A mystery solved: 'Alix Bosco's' true identity revealed in today's Sunday Star-Times

A two-year mystery has finally been solved, with acclaimed playwright, TV screenwriter, and former Junior All Black Greg McGee 'coming out' as Alix Bosco in a large feature in today's Sunday Star-Times.

There has been plenty of speculation as to the identity of Alix Bosco over the past couple of years, with a wide and diverse range of names being put forward. Personally, I had no idea until I met 'Alix' a few days ago in Ponsonby (see photo to the right), in the lead-up to today's 'big reveal'. As McGee was one of the names that had been suggested (and in particular, was continuously put forward by an anonymous comment-maker on this blog), I wasn't entirely surprised when he walked into Soto in Ponsonby to meet me and his agent Michael Gifkinds for lunch. As for my own theories, it turns out I was right about some things (that the writer had been involved in TV writing - given the visual nature of the books and some other touches here and there), but wrong about key other things (ie, gender - I thought it was a female writer, so my guesses were along the lines of Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons and Nothing Trivial scribe Rachel Lang).

For those in New Zealand, I suggest you grab a copy of today's Sunday Star-Times to read the very good large feature by Kim Knight about McGee coming out as Bosco (as an aside, it's great to see local crime fiction on the cover page of the Culture section, and mentioned on the front page of the entire newspaper too). McGee shares his reasons for the pseudonym, why he is coming out now, his thoughts about the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, and much more. For those overseas, you can read most of the Sunday Star-Times coverage online here.

It's a good Sunday all-around for Kiwi crime fiction, with an article by Nicky Pellegrino on the upcoming Ngaio Marsh Award and the four finalist books, in the Herald on Sunday (the Living supplement). Hopefully I will be able to share that article online in the next couple of days. For those in New Zealand, grab both Sunday papers, and enjoy a bit of local crime fiction-related reading this weekend.

Are you surprised that Alix Bosco is a male writer? Have you read CUT & RUN or SLAUGHTER FALLS? What do you think of Bosco's crime writing? Of the reasons for the pseudonym, and coming out now? Comments welcome.