Sorted on book title (not in series order)
History and humanity: 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists plunge readers into page-turning tales about who we are
The winners were announced in November, all of which are books WELL worth reading.
BEST NON-FICTION
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A DETECTIVE IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH
Hana Westerman is a tenacious Ma¯ori detective juggling single motherhood and the pressures of her career in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch. When she’s led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man hanging in a...Read more
BETTER THE BLOOD is one of those novels that I'd been hearing whispers about for quite a while, and should have made it to the top of the reading pile more quickly than my poor priority setting allowed. On the one hand I'm now regretting the delay, but on the upside, maybe I've cunningly...Read more
When Detective Inspector Jaye Hamilton stops at an Auckland liquor store for a bottle of champagne, it is supposed to be his daughter Addison has just gotten engaged. Instead, he is suddenly gunned down at the register by a balaclava-clad assailant in what appears at first to be a random...Read more
The dedication in CARVED IN BLOOD is to Mark Bennett (2nd April, 1950 - 20th October, 2024) and Bruce Bennett (20th March, 1953 - 1st February, 2025). Shine bright among the stars, big brothers.
In many ways, this sad dedication, coupled with the moving tribute in the novel's...Read more
Seventh Status Report on the Project 'KEEP THE READING QUEUE UNDER CONTROL', with this month the subtitle of A Month in Which Some Things Went to Plan.
Think of this, if you will, as a Status Report on the Project 'KEEP THE READING QUEUE UNDER CONTROL' which is officially now a thing around here. You never know, reporting on it like a project might keep the targets clear, and the deliverables.. err ... delivered.
The reader of...Read more
After the perils of a case that landed much too close to home, Hana Westerman turned in her badge and abandoned her career as a detective in the Auckland CIB. Hoping that civilian life will offer her the opportunity to rest and recalibrate, she returns to her hometown of Tātā Bay, where she...Read more
Following on from the excellent first novel in this series, BETTER THE BLOOD, RETURN TO BLOOD is centred, once again, around Hana Westerman. Only now she has turned in her police badge, abandoning a career as a detective in the Auckland CIB, she's returned to her hometown of Tātā Bay to do some running repairs.Read more