Photos wanted - New Zealand-related crime writing events (win prizes)

I have a favour to ask from all the Crime Watch readers out there that might have been to any author events with New Zealand crime writers (anywhere in the world) or international authors visiting New Zealand.

We're starting to build up some photo albums on the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel page on Facebook - of such events - and it would be fantastic if you could send in any photos you might have taken - whether at a local book launch, a visiting author event (eg see my picture of Val McDermid reading from TRICK OF THE DARK at the Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby last year, above), images of yourself with an international author in New Zealand, or a New Zealand author anywhere in the world (eg perhaps you met Paul Cleave or Neil Cross at Harrogate, or Vanda Symon at SheKilda, etc).

It would be great to build up some nice albums of crime writing related pics. If you or anyone you know has any such photos that you are happy to share, then please send them in to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. There will be numerous random draw spot prizes (win free books) for those that send in photos, from wherever you are in the world.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Multiple chances to see Jo Nesbo in New Zealand next March

Earlier this month I shared the terrific news that Norwegian crime writing superstar Jo Nesbo would one of the authors appearing in Wellington in March next year as part of the the 2012 New Zealand Arts Festival's "Writers and Readers Week". That should be a fantastic festival, filled with terrific event showcasing several other crime writers (including Denise Mina, and some yet-to-be-announced New Zealand authors) and other interesting authors. Nesbo is visiting New Zealand to promote his new Harry Hole thriller, PHANTOM, as well as the release of the film adaptation of his standalone thriller HEADHUNTERS.

Now, I'm very pleased to reveal that Nesbo not just be visiting Wellington, but in fact will be doing multiple events around New Zealand in March 2012, allowing many keen crime readers an opportunity to meet this talented storyteller. According to his publisher, Random House, who are "delighted" about his visit, there will be a Nesbo event and movie premiere held on the same evening in each of the following locations:

• Tuesday, 6 March - AUCKLAND
• Wednesday, 7 March - CHRISTCHURCH
• Thursday, 8 March - WANAKA
• Saturday, 10 March – WELLINGTON (presented as part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival)

Further details about each event will be announced in due course. But for now, it's just great to see that plenty of people will get a chance to meet Nesbo. It's really good to see international crime writers of his and Mina's calibre coming all the way down here to New Zealand, promoting the genre, and supporting our burgeoning crime fiction scene.

THE PHANTOM will be released in New Zealand on 3 February, and marks the return of Nesbo's popular detective Harry Hole. Here's the publisher's blurb:

Summer. A boy is lying on the floor of an Oslo apartment. He is bleeding and will soon die. In order to place his life and death in some kind of context he begins to tell his story. Outside, the church bells toll.

Autumn. Former police inspector Harry Hole returns to Oslo after three years abroad. He seeks out his old boss at Police Headquarters to request permission to investigate a homicide.

But the case is already closed: the young junkie was in all likelihood shot dead by a fellow addict. Yet, Harry is granted permission to visit the boy’s alleged killer in jail. There, he meets himself and his own history. What follows is the solitary investigation of what appears to be the first impossible case in Harry Hole’s career. And while Harry is searching, the murdered boy continues his story.

A man walks the dark streets of Oslo. The streets are his and he has always been there. He is a phantom.
 
Have you read any of Jo Nesbo's thrillers? What do you think of Harry Hole as a 'hero'? Are you looking forward to the film adaptation of HEADHUNTERS?

Meet up-and-coming Kiwi crime writer Ben Sanders in Takapuna next week

Earlier this month, 21-year-old Auckland engineering student Ben Sanders (pictured right, between myself and Michael Connelly) released his second crime novel, BY ANY MEANS, which continued his gritty Auckland-set crime series starring Detective Sergeant Sean Devereaux and ex-cop turned private consultant John Hale - a 'brains and brawn' style team (although Devereaux has some brawn too, and Hale plenty of brains to go with his action-first persona).

You can read my recent review of BY ANY MEANS here, and my feature article on Sanders for the Weekend Herald (New Zealand's biggest-circulation newspaper), here.

Now readers have a chance to meet Sanders for themselves, as I will be interviewing him, on stage, at an event at the Takapuna Library next Wednesday, 7 September 2011. The Takapuna Library has built up a strong tradition of hosting great crime fiction events, with visiting international stars John Hart, Michael Robotham, Peter James, Simon Kernick, Tom Rob Smith, Gregg Hurwitz and Linwood Barclay all appearing over the past two years. It's great to see the library now hosting an event featuring one of our rising Kiwi crime fiction stars. Sanders' debut, THE FALLEN, spent several weeks atop the NZ Adult Fiction bestseller list on release last year, and was longlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

Here's the official spiel about next week's event:

By Any Means - interview with Ben Sanders

Come along to an exciting interview with Ben Sanders.

Wednesday 7 September 2011 6.30pm
Takapuna Library
6pm: light refreshements served, 6.30pm event starts
Admission: $5 ($2 Friends of the Library)

Come along to an exciting interview as crime fiction expert, Craig Sisterson, grills 21-year-old Ben Sanders about his latest release, By Any Means, and his fascination with crime fiction.

