Murder on Broadway, John Rosanowski

Quirkly written tale of 1870's gold rush New Zealand, with more than enough parallels with local history to make this believable and entertaining reading. Central character Gordon Trembath, is a young, inexperienced police constable, stuck with being the only one on duty over the Christmas / New Year summer break. Whilst he's dealing with a murder executed by sly-groggers in the nearby valley, the town has been overrun with holiday petty crooks - card sharps, liars, cheats and scammers come to fleece the incoming holiday makers of anything they can get their hands on. 

A crowded time in a young policeman's life, made even more complicated as the murder rate rises and the frontier side of the gold rush town becomes more and more apparent. A good little tale, told in a light-hearted manner with styling quirks that will work for some readers, and instantly annoy others, MURDER ON BROADWAY has a great sense of the timeframe, and setting, and provides a glimpse into some shared history between New Zealand and, in particular, this reader's part of Australia. If you're in the market for something a little bit different with that historical perspective, then it's worth having a look at.