Paddy Richardson talks about TRACES OF RED

Last week, Paddy Richardson's third psychological thriller, TRACES OF RED, was officially launched at an event in Dunedin. The early reviews have been very positive. Richardson was of course one of the finalists for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for HUNTING BLIND. You can read US mystery author Margot Kinberg's review of that book here.

Yesterday, she spoke to Radio New Zealand about writing TRACES OF RED, which again underlines Richardson's skill at mixing creepy thriller plots that echo real life headlines with personal stories of people and relationships.

Here's the blurb for TRACES OF RED:

Rebecca Thorne is a successful television journalist, but her world is thrown into turmoil when her Saturday night programme is axed because of falling ratings. Not only will she lose her job but her big story on the convicted triple murderer Connor Bligh, whom Rebecca believes is innocent, has to be abandoned.

Rebecca's lover Joe, a married man and the barrister representing Bligh, also thinks Bligh is innocent – or does he? And if he loves Rebecca so much, why is he prepared to cast her off?

Meanwhile Bligh languishes in jail, convicted of three brutal murders and continuing to protest his innocence. He's clearly not a saint – but did he do it? Rebecca refuses to let the matter lie...

In a review for the Herald on Sunday, I said TRACES OF RED showed "Richardson excels at evoking the human aspects behind the plotline". My fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judge Graham Beattie also reviewed the book last week, saying TRACES OF RED was "psychological crime fiction at its best", and "the best she has written, and that is high praise" (read here). In a year which has seen some truly terrific crime fiction released by New Zealand authors, Richardson's latest further illustrates the growing depth and quality of the genre here. The 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel is going to be another difficult call for the judges.

You can listen to Richardson talk about the writing of TRACES OF RED here. Hopefully New Zealand readers will get out there and buy this book, supporting quality local crime writing.

Guest Review: Margot Kinberg reviews Paddy Richardson's HUNTING BLIND

Recently California-based mystery author and university professor Margot Kinberg visited New Zealand for a conference, which gave me the opportunity to meet Margot in person, show her around Auckland, and finangle a few Kiwi crime novels into her hands. I'm very pleased to see that Margot not only enjoyed her time in New Zealand, but she has also already read and enjoyed some of the Kiwi crime ficiton she took home with her. Today, Margot is here on Crime Watch as a guest reviewer, sharing her thoughts on Paddy Richardson's HUNTING BLIND, which was a finalist for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award.

HUNTING BLIND by Paddy Richardson (Penguin, 2010)
Reviewed by Margot Kinberg

Paddy Richardson’s Hunting Blind is a compelling story that has stayed with me. It all begins in 1988 at a school picnic in Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand. Minna Anderson and her four children are enjoying the lakeside picnic with everyone else when the unthinkable happens: Minna’s four-year-old daughter Gemma disappears. Everyone takes part in searching for the child but there is no trace of her, not even a body. The family is torn apart by the tragedy, but there is no evidence so eventually the investigation is called off. Each of the Andersons moves on as best they can but Gemma’s disappearance has left scars on everyone.

Fourteen years later, Gemma’s older sister Stephanie is finishing her psychiatry program in Dunedin. She does function, but even she admits that she cannot face the pain of her sister’s loss and really, she has never healed. Then she’s assigned a new patient Elizabeth Clark, who’s attempted suicide and is completely uncommunicative. Stephanie tries to reach out to Elizabeth is at first unsuccessful. Bit by bit, though, Elizabeth begins to trust her doctor and soon tells Stephanie her terrible story. Elizabeth’s younger sister Gracie disappeared one night, and no trace of her has been found.

Stephanie is haunted by how eerily similar Elizabeth’s story is to her own. She’s reluctant to pursue this because she knows the risks of getting too close to one’s patients. She feels compelled though and gently probes until she finds out as much as she can. Stephanie guesses that the same person who abducted Gracie might have abducted her own sister, so against her more rational judgement, she starts putting the pieces of Gemma’s disappearance together and trying to find out who wrought that havoc on her family and Elizabeth’s.

For me, this novel is much the story of how survivors of tragedy cope as it is anything else. In fact, that’s why Stephanie begins what even she admits is an irrational quest – she wants to cope and move on. Richardson effectively portrays the sense of guilt that each member of the Anderson family has for not being able to take better care of Gemma. She also shows clearly how guilt and pain affect the members of the family. The characters stay with one because they are authentic.

In fact, that authenticity is one of this novel’s strongest points. People really do behave as the members of both Stephanie Anderson’s and Elizabeth Clark’s families do in the wake of horrible loss. I found myself caring about these people because they aren’t uni-dimensional. What’s even better is that they don’t all behave in the same way. We get a real sense of how differently people cope with sudden devastating loss.

Another very strong point in this novel is the unforgettable setting. As Stephanie searches for Gemma’s abductor, she travels to several places on South Island, and each is described in lovely but not overburdening detail. One gets a really authentic sense of life there not just from the physical setting but from several other little touches that really add to the context.

The mystery itself is not an intellectual puzzler. Soon after Stephanie begins asking questions, it’s evident who abducted the two girls and how that person got close to them. But the solution makes sense given the kind of story it is, and Richardson reveals the solution in a believable way.

The story moves back and forth a bit in time, and even though I had no problem figuring out what time period was being discussed, that did stop me a bit. Also, the story’s written for the most part in the present tense. That’s not my preference, and I found it a bit difficult at first. But those are minor quibbles to be sure, and mostly a matter of preference. Overall Richardson tells a gripping and truly human story of what happens when families have to cope with the unthinkable. And to her credit, she does so with no gore, brutal, ugly violence or gratuitousness. I recommend Hunting Blind. Thanks again, Craig, for inviting me to review it.

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Margot Kinberg is a mystery novelist and professor who loves to read and talk about mystery and crime fiction. She is the author of PUBLISH OR PERISH and B-VERY FLAT, and blogs about crime fiction at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist.

Thank you Margot for the well-written and comprehensive review.

Upcoming Kiwi crime fiction: TRACES OF RED by Paddy Richardson

One of the most pleasing things about the slowly growing Kiwi crime fiction scene is that we now have several talented writers who are publishing multiple books, whereas in the past we had many authors who published one or two crime, mystery, or thriller novels, and then that was it (for examples, click on the bibliographical list of Kiwi crime writers above). It's great to see the likes of Vanda Symon, Neil Cross, Paul Cleave and others writing three, four, five and more crime novels - and others like Alix Bosco and Ben Sanders look like they too will hopefully follow this path and keep writing crime.

Another talented Kiwi crime writer is Paddy Richardson, a finalist for this year's Ngaio Marsh Award for her acclaimed psychologial suspense tale HUNTING BLIND (Penguin, 2010), which hit #1 on the local bestseller list last year, and sold well locally, especially for a locally-written crime novel. I thought HUNTING BLIND was a really good suspense novel, that showed Richardson was really finding her stride as a thriller writer. For me it was a noticeable step up from her debut thriller A YEAR TO LEARN A WOMAN.

Here's what I had to say about the book to Nicky Pellegrino of the Herald on Sunday in the lead-up to this year's award announcement:

Richardson's tale of a woman who is trying to uncover what really happened to her sister years ago expertly melds family drama and psychological suspense. Highlights of this novel include the evocation of the South Island scenery, a lingering sense of unease, and the way Richardson delves into the complexity of human relationships and the aftermath of high-profile tragedy; uncovering the very real and ongoing effects after the media circus leaves.

As such, I was very pleased to see that Richardson has a third thriller (and fourth novel overall) coming out soon: TRACES OF RED. Here's the blurb:

Rebecca Thorne is a successful television journalist, but her world is thrown into turmoil when her Saturday night programme is axed because of falling ratings. Not only will she lose her job but her big story on the convicted triple murderer Connor Bligh, whom Rebecca believes is innocent, has to be abandoned.

Rebecca's lover Joe, a married man and the barrister representing Bligh, also thinks Bligh is innocent – or does he? And if he loves Rebecca so much, why is he prepared to cast her off?

Meanwhile Bligh languishes in jail, convicted of three brutal murders and continuing to protest his innocence. He's clearly not a saint – but did he do it? Rebecca refuses to let the matter lie...

New Zealand readers will realise that, like HUNTING BLIND with it's 'ripped from the headlines' hook of a young girl who goes missing from a small New Zealand town, there are plenty of echoes of some high-profile real-life events in the plot of Richardson's next novel, as recently we've had some notable cases of prisoners protesting their evidence, and plenty of discourse and debate over whether they are or not (eg David Bain, Peter Ellis, Scott Watson, etc). I'm really looking forward to seeing how Richardson weaves the associated themes into her thriller, and where she takes us with the book.

TRACES OF RED will be released in New Zealand in late November.

Five Favourite Kiwi Thrillers: Stephen Stratford (writer, editor, critic, awards judge)

Last week I began a brand new series here on Crime Watch - Five Favourite Kiwi Thrillers - inspired by prolific and diverse New Zealand novelist David McGill. This week I have the second edition, featuring a selection of Kiwi titles chosen by a man who's very well known and influential in the New Zealand books industry, Stephen Stratford.

Stratford has published more than a dozen books, mostly non-fiction. He has edited more than 100 other books, and currently runs the manuscript assessment service Write Right. He is a NZ Society of Authors representative on the Board of Copyright Licensing Ltd. His journalism work includes writing for Quote Unquote, Metro and the New Zealand Listener. A founding trustee of the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival (our biggest literary festival), Stephen has also been a judge of the Spectrum Book Design Awards, the Montana NZ Book Awards, and he convened the judges for the 2010 NZ Post Book Awards.

For those overseas, the latter two awards are kind of New Zealand's equivalent of the Miles Franklin Award in Australia, or the Booker Prize in the UK - they're our country's biggest books awards, that usually are won by literary fiction, in the fiction categories. He also writes the very interesting Quote Unquote blog.

Importantly, for our purposes here, Stratford is also a longtime fan of crime and thriller fiction, and I am very glad to host him and his comments here on Crime Watch today. Here are his five favourite Kiwi thrillers:

Five favourite Kiwi thrillers – Stephen Stratford

 SHIRKER by Chad Taylor (2000)
Summary: Ellerslie Penrose, a part-time futures broker, finds a junkie's body in an Auckland dumpster, steals his wallet and embarks on a hallucinatory journey into the shadow life of the dead man. This brings him into contact with fantasy bordellos, mysterious manuscripts, bizarre antiques dealers, and a sleazy nest of quirky happenstance

Note: SHIRKER was published in several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and readers around the world may still be able to find the odd new copy from online booksellers, as well as second-hand copies.

Stratford’s take: “You can’t go past a novel with a protagonist called Ellerslie Penrose. Recognisable Auckland settings just slightly askew, recognisable characters very much askew. The best New Zealand prose stylist of his generation, I reckon.”

OVERKILL by Vanda Symon (2007)
Summary: When the body of a young mother is found a small rural community is rocked by her tragic suicide. But all is not what is seems. Sam Shephard, sole-charge police constable in Mataura, soon has to face the realisation that there’s a killer in town, and because the women was the wife of Sam’s former lover, she’s on the list of suspects and suspended from duties. Sam must cast aside personal feelings and take matters into her own hands.

Note: Hasn’t been widely published outside of Australasia yet (there was a German translation), but there are new copies still available in bookstores, and overseas readers can source the book via New Zealand sources, or some online booksellers.

Stratford’s take: “Our introduction to Sam Shephard. The three sequels are great too but I love the Mataura setting in this. And it’s really funny.”

NOBODY DIES by Zirk van den Berg (2004)
Summary: A South African policewoman has found the perfect way to make sure people in her witness protection programme stay hidden – she kills them! As her victims are meant to disappear, her crimes stay hidden. Then Daniel Enslin enters the programme…

Note: Had fallen out-of-print, although still available in second-hand bookstores and libraries. However, has recently been released as an e-book available on Smashwords.

Stratford’s take: “Tough, spare, and redefines the concept of cop-killer. I can’t understand why this hasn’t gone international.”

ONE NIGHT OUT STEALING by Alan Duff (1991)
Summary: Traces traces the increasingly desperate circumstances that lead a Pakeha small-time criminal with big ambitions, and his more sensitive Maori ‘partner’, to their ‘one night out stealing’ in Wellington, and the divergence between them that results.

Note: From the same author who wrote ONCE WERE WARRIORS, which was adapted into a terrific independent film starring Temuera Morrison as abusive husband Jake ‘the Muss’ Heke.

Stratford’s take: “Dark stuff, mostly uncomfortable, but it all rings true and is thoughtful. Years ago Alan told me he thought it was his best novel. I agree.”

 HUNTING BLIND by Paddy Richardson (2010)
Summary: On a perfect summer's day, at a school picnic beside a lake, a little girl goes missing, leaving a family devastated and a community asking questions. Seventeen years later her sister, Stephanie, is practising as a psychiatrist. A new patient's revelations force her to re-examine her sister's disappearance. Why are their stories so similar? Unable to let the matter rest, Stephanie embarks on a journey to find out what happened to her sister.

Note: Was one of the finalists for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. Available new in New Zealand bookstores and online.

Stratford’s take: “I have been haunted by this since I first read it. It is based on every parent’s nightmare, so can’t help but grip, but the writing and characterisation are of a very high order.”


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What do you think about the new series? About Stratford’s choices? Have you read any of these five novels? Do they sound intriguing? Who else would you like to see be part of the new 'Five Fantastic Kiwi Thrillers' series? Comments, critiques and suggestions appreciated.

So, who's going to win then?

With the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel about to be presented this weekend, I thought it was time to ask you - my knowledgeable Crime Watch readers, which of the books you think might win the Award in its second year.

We have four truly terrific finalists this year, that represent quite a diverse range of styles, settings, and storytelling. Each is a very good read in its own way, although readers will each have their own favourites, based on their own preferences, of course. But who will win? Who will the judges - international and New Zealand crime fiction experts - prefer?

Here's my summarised take on what's good and great about each of the four finalists (listed alphabetically), as shared with the Herald on Sunday last weekend:

Blood Men by Paul Cleave (Random House)
Cleave's prose crackles with energy in this dark tale told from the skewed viewpoint of Edward, an accountant trying to track those responsible for shattering his family. Cleave gets you deep inside the head of a troubled man, and takes you on a great ride story-wise, with plenty of twists in plot and character to keep you on your toes.

Captured by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)
Cross vividly takes readers into some uneasy places as dying Kenny seeks to set right past mistakes, discovering that an old friend is missing, her husband suspected but free. It's a page-turner with terse prose powering a pacy story that touches on wider themes like justice, the importance we sometimes place on fleeting events, memory and reality, and concerns about what legacy each of us may leave behind.

Hunting Blind by Paddy Richardson (Penguin)
Richardson's tale of a woman who is trying to uncover what really happened to her sister years ago expertly melds family drama and psychological suspense. Highlights of this novel include the evocation of the South Island scenery, a lingering sense of unease, and the way Richardson delves into the complexity of human relationships and the aftermath of high-profile tragedy; uncovering the very real and ongoing effects after the media circus leaves.

Slaughter Falls by Alix Bosco (Penguin)
Anna Markunas is an intriguing heroine - middle-aged and multi-layered - who finds herself investigating a puzzling death from a Queensland holiday. There's plenty of the tension (personal and plot) and vivid action-packed moments that readers (and judges) enjoyed in Cut & Run, but Bosco has amped up the personal, character-based parts of the story, and developed Markunas further as a series character.

The judging panel praised all of these crime novels highly - they really are a great representation of quality contemporary Kiwi crime writing. The judges praised BLOOD MEN as “a gruesomely gripping story” told “in clean, sharp prose, with authentically laconic dialogue and flashes of very dark humour”; said CAPTURED was “fascinating”, with “amazing twists and turns” and a “main character who was drawn so well”; rated HUNTING BLIND highly for its “sense of downright creepiness” and “some fascinatingly complex characters”; and were impressed by “the depth and complexity” and “well-executed plot unfolding at a good pace” in SLAUGHTER FALLS.

Each of the four novels would be a worthy and deserving winner. And each has been listed as a 'favourite' by various crime fiction readers I know. I really don't think the judges can go wrong, no matter which of these books ends up winning the Ngaio Marsh Award this year. But I'd really love to read what you think about the finalists, which ones you've read, and which one(s) you like best. Please share your thoughts.

Who do you think will or should win the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel?

Crime Pays: the Herald on Sunday takes a look at the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel

Yesterday (NZT) there was an article on the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel in the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's major weekend newspapers. I was interviewed by HOS Books Editor and acclaimed author Nicky Pellegrino about New Zealand crime fiction, and the four finalists for this year's award.

I spoke to Nicky about the growth of the Award in its second year, the quality of this year's longlist, and then gave my own perspectives on what makes each of the four finalists a cracking crime fiction read.

You can read the article in full online here.

It's great to see local crime fiction getting this sort of coverage in our major media. Hopefully there will be plenty of stories about the winner too, after they're announced at the "Setting the Stage for Murder" event in Christchurch next weekend (buy tickets here).

Who do you think will win the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel? Who would you like to see win (if that's a different answer)? What New Zealand crime novels have you really enjoyed?

Ngaio Marsh Award finalists announced

THE FINALISTS for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, which will be presented as part of the upcoming Christchurch Arts Festival, have now been announced today.

The award, now in its second year, is made annually for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident. Its namesake, Dame Ngaio Marsh, is renowned worldwide as one of the four iconic “Queens of Crime” of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The award was established last year with the blessing of Dame Ngaio’s closest living relatives.

Over the past two months an expert panel consisting of seven local and international judges has been considering the best examples of locally written crime and thriller fiction published in New Zealand during 2010. The judges are now pleased to announce that the finalists are:

• BLOOD MEN by Paul Cleave (Random House);
• CAPTURED by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster);
• HUNTING BLIND by Paddy Richardson (Penguin); and
• SLAUGHTER FALLS by Alix Bosco (Penguin).

The judges praised BLOOD MEN as “a gruesomely gripping story” told “in clean, sharp prose, with authentically laconic dialogue and flashes of very dark humour”; said CAPTURED was “fascinating”, with “amazing twists and turns” and a “main character who was drawn so well”; rated HUNTING BLIND highly for its “sense of downright creepiness” and “some fascinatingly complex characters”; and were impressed by “the depth and complexity” and “well-executed plot unfolding at a good pace” in SLAUGHTER FALLS.

This year’s winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced at a ceremony at the conclusion of the “Setting the Stage for Murder” event at the TelstraClear Club in North Hagley Park on the afternoon of Sunday 21 August 2011. New York Times bestselling international crime writers Tess Gerritsen and John Hart will also be appearing at the event. The winner will receive a distinctive handcrafted trophy designed and created by New Zealand sculptor and Unitec art lecturer Gina Ferguson, a set of Ngaio Marsh novels courtesy of HarperCollins, and a cheque for $1,000 provided by the Christchurch Writers Festival Trust.

“The four finalists are a great representation of both the quality and depth of contemporary Kiwi-written crime fiction,” said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “It was a particularly tough decision for the panel this year, as judges were impressed by each of the books on the longlist, and there was a real diversity of storytelling, settings, and styles. There were some very good local crime novels published in 2010 that haven’t become finalists, but that’s a good sign of the growing strength of our own indigenous interpretation of a genre that’s popular around the world.”

Like Dame Ngaio in her heyday, local crime writers are now showing that they can stand shoulder-to-shoulder, quality-wise, with their more well-known international contemporaries, said Sisterson. “We should be proud of our best crime writers, and support and celebrate their success, just like we are justifiably proud of other New Zealanders who achieve great things in their chosen field.”

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For more information, please contact:
Craig Sisterson, Judging Convenor: craigsisterson@hotmail.com

2011 Ngaio Marsh Award - the longlist

A pretty terrific line-up for the longlist there; eight very good crime/thriller novels. I know the seven-member international judging panel is going to be having all sorts of fun trying to work out which books should be finalists and which book should win the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award, to be presented on 21 August in Christchurch. The finalists will be revealed in early August.

The decision was tough last year between three great finalists, but this year I think there is even more depth on the longlist, and the decision may be even tougher. The eight longlisted titles include a diverse range of protagonists, settings, and styles - from psychological examinations of minds askew, to pulse-pounding thrillers, to police procedurals, to international spy thrillers. Amateur sleuths, government agents, detectives, family members of victims - all starring in tales covering the length and breadth of New Zealand, as well as parts of Australia, Southeast Asia, and Britain.

So, who are your favourites?

H is for HUNTING BLIND

Apologies for the delayed Crime Fiction Alphabet post this week - it's continued to be a crazy busy time here. FYI, while the news cameras around the world may have turned away, and viewers have got a little earthquake-fatigued, the recovery continues in Christchurch. So click here for ways you can help with earthquake relief, no matter where in the world you may be.

But the Crime Fiction Alphabet rolls on, and our intrepid book bloggers out there around the blogosphere (and the globe) have this week been tapping away at their keyboards in creation of great, gripping posts related to the letter 'H'.

For my second go around at the Crime Fiction Alphabet (read my 2010 posts here), I've set myself the challenging task of focusing not only just on New Zealand-themed posts, but just on Kiwi crime fiction books (ie I won't do any author profiles etc this time around) - although sometimes it may be the author's name that is relevant to the letter of the week.

So this week I'm featuring HUNTING BLIND by Paddy Richardson, which was a #1 New Zealand bestseller last year, and was selected as one of the NZ Listener's 100 Best Books. Here is my review I wrote for WildTomato magazine (which has previously not been published online):

Dunedin novelist and short story writer Paddy Richardson recently released her latest psychological thriller, Hunting Blind; a tale centring on the all-too-realistic situation of a young girl disappearing, leaving a family and community devastated.

It starts at a summertime school picnic by a picturesque lake; the last time little Gemma Anderson is ever seen. Seventeen years later, older sister Stephanie is working as a trainee psychiatrist, helping heal holes in others’ lives, while never having truly addressed her own. When a new patient shares a story that seems strikingly familiar, Stephanie is spurred to revisit her past, embarking on a journey that takes her from the West Coast to Kaikoura, and eventually back to her long-abandoned childhood home of Wanaka. All in a quest to find out what really happened all those years ago.

Having been a touch underwhelmed by Richardson’s earlier thriller, A Year to Learn a Woman, I opened her latest book with some trepidation. What I found was an accomplished and compelling novel from a writer that has clearly stepped up, honed her style, and found her ‘voice’. She evokes a nice sense of South Island small towns, and takes readers into the aftermath of high-profile tragedies; the ongoing effects after the media circus leaves, and the rest of the country forgets. The plot lags a little in the second quarter (several chapters of psychiatry sessions) before kicking into high gear, but overall Hunting Blind is an enjoyable page-turner - a very good weekend read.

Have you read HUNTING BLIND? If so, what did you think? Are you following the Crime Fiction Alphabet? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Herald on Sunday: Top Fiction Reads of 2010 (includes plenty of crime fiction)

What were the year’s top fiction titles? Some of the country’s most voracious readers make their choice.

Nicky Pellegrino is a best-selling author and the Herald on Sunday’s book editor (pictured)
I’ve read loads of great books over the course of this year but for me there are three stand outs:

The Long Song by Andrea Levy is a novel about the trials and tribulations of a woman on a Jamaican slave plantation. It doesn’t sound like an instant winner but this was my most loved book of the year. It’s a story that’s both powerful and playful. Narrated by the salty, sassy Miss July, a house girl serving a vain and idle mistress, it’s spirited, shocking and entertaining. Levy has brought to life a period in time barely recorded by historians and written about it in a vivid and original style.

Private Life by Jane Smiley is an excruciating portrayal of marriage, spanning the late 1800s to the Second World War. This is the story of an unexceptional woman whose family consider it a great piece of luck when she finds a husband rather late in life. When he turns out to be a crackpot and a loser she finds herself, not only stuck with him, but cast in the role of his chief supporter. Brilliant writing, under-stated and disturbing. Another book that ought to be relentlessly dark but is instead utterly seductive.

Trespass by Rose Tremain is set in the harsh landscape of the Cevennes in the South Of France and is a story about people crippled by their pasts. Audrun Lunel lives in an ugly bungalow on the fringes of her brother’s crumbling, family property. Anthony Verey decides to escape there and begin a new life far from his failures. When the new world collides with the old, tragedy is inevitable. Tremain’s writing is an exercise in restraint, taut and poised.

Vanda Symon is a Dunedin crime writer and regular reviewer on Jim Mora’s Afternoons on Radio New Zealand.
The three books I’ve chosen as my best reads of 2010 are all crime fiction, and more specifically, New Zealand crime fiction. Before you say, oh, but you only read crime fiction, not true – I read all sorts of fiction, but these three stood out for me for different reasons.

Hunting Blind by Paddy Richardson, is what I’d describe as a psychological literary thriller. It starts with every family’s worst nightmare – a little girl going missing during a picnic at Lake Wanaka. Seventeen years later the whole thing is reopened for Stephanie, the little girl’s sister, when one of her patients tells of a similar story. She has no choice but to pursue her past.

The Crime of Huey Dunstan by James McNeish is a completely different kind of novel and offers a unique protagonist, as Ches is nearing 70, and is blind. He is reminiscing about a court case he appeared in as an expert witness nearly twenty years earlier. The case of Huey Dunstan got under his skin, consumed him. Dunstan was accused of brutally murdering a man in cold blood, bludgeoning him to death. Yet when psychologist Ches met Huey he found it hard to equate the polite, honest young man with this murder. There is no doubt that he did it, but why? Ches looks into the young man's past, and two areas of difficult territory, buried memory and provocation. It’s a thought-provoking read.

Surrender by Donna Malane is a ripper yarn – a fast-paced and compelling story and a lead character who I sometimes loved, sometimes hated, but either way was entranced with. Diane Rowe is a missing persons expert and a hard woman. A year or two earlier her young sister was murdered and when the man she thought, but couldn’t prove, killed Nikki turns up dead, Diane has to get to the bottom of it. Diane is abrasive and stroppy and provides lots of short pithy one-liners. She’s also good at getting into serious trouble, and this book pulls no punches.

Craig Sisterson is a blogger who writes about thrillers on goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com/

I’ve read several very good crime and thriller novels this year, but here are three that stand out, raise the bar, and I think deserve much more attention.

The Glass Rainbow is the latest Louisiana-set masterpiece from the sublime James Lee Burke. Septuagenarian detective Dave Robicheaux, a series of brutal killings, his daughter entangled with a degenerate old-money family, longtime pal Clete under suspicion for murder, hired mercenaries, hovering evil, looming mortality, and more. Layered and lush: intricate plotting, compelling characters, philosophical insights, and lyrical prose. Superlative.

Kiwi writer Paul Cleave’s fantastic Blood Men further underlines his world-class talent for scary thrillers that mix depth and darkness. It’s told from the skewed viewpoint of Edward, an accountant losing the plot and worried that he hears the same monstrous ‘voice’ as his serial killer father. Cleave’s writing crackles with energy. The pages whir, but there’s also plenty of sly humour and thought-provoking themes beneath the blood.

Blue Heaven won Wyoming writer CJ Box the prestigious Edgar Award in 2009, but he wasn’t published here until this year. An absorbing tale of frightened children on the run after witnessing four corrupt policemen gun down a man in rural North Idaho. Something of a crime fiction and classic Western love-child, this is a gripping, intelligent thriller with complex characters, a beautifully-evoked setting, and a ferocious conclusion.

Graham Beattie writes about books on the popular beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com and regularly reviews for Radio New Zealand.

The Confession by John Grisham. I include this title because I literally couldn’t put it down once I started reading. It’s something of a departure for Grisham in that it tells the story of two men one of whom was wrongfully convicted nine years before for murder and the other the worthless guy who actually committed the crime. There are four days to go before the execution, the guilty low-life guy has learned he has a brain tumour and facing his imminent death has decided to make a clean breast of the murder. But is it too late? Vintage Grisham whom I suspect may be in the anti-death penalty lobby, the book says much about the risk of wrongful convictions. I was hooked.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. This is a big book, almost 600 pages, with a myriad of characters. It is probably fair to call it an epic. It’s Franzen’s first novel since the much-acclaimed The Corrections nine years ago and has been keenly awaited by many, including me. I was not disappointed. It’s a generational family saga featuring the rather likeable Patty and Walter Berglund a baby boomer, financially secure, left leaning couple who live in the Midwest with successful children and whose marriage is running out of steam. It covers from the 1970’s through to the present day with an emphasis on 2004. A book in which you can get lost and that in the end I found most satisfying.

Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones. Another author with a serious act to follow after the huge international success of his Man Booker shortlisted Mister Pip. I found this quite spellbinding. A North African woman becomes pregnant while working in a Tunisian hotel and shortly after the birth the baby boy is stolen and taken to Germany by the father.

The book is about the woman’s journey to find him. It leads her across the Mediterranean and through various countries to Berlin, and is told first by the myriad of characters she meets along the way -some generous, others exploitative - and then by herself.

This is a haunting, sometimes heartbreaking, story of a mother’s love. It will be a long time before I forget Jones’ wonderfully crafted character.

Dame Fiona Kidman is a leading contemporary novelist, short story writer and poet.
I’ve read many wonderful books this year but as I’m one of three international judges for the Commonwealth Fiction Prize, I have to reserve comment for the moment as to my favourite New Zealand titles.

One New Zealand publication that didn’t qualify for inclusion, is Parisian writer Pierre Furlan’s The Collector’s Dream, translated from French by Jean Anderson. It’s an absorbing and quirky father and son story based on Invercargill born genius and inventor, Franklin Bodmin. Bodmin became an American entrepreneur, and Will, who follows him, is equally driven in his own way. Bodmin Senior invented, among other things, crinkled hairpins and the first modern carburetor. Furlan got the idea of writing the book when he was a Randell Cottage Writers’ Fellow in Wellington.

One of my great reading discoveries of the year was Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. The 13 linked stories, about an aged, often graceless, but warm-hearted school teacher read like a novel and reveal not just one small new England town and its people, but what makes the human heart tick. This complex, emotional read won the Pulitzer Prize.

The title of Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel The Hand That First Held Mine didn’t appeal, but once started it was a straight-through read. A young London couple have their first baby and things don’t go well from the start, as Elina suffers post natal depression. But as it clears, her partner Ted falls prey to a much greater malaise, triggered by the baby’s birth. There is a mystery about Ted’s identity, which reads like a thriller.

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This article was first published in the Books section of the 26 December 2010 issue of the Herald on Sunday, and is reprinted here on Crime Watch with the kind permission of Herald on Sunday Books Editor Nicky Pellegrino.

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Great to see some crime and thriller fiction get a mention, especially the New Zealand books - and not just from me, but other reviewers and authors as well. Have you read any of the titles (crime fiction or otherwise) mentioned? What do you think of the recommendations? What were your favourite books of 2010?

Local and international crime featured in the New Zealand Listener's 100 Best Books of 2010

Last year, you might recall, I was a little disappointed at the relative lack of crime, mystery or thriller fiction titles, New Zealand or international, in the annual 100 Best Books list put out by the New Zealand Listener magazine. Especially as there were several very good crime novels that came out, and despite its literary leanings, the Listener had listed crime novels, including New Zealand crime novels, in the past, such as those of Paul Cleave and Vanda Symon.

As I said last year, the New Zealand Listener has long been considered one of our premier magazines. It is a weekly current affairs and entertainment magazine, renowned for having one of the best books sections around. Near the end of each year the Listener has a “100 Best Books of the Year” issue, where its reviewers compile their list of best novels, short stories, poetry, biography, memoir, and other non-fiction (eg history, science, journalism and essays, art, and food and drink) books of the year.

Well, this week the 2010 100 Best Books List has been published (in the issue pictured), and I am very pleased to say that there are several crime fiction titles amongst the 'best books' of the year, according to the reviewing team of the Listener. The crime fiction titles on the list are:

• BLACKLANDS by Belinda Bauer
• BLOOD MEN by Paul Cleave
• THE FALLEN by Ben Sanders
• HUNTING BLIND by Paddy Richardson
• THE REVERSAL by Michael Connelly
• SURRENDER by Donna Malane

Some cracking books there, and hopefully more Kiwi readers might give some of them a go, after reading about them in this week's issue of the Listener. Congratulations to the Kiwi crime writers who made the list.

Have you read any of the crime novels mentioned? If so, what did you think? If not, which ones catch your eye? Thoughts and comments welcome.