Following the discussion will be a book signing courtesy of Paper Plus, Takapuna.

RSVP: Email Helen Woodhouse (Helen.Woodhouse@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz) or phone (09) 486 8469.

If you're in the area, it would be great to see you there - the Takapuna Library always hosts great events, and it would be good to get a good crowd for a local crime writer.

A touch of crime during winter Writers Lounges in Auckland

The Auckland branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors is running free weekly Writers Lounge events during June and July, with an interesting array of authors and people involved in the books industry 'in conversation' each Monday lunchtime at the Auckland Art Gallery toi o Tamakaki, in the central city (near the Auckland central library).

I'm very pleased to say that there is some crime-fiction content coming up this month as well; on Monday 20 June myself and fellow Ngaio Marsh Award judge and book blogger Graham Beattie will be in conversation with Metro magazine editor Simon Wilson about 'The Blogosphere'. And then the following week, on Monday 27 June, the topic is 'Crime Central', featuring Auckland-based crime writers Andrea Jutson (THE DARKNESS LOOKING BACK) and Ben Sanders (#1 bestseller THE FALLEN) in conversation with John Reynolds. Terrific.

It's great to see events such as these being run, and that local crime fiction is getting some further exposure to local readers. The events are held from 12-1pm in the Art Lounge at the Auckland Art Gallery, on the corner of Lorne and Wellesley Streets, and entry is free! So I hope plenty of crime fiction readers in Auckland will head along to both these events, and that readers of all preferences will give several of the fantastic free sessions on offer a go over the winter months. I'll certainly be heading along to more than just my session. Here's the full line-up:

Monday 13 June – Fantastic Worlds
Linda McNab and Russell Kirkpatrick in conversation with Tina Shaw

Monday 20 June – The Blogoshpere
Graham Beattie and Craig Sisterson in conversation with Simon Wilson

Monday 27 June – Crime Central
Andrea Jutson and Ben Sanders in conversation with John Reynolds

Monday 4 July – Food For Thought
Alexa Johnston and Ray McVinnie in conversation with Nicola Legat

Monday 11 July – Travel The Globe
Graeme Lay and Graham Reid in conversation with Yvonne van Dongen

Monday 18 July – Actors Read Their Favourite Authors
Elizabeth McRae and Jennifer Ward-Lealand in conversation with Rae McGregor

Monday 25 July – Publishing Here and Now
Dan Myers and Mary Egan in conversation with Carole Beu

Bouquets to the Auckland branch of the NZSA for organising the events, and for the Auckland Art Gallery and Creative New Zealand for their support. Should be fun! Hope to see some of you there on the day.

Ngaio Marsh Award 2011 - watch this space

Just a quick heads-up about the 2011 edition of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime novel, which was launched in Christchurch last year. Yes, the Award will be presented again in 2011 (for books published during 2010). The judging panel has been confirmed in the past few days, and will be announced soon. The seven judges, from New Zealand and overseas, will soon consider a shortlist of New Zealand crime novels published last year, and a group of finalists will be announced in the lead-up to an event to be held in Christchurch in late August.

At this stage it is likely that the event will have two high-profile visiting international crime writers in attendance also, which will be fantastic. I will release more details as they are confirmed.

There were some very, very good crime novels released by New Zealand and New Zealand-based authors last year, so I look forward to seeing some of them discussed, highlighted and honoured over the course of the coming months.

Did you read any of the New Zealand crime novels published in 2010? If so, who do you think should win the second instalment of the Ngaio Marsh Award? Comments welcome.

Meet Michael Robotham in Auckland on Thursday

As I revealed back in March, award-winning Australian crime writer Michael Robotham is visiting New Zealand this week. Last year Robotham was due to attend the Christchurch Writers Festival, and be part of a panel at the originally scheduled event for the inaugural presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award, but those plans of course changed due to the September earthquake. Now Robotham will be appearing at Takapuna Library this Thursday evening.

I will be heading along, and giving the intro for Robotham. It should be another fun night at the Takapuna Library, who've made a habit over the past couple of years of scooping some great crime fiction author visits (eg Linwood Barclay, Gregg Hurwitz, Tom Rob Smith, Simon Kernick, Peter James etc).

I had the pleasure of interviewing Robotham for a feature in the Weekend Herald last year, and I'm looking forward to meeting him in person. You can read my Herald feature, "Ghostwriter haunted by his own characters", online here.

You can also read Robotham's 9mm interview with Crime Watch, here.

Robotham's latest thriller, THE WRECKAGE, was released recently. The new book sees the welcome return of ex-cop Vincent Ruiz, who "rescues a young woman from a violent boyfriend but wakes next morning to find that she's robbed him. It was a set up – an elaborate scam. Setting out to find Holly Knight, Ruiz discovers her boyfriend's tortured body and realises that powerful men are looking for the same girl. What did she steal that was so important?

