GONE by Gareth & Louise Ward (Penguin)

The finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-Fiction will be announced in mid-August, with the finalists celebrated and the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Award winners announced as part of a special event in conjunction with WORD Christchurch and the Court Theatre on Thursday, 25 September.

For more information this year’s Best Novel longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com 

2024 NGAIO MARSH AWARD LONGLIST: New Zealand

A neurodivergent expert on toxic botanicals, a harrowing exploration of jury deliberations, a high-tech thriller from an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, a desperate mother searching for her son as lockdown kicks in, a gay sleuth in Renaissance Florence, and the return of a beloved fictional detective are among the diverse books named today on the longlist for the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

“Fifteen years ago we launched the Ngaio Marsh Awards, in association with our friends at what’s now WORD Christchurch, to celebrate Kiwi excellence in one of the world’s most popular storytelling forms,” says Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson. “Over the years we’ve celebrated some world-class storytelling, and seen our local take on crime writing, aka #yeahnoir, really flourish. There were many books our judges really loved this year, beyond those that have made the longlist, and the strength and variety of this year’s longlist is going to make it another tough decision for our international panel.”

The Ngaios are named for Dame Ngaio Marsh, a contemporary of Agatha Christie and one of the Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, who penned bestselling mysteries that entertained millions of global readers from her home in the Cashmere Hills. The 2024 longlist includes a mix of past winners and finalists, some first-time entrants and new voices, and several authors who’ve won a variety of other major awards including CWA Daggers, the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, NZ Booklovers Award for Adult Fiction, Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award, and the Booker Prize.

The longlist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel prize:

•     DICE by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)

•     THE CARETAKER by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)

•     RITUAL OF FIRE by DV Bishop (Macmillan)

•     BIRNAM WOOD by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

•     PET by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

•     EL FLAMINGO by Nick Davies (YBK Publishers)

•     DOUBLE JEOPARDY by Stef Harris (Quentin Wilson Publishing)

•     THE QUARRY by Kim Hunt (Spiral Collectives)

•     DEVIL’S BREATH by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)

•     GOING ZERO by Anthony McCarten (Macmillan)

•     HOME BEFORE NIGHT by JP Pomare (Hachette)

•     EXPECTANT by Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

The longlist is currently being considered by an international panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA will be announced in early August, with the finalists celebrated and winners announced as part of a special event held in association with WORD Christchurch in late August.

For more information on this year’s Best Novel longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com, or founder and judging convenor Craig Sisterson, craigsisterson@hotmail.com     

2023 NGAIO MARSH AWARDS

It's official! After months of judging and some tough decisions to parse some amazing books, the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards winners were announced last night following a special Ngaios-WORD Christchurch (New Zealand) event and pub quiz MCed by Kiwi crime queen Vanda Symon, the winners are:

NGAIO MARSH AWARDS

Best Non-Fiction: MISSING PERSONS by Steve Braunias

Best First Novel: BETTER THE BLOOD by Michael Bennett

Best Novel: REMEMBER ME by Charity Norman

***

From Craig Sisterson, organizer of this amazing Award: 

Whakamihi to our winners, and all the terrific 2023 Ngaios finalists, longlistees, and entrants. 

Kia ora rawa atu to our international judging panels, readers, WORD Christchurch, and all the libraries involved in our Mystery in the Library series. Another fabulous year.

 

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     

NGAIO MARSH BEST NOVEL AWARD LONGLIST

Now in their fourteenth season, the Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate excellence in New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller writing. They are named for Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of the Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, who penned bestselling mysteries that entertained millions of global readers from her home in the Cashmere Hills. “I’d like to think Dame Ngaio would be proud of how our modern Kiwi storytellers are continuing her literary legacy, bringing fresh perspectives and a cool mix of fascinating tales to one of the world’s most popular storytelling forms,” says awards founder Craig Sisterson. “In recent years we seem to be going through our own golden age, with our local writers offering a treasure trove of terrific stories for readers at home and all over the world.” 

The longlist for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel includes a mix of past winners and finalists, several first-time entrants and new voices, and the long-awaited return of one of the leading lights of the early 2000s New Zealand literary scene. “In crime and thriller writing it’s natural for authors to make it really tough on their characters,” says Sisterson, “but our entrants made it tough on our judges too. This year’s longlist is a wonderful showcase of Kiwi creativity, with a great range of stories that explore some deep and very important issues in among the page-turning intrigue and thrills.”

 

The Ngaio Marsh Awards have celebrated the best New Zealand crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing since 2010. 

Longlist for Best Novel: 

• TOO FAR FROM ANTIBES by Bede Scott (Penguin SEA)
• EXIT .45 by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)
• REMEMBER ME by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)
• BLUE HOTEL by Chad Taylor (Brio Books)
• POOR PEOPLE WITH MONEY by Dominic Hoey (Penguin)
• THE DARKEST SIN by DV Bishop (Macmillan)
• THE DOCTOR’S WIFE by Fiona Sussman (Bateman Books)
• MIRACLE by Jennifer Lane
• BETTER THE BLOOD by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)
• IN HER BLOOD by Nikki Crutchley (HarperCollins)
• THE PAIN TOURIST by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press)
• BLOOD MATTERS by Renée (The Cuba Press)
• THE SLOW ROLL by Simon Lendrum (Upstart Press)
• PAPER CAGE by Tom Baragwanath (Text Publishing)

The longlist is currently being considered by an international judging panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-Fiction will be announced in August, with the finalists celebrated and the winners announced as part of a special event held in association with WORD Christchurch later in the year.

Ngaio Marsh Awards Longlist for Best Novel

The longlist for the 2022 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel includes three past winners, several past finalists and longlistees, and five first-time entrants. “It was a really strong group of entrants this year, with many books our judges thoroughly enjoyed missing out,” says founder Craig Sisterson. “Our local ‘yeahnoir’ scene keeps going from strength to strength. It’s high time more Kiwis realised that just like we accept and even expect our local sportspeople to compete at the highest levels on the world stage, likewise our authors – not just in crime and thriller writing, but across many genres and styles – are among the best in the world.”  

 

The Ngaio Marsh Awards have celebrated the best New Zealand crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing since 2010. 

The longlist for this year’s Best Novel prize is: 

• CITY OF VENGEANCE by DV Bishop (Macmillan) 
• BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME by Jacqueline Bublitz (Allen & Unwin) 
• THE QUIET PEOPLE by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press) 
• TO THE SEA by Nikki Crutchley (HarperCollins) 
• POLAROID NIGHTS by Lizzie Harwood (The Cuba Press) 
• ISOBAR PRECINCT by Angelique Kasmara (The Cuba Press) 
• NANCY BUSINESS by RWR McDonald (Allen & Unwin) 
• SHE’S A KILLER by Kirsten McDougall (Te Herenga Waka University Press) 
• THE LAST GUESTS by JP Pomare 
• THE DEVILS YOU KNOW by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin) 
• QUIET IN HER BONES by Nalini Singh (Hachette) 
• WAKING THE TIGER by Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books) 

 

The longlist is currently being considered by an international judging panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.  

 

The finalists for both the Best Novel category and Best First Novel will be announced in early August. The finalists will be celebrated, and winners announced, as part of a special event at this year’s WORD Christchurch Festival, held from 31 August to 4 September 2022.  

 

For more information on this year’s Best Novel longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact founder and judging convenor Craig Sisterson,craigsisterson@hotmail.com  

 

Mystery Down Under: Mystery Readers Journal (Volume 35:2)

Mystery Readers Journal: Mystery Down Under (Volume 35:2: Summer 2019) is available now as a PDF and hardcopy. US/Canada hardcopy subscriber copies have been mailed. PDF subscribers have been sent a link for downloading. Overseas issues will be mailed shortly. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue.

This issue is so timely, as the Ngaio Marsh Award Nominees (New Zealand) and Ned Kelly Award Longlist have just been announced.

Lots of great books for your TBR pile.

Mystery Down Under 

Volume 35, No. 2      Summer 2019

Buy this back issue! Available in hardcopy or as a downloadable PDF.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

• The Thing About Eyeball-Paul … by Finn Bell
• Tasmanian Gothic Convict Breaks the Chains by Carmel Bird
• Terror Australis  — Great Stories, Plus Kangaroos! by Aoife Clifford
• Down-Under Death Traps  — Criminal Inspiration in the Antipodes by Alan Carter
• Just a Small-Town Girl by Nikki Crutchley
• On a Whim by Sulari Gentill
• Finally Exploring My Dark Side Down Under! by Lisa de Nikolits
• The First Novel by Robert Gott
• A Little Too Close: Writing Turbulent Wake by Paul E Hardisty
• On Phryne Fisher by Kerry Greenwood
• Finding Common Themes by David Kilner
• Murder in New Zealand by Sara Johnson
• Consultant Turns to Crime by Mark McGinn
• I Still Call Australia Home by Jennifer Lane
• A Beautiful Place for a Murder by Trish McCormack
• Mastering the Craft by Thomas Ryan
• Real Crime to Crime Fiction: An Aussie Ex-Cop Turned Crime Novelist by A.B. Patterson
• God in a Swivel Chair by Jock Serong
• New Zealand’s Lovely Darkness by Nalini Singh
• Kiwi Crime  — Our New New Zealand Reality by Vanda Symon
• A Nice Place To Do Crime by Peter Temple
• From Classical Music to a Deaf Detective by Emma Viskic
• The Convict Streak by Dave Warner

COLUMNS

• Murder in Retrospect: Reviews by Tuhin Giri, Vinnie Hansen, L.J. Roberts, Susan C. Shea, and Craig Sisterson
• The Children’s Hour: Mystery Down Under by Gay Toltl Kinman
• In Short: Mysteries Down Under by Marvin Lachman
• Crime Seen: Six Feet Down Under by Kate Derie
• Real Crime Down Under by Cathy Pickens
• Murder, Past Tense: Patricia Carlon, Woman of Mystery by Sue Feder
• From the Editor’s Desk by Janet A. Rudolph

NGAIO MARSH AWARD BEST NOVEL LONGLIST

Longlist for the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel

The Ngaio Marsh Awards have celebrated the best New Zealand crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing since 2010, and this year’s longlist runs the gamut of settings from rural New Zealand to New York City, time periods from the 1940s to modern day, and themes ranging from teen bullying to societal discrimination and the verisimilitude of memory.

The longlist for the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel:

• NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press)
• CASSIE CLARK: OUTLAW by Brian Falkner (OneTree House)
• THIS MORTAL BOY by Fiona Kidman (Penguin)
• MONEY IN THE MORGUE by Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy (HarperCollins)
• THE QUAKER by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins)
• CALL ME EVIE by JP Pomare (Hachette)
• THE STAKES by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)
• MAKE A HARD FIST by Tina Shaw (OneTree House)
• THE VANISHING ACT by Jen Shieff (Mary Egan Publishing)
• RAIN FALL by Ella West (Allen & Unwin)

The longlist is currently being considered by a judging panel of crime, thriller, and suspense writing experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

The finalists will be announced on 2 August, along with the finalists for the Ngaio Marsh Awards for Best First Novel and Best Non-Fiction. All the finalists will be celebrated, and the winners announced, as part of a special WORD Christchurch event on 14 September. 

For more information on this year’s longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact founder and judging convenor Craig Sisterson,craigsisterson@hotmail.com

The Birth: Guest Post by Jennifer Lane, Ngaio Marsh Award Finalist for Best First Novel

Jennifer Lane is a finalist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel for her book ALL OUR SECRETS, which was also longlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel. 

Jennifer is an award-winning short story writer, novelist, and copywriter in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. She was born in Australia, and her short stories have been published in journals and magazines in both countries. The Ngaio Marsh Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand to recognize excellence in crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing (the Ned Kelly Awards are the Australian equivalents). 

Today’s post is part of the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards blog tour celebrating this year’s finalists. Thanks Jennifer for this post about the story behind your acclaimed debut! 

JENNIFER LANE: 
THE BIRTH 

All Our Secrets was conceived when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, Tess. She’s now almost the same height as me, has braces on her teeth, and has just chosen subjects for her first year at college, so to say it’s been a long journey is a major understatement.

The novel began as a short story about, unsurprisingly given my circumstances, a birth. As a backdrop, I created the Australian town of Coongahoola and a small population to inhabit it. A few of the original characters made it through the next few years of revisions, but the event itself only survived as a backstory for the protagonist, Gracie:

Standing at the 10 Items or Less counter, Martha never let me slip past without winking and nodding towards the Pasta, Rice and Sauce aisle, the aisle in which I was nearly born (Mum’d been buying the ingredients for spaghetti bolognaise when I decided to make my entry into the world). 

Fearing a fate similar to the one I’d inflicted on Gracie’s mum, I’d arranged to start my maternity leave four weeks before my due date. I’d imagined my waters breaking during a work meeting in a dramatic fiction-style fashion, and the baby introducing itself (Tess was still an ‘it’ back then, having stubbornly crossed her legs throughout the 20-week scan) to my workmates seconds before an ambulance came to my rescue.

As it turned out, life didn’t imitate fiction; my baby wasn’t a drama queen. Nor was she in any kind of a hurry. Instead, I finished work with my dignity (and my waters) intact and devoted each morning to writing for three or four luxurious hours, my growing stomach pushing me further away from my desk each day.

The story grew too – into two, three, four chapters. I didn’t have a plot in mind; I’ve never been much of a planner. There was Gracie:

I wasn’t beautiful, far from it. I was so bony that my ribs poked out of my chest and, unlike some of the other girls in my class, I didn’t even have a hint of a chest. My blonde hair was frizzy and boring; Mum usually cut it level with the bottom of my neck, so it wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either. Even worse, that summer it’d turned green from all the chlorine in the Coongahoola pool. My face was okay − if you squinted so you couldn’t see any freckles – but you’d have to be blind to call it beautiful. 

And there was her family: her angry mum, womanizing dad, prayerful Grandma Bett, and her siblings − twins Lucky and Grub, and Elijah. Elijah was one of the ‘River Children’, a group of kids born nine months after the town’s infamous River Picnic:

‘It was when all the adults had an orchy,’ Matty Thorpe said. ‘At the River Picnic when we were babies. The River Children were born to different dads from their real ones.’ 

Then, carloads of religious fanatics invaded Coongahoola, set up camp by the river, and sent the story spinning in an entirely new direction:

‘Bloody hell!’ I said, catching my breath. There was a line, stretching as far as I could see, of cars, caravans and utes, all honking at the ancient ‘Welcome to Coongahoola’ sign as they crawled passed it. I pressed my hands to my ears as I watched, amazed. Inside the cars were people who might as well have come from another planet. I’m sure my mouth hung open; I’d never seen anything like it. All of the women wore what looked like tea towels on their heads. I soon realised they were veils just like the Virgin Mary’s. Even the kids wore them. A girl in the back of a Hillman like Grandma Bett’s stared at us as her car crept by. She could’ve been the same age as me, but it was hard to tell with a blue veil covering half of her spotty face. She seemed to find us as fascinating as we found her, but when Elijah and Michael waved, she quickly looked away. 

By the time Tess arrived, one week after her due date, I’d created a quirky town, a chaotic family and a crazy cult – and the first of the River Children had gone missing:

From every telegraph pole on Main Road, Nigel’s face looked down at us. His brown hair was bleached by the November sun and the sticky-taped ‘Missing’ posters were crinkled and curling. Sometimes, when I was on my own, I’d whisper hello to him. I’d stare into the little grey dots that made up his eyes, as if the harder I looked, the better I’d understand what was behind them. I thought it was sad that he was much more popular now that he was missing, but I knew why. Up there on the telegraph pole, Nigel was elevated to a new status. He was no longer part of our ordinary world.

I’d only completed a few chapters, but I had the foundations of a novel. That was lucky because over the next few months, I considered something as simple as having a shower to be a significant achievement; writing didn’t even make it onto my daily try-to-do list.

I was still working on All Our Secrets two years later when Tess’s sister Matilda was born – and when Matilda toddled off to crèche at 18 months old. Probably still when Tess started school at five. Those years are a blur of nappy-changing, crying, teething, napping/not-napping, crawling, falling, playdates, playdough, and lots and lots of glitter.

I can’t say how long it took me to finish the first draft. I can say that the rest of the process – getting a mentor, finding an agent, looking for a publisher – took equally as long, if not longer. But that’s another story – one that I probably won’t get around to writing until my daughters leave home.

***

You can read more about Jennifer Lane and her writing at her website www.Jenniferlane.co.nz 

The winners of this year’s Ngaio Marsh Awards will be announced on 1 September at the WORD Christchurch Festival. You can follow the awards on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

NGAIO MARSH AWARD LONGLIST: Kiwi Crime

The Longlist for the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel: The Ngaio Marsh Award represents the very best in Kiwi Crime.

Marlborough Man by Alan Carter (Fremantle Press)
Baby by Annaleese Jochems (Vitoria University Press)
See You In September by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)
The Lost Taonga by Edmund Bohan (Lucano)
The Easter Make Believers by Finn Bell
The Only Secret Left To Keep by Katherine Hayton
Tess by Kirsten McDougall (Victoria University Press)
The Sound of Her Voice by Nathan Blackell (Mary Egan Publishing)
A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press)
The Hidden Room by Stella Duffy (Virago)

The finalists for both the Best Novel and Best First Novel categories will be announced in July. The finalists will be celebrated and the winners announced at WORD Christchurch (August 29-September 2). 

Craig Sisterson, organizer of the Ngaio Marsh Award, is a lapsed Lawyer, and major Crime Fiction Fan and Writer who writes for magazines and newspapers in several countries. He also blogs at Crime Watch.

How To Do Bad Things The Wrong Way: Guest Post by Finn Bell

Finn Bell is a finalist for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award in two categories. How cool is that? Pancake Money is is up for Best Crime novel while Dead Lemons is up for Best First Novel. Finn Bell lives in the far south of New Zealand where he writes full time. The Ngaio Marsh Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand to recognize excellence in crime fiction, mystery, and thriller writing. The Award was established by journalist and crime fiction reviewer Craig Sisterson in 2010, and is named after Dame Ngaio Marsh. Today's post is part of the Ngaio Marsh Award Blog Tour (scroll down for dates and locations of future posts). Thanks, Finn, for this post. I think your books are amazing and unique!

Finn Bell:
How To Do Bad Things The Wrong Way . . .

I’m Finn Bell and I write books. (And if you’re reading this to decide whether to try my books I wouldn’t recommend it. Don’t get me wrong – please buy my books so I can eat, seriously tell your friends. I just don’t think talking about something is the same as actually doing it. But we’ll get back to that later).

Instead I’ll abuse this space. Which was kindly given me to talk about myself, my writing, and my next books, to rather talk about something that I’m so much better at: Failure.

This is a true story and mine (although I suspect there’s a universal aspect to human stupidity and possibly I’m not as lonely as I feel). To start our tale, we’re going to need to go back about two decades. Witness now my former self:

There stands young Finn (poor bugger) currently being told by his favourite university lecturer (who dislikes Finn for all the right reasons) something he is (as yet) too inexperienced in the painful ways of stupidity to learn. The pearl of wisdom is this:

People who think they’re so fucking smart aren’t always as fucking smart as they think.

The reason I was being told this was because I had (almost but not quite) gotten caught. Before we talk about what I was being accused of let me first mention that I’m bad at most things (can’t sing, can’t dance, not good at any kind of sport, not easy on the eyes either, and my friends and family routinely have their overly kind patience tested by my many, many character flaws). I am and always have been however, good at learning things (I wouldn’t call myself intelligent, because intelligent people wouldn’t have done all the dumb things I have) but I’d say it’s a knack for reading fast and remembering things and for writing it all down again. Which can (trust me) be a very good substitute for actual wisdom and knowledge, if you’re making your way through university.

And I (mostly) was making my way through university. I was dirt poor, holding down two jobs at night to cover the parts of the tuition fees the academic scholarships didn’t and sleeping through most of my classes in the day time (which was fine because of my aforementioned knack). All I still had to overcome was the annoying habit of needed to eat most days. And food costs money. Which is where the wrong thing I almost got caught doing comes in.

You see universities are (luckily for my younger self) often populated by kids from rich families who have just too much money and parties in their schedule to bother with pedantic things like doing their own assignments, or preparing their own study notes for exams. It was meant to be really. So, by my 3rd year I was attending classes I wasn’t even signed up for. Churning out assignments and study notes (available at really very reasonable prices of course) on everything from law and philosophy to art history (hell I was at the point where I was taking bookings). It was wrong and I knew it but hey I was eating and it wasn’t just me doing it (the 2nd most money I ever made was selling an ethics assignment, go figure). Eventually the lecturers put just enough of it together and dragged me in to the office to thoroughly threaten me (they didn’t have enough to prove it though, I wasn’t quite that dumb) and hence I was left with that piece of advice about not being as smart as you might think (which I ignored). Thus far doing things the wrong way was working out just fine thank you.

Now fast forward several years of everything going to plan.

We find Finn walking into his upscale city-centre apartment (part of the boringly predictable trappings of success). At 30 he was the youngest national manager in his company (feel free to add any cliché of the stereotypical soul-less, career driven young man and it would probably stick).

Except today is different.

This is the very first time I come home after another long, successful day of doing bad things (now without even a hint of a possibility of getting caught) and feel absolutely fine. Not a doubt, not even an inkling of conscience. Through the sweat of my dishonest brow I had worked hard and sacrificed and gotten everything I wanted (without getting anything I needed). I had finally reached the point where all the bad things I had done didn’t even bother me one little bit. And I thought to myself that there should be a word for this, this point right at the crest of the momentum of your own wrongness.

Where you can still look over your shoulder and see right from wrong receding behind you, but really not care anymore. For that place where you realise you had become an enthusiastic part of everything you used to think was wrong with the world and know that you’re only about one effortless step away from not being able to turn around at all. That’s when I realised my old professor was right.

I wasn’t really as smart as I’d thought. You see up to that point, for me, the end justified the means. I did (as long as I could get away with it) the things that got me what I wanted. Right or wrong didn’t come into it. Survival was my excuse. In an unfair world, I had become exactly the kind of wrong person it required to succeed. Except that wasn’t really my intention when I started out. I just wanted to be happy. I wanted a good life. Not this. But somewhere along the way surviving (in increasing levels of comfort) became more important that actually living. Which even most kids will be able to tell you is plain stupid. Because the end doesn’t ever justify the means no matter what you tell yourself. So, I decided to tell myself something else. The money, the safety, the status, none of it mattered, not really. Surviving didn’t even matter, not if it meant I couldn’t live with myself. I was done doing the wrong things because they got me what I wanted. For a change (and against all my instincts) I was going to do the right thing without even caring about what it got me.

For me that’s writing books (and I’m not saying there’s anything better about writing than any other job just that for me this is that thing - where I get to be a good person doing good things, even if it means I starve). And that’s what I’d wish for all the other stupid people out there (speaking as a former member): Not that you buy my books but rather that you mess things up enough to realise that you need to risk everything to do the right thing for its own sake not yours. And that you then go and find that right thing.

(And also, maybe buy my books, but only if you really want to).

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

Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist

The Longlist for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel: The Ngaio Marsh Award represents the very best in Kiwi Crime. 

• Dead Lemons, by Finn Bell (e-book)
• Pancake Money, by Finn Bell (e-book)
• Spare Me the Truth, by C.J. Carver (Bonnie Zaffre)
• Red Herring, by Jonothan Cullinane (HarperCollins)
• The Revelations of Carey Ravine, by Debra Daley (Quercus)
• The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton, by Katherine Hayton (Katherine Hayton)
• Presumed Guilty, by Mark McGinn (Merlot)
• Marshall’s Law, by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)
• A Straits Settlement, by Brian Stoddart (Crime Wave Press)
• The Last Time We Spoke, by Fiona Sussman (Allison & Busby)

Craig Sisterson, organizer of the Ngaio Marsh Award, is a lapsed Lawyer, and major Crime Fiction Fan and Writer who writes for magazines and newspapers in several countries. He also blogs at Crime Watch.

Here's what Craig has to say about this year's long list:

A self-inflicted, self-described cripple dangling off the edge of a cliff above the raging sea near the bottom of New Zealand, clinging precariously to life after getting too noisy with his dangerous neighbours, probably wasn’t the kind of hero Raymond Chandler ever had in mind. 

 “Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid,” wrote the cranky king of crime fiction in “The Simple Art of Murder”, an oft-quoted essay for the Atlantic Monthly published a few short weeks after the end of the Second World War. 

Seventy-plus years on, the hero of Otago author Finn Bell’s exciting crime debut Dead Lemons is both tarnished, and afraid. And he’s not the only ‘hero’ among this year’s crop of Ngaio Marsh Award longlistees who breaks the classic crime mould. New Zealand authors are unafraid to put their own spin on crime, blending it with other genres, and taking their tales into varied locales and times. 

A record number of entries gave the judging panel plenty to ponder, with plenty of new blood joining the local #yeahnoir ranks (credit to Steph Soper of the Book Council for the cool hashtag). 

Candidly, it was a tough ask for our judges to narrow down the longlist, with plenty of good local reads that judges liked missing out. While that’s a great situation for the overall health of New Zealand crime writing, it made for some tough calls, differing opinions, and debate. 

With such variety on offer (and the fact I’m only personally batting about .500 in terms of correctly picking the winner over the years), I’m not even going to try to play bookie with the contenders. 

If you’re a fan of crime fiction, or just good writing, I’m sure there’s something here that could tickle your fancy.

The international judging panel of Ayo Onatade (UK), Greg Fleming (New Zealand), Janet Rudolph (United States), Karen Chisholm (Australia), Paddy Richardson (New Zealand), Stephanie Jones (New Zealand), and Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Iceland), are currently considering the long list.

The finalists will be announced in August, along with the finalists for the Best First Novel and Best Non Fiction categories. The finalists will be celebrated and the winners announced at a WORD Christchurch event in October.

Ngaio Marsh Award Winners

Paul Cleave and Ray Berard were announced as the winners of the 2016 Ngaio Marsh Awards at the WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival.

TRUST NO ONE (Upstart Press), a mind-bending psychological thriller about a writer with early onset Alzheimer’s who starts confessing the murders in his novels were real, earned Cleave his record third Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. The judges described it as “a stunningly audacious novel that functions as a literary hall of mirrors” – a book that “succeeds brilliantly on many different levels”.

Ray Berard scooped the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel with his Rotorua-set debut thriller INSIDE THE BLACK HORSE (Mary Egan Publishing). The judges praised his tale of the aftermath of an armed robbery that interrupts a drug deal as “a lucid and potent portrait of good people and gangsters that is unmistakably Kiwi in flavour and tone... a fine story with considerable depth.”

“It was wonderful to celebrate our best modern-day Kiwi crime writers at a terrific event just a short drive from where Dame Ngaio used to write her world-renowned mysteries,” said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “It was a tough year for our judges. We had a record number of entries, launched a new category, and ended up with eight superb finalists that illustrate how varied local crime writing can be. There was everything from a former All Black entwined in French match-fixing to a robotic private eye.”

Across the board the international judging panel was highly impressed with this year’s finalists, said Sisterson. “Every novel was a strong contender in the eyes of our judges, and we would have been happy to celebrate any of them as deserving winners. But we had to make a choice, and TRUST NO ONE and INSIDE THE BLACK HORSE edged ahead from a deep field. They’re both cracking great crime tales.”

Berard’s debut, which was a finalist for both awards, was inspired by a diary he kept during his years working as an Area Manager for the TAB across the upper North Island after he emigrated from Canada during the mid 1990s. He was mentored during his writing process by Barbara and Chris Else.

The Ngaio Marsh Awards are made annually in Christchurch for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novels written by New Zealand citizens and residents. The Awards’ namesake, Dame Ngaio Marsh, was a Christchurch mystery writer and theatre director renowned worldwide as one of the four “Queens of Crime” of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. More than thirty years after her death, Dame Ngaio’s books remain beloved by many generations of readers. The Ngaio Marsh Awards were established in 2010 with the blessing of Dame Ngaio’s closest living relative, John Dacres-Manning.