Meanwhile, two thousand miles away, Pulitzer prize-winning Journalist Luca Terracini is living 'outside the wire' in Baghdad and investigating a disappearance of billions in reconstruction funds. The trail will lead him to London where he teams up with Ruiz and together they investigate the disappearance of an international banker and a mysterious 'black hole' in the bank's accounts.

THE WRECKAGE is an international conspiracy thriller involving clandestine agents and powerful nations who seek to bury secrets and manipulate the truth. It's about the money, politics and power. Who has it, who wants it and who's ultimately going to pay."

You can read the first chapter of THE WRECKAGE on Robotham's website here.

Have you read any of Michael Robotham's thrillers? If so, what do you think? Will you read THE WRECKAGE? Or come along to Thursday's event? Comments welcome.

Michael Robotham to visit New Zealand in May

In some great news, Australian crime writer Michael Robotham will be visiting New Zealand in May. Last year Robotham was due to attend the Christchurch Writers Festival, and be part of a panel at the originally scheduled event for the inaugural presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award, but those plans changed due to the September earthquake.

Now Robotham will be appearing at Takapuna Library on Thursday 26 May. That will be a great week for Auckland-based crime fiction fans, as Michael Connelly will also be in town earlier that week. A nice quinella of events to attend.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Robotham for a feature in the Weekend Herald last year, and I'm looking forward to meeting him in person. I will certainly be heading along to the Takapuna Library event on Thursday 26 May - Helen Woodhouse and her team there always put on terrific events.

You can read my Herald feature, "Ghostwriter haunted by his own characters", online here.

I understand Robotham may do some other events while in New Zealand. I will update you on any further details as they come to hand.

Kiwi author Roy Vaughan appearing at Dymocks Ponsonby tomorrow night

Tomorrow night at Dymocks Bookstore in Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand thriller writer Roy Vaughan will be instore to talk about his writing, his larger-than-life characters and action, and how his thriller novels came to be.

Vaughan is a former officer in the British and New Zealand Merchant Navies, and journalist for the New Zealand Herald (amongst other roles), who in his 'retirement' has now started a series of thriller novels. The first, THE MERELEIGH RECORD CLUB TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND, was originally launched in New Zealand in hardcover lastyear, and Vaughn has already completed the second, set in Japan, which will hopefully be released in the coming months. Last year Vaughan shared his memories of Dame Ngaio Marsh, who he met while writing for the Herald, with Crime Watch readers - read his interesting article here.

The 'blurb' for his first thriller, THE MERELEIGH RECORD CLUB TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND, says:"Tour guide and owner of a New Zealand travel company, Rick Foster, pulls together a group of old friends from their rock-n-roll days of the 60s. Known as the Mereleigh Record Club, these 60-somethings meet to reminiscent and hopefully, in Foster's case, rekindle an old romance as well. Foster envisions he and his old mates partying from Auckland to the South Island. What he doesn't bargain for is he and his group becoming unwilling targets of an international and very dangerous drug smuggling gang.

A senior customs agent and detective decide to use the group to set up a sting, and things get more out of hand-lives are threatened and deep-seated friendships are put to the test. Foster is in the precarious position of cooperating with the police and protecting his friends. As the drama escalates, strange relationships develop between the good guys and the bad guys and Foster doesn't know whom he can trust. Will Foster and the authorities be able to pull off the biggest sting of their careers with no one getting hurt?"

The thriller was published by a small New York-based publisher, and is available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Book Depository. You can read a short article in Northern Matters about the book launch in Mangawhai last year, here.

Here are the details about tomorrow night's instore event:

• Where: Dymocks, 344 Ponsonby Road, Auckland
• When: Tuesday 15 March 2001 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm
• RSVP to help with catering to Ponsonby@dymocks.co.nz

I will be heading along? How about you?

Reminder: Kathy Reichs in Auckland on Sunday and Monday

Just a quick reminder that one of the biggest names in international crime fiction will be visiting New Zealand (Auckland) on this coming Sunday and Monday. Kathy Reichs (pictured right, photo credit: Marie-Reine Mattera), will be making three public appearances, being:

IN-STORE EVENT:
Sunday, 13 February, 4.00-4.45pm at Dymocks, Newmarket.
Entry is free but please call Dymocks 09-522 3343 by Thursday, 10 February (ie, tomorrow) to register.

WHITCOULLS STORE SIGNINGS:
Monday, 14 February
1.00-1.30pm at 210 Queen St
1.45-2.15pm, Westfield Downtown

For those who can’t make it to the events and signings, be sure to tune in to Radio New Zealand, 3pm, Monday, 14 February to catch Kathy’s live, 30-min interview with Jim Mora.

Reichs, who is in Auckland for just a couple of days having disembarked from a Crystal Cruise where she delivered a guest lecture, now has thirteen thrillers under her belt. Her acclaimed series, which features her beloved character Tempe Brennan, inspired the hit TV series, Bones.

She has also just published the first book in her thrilling new series called VIRALS, which she’s written for young adults.

From teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, as a forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her mesmerising forensic thrillers. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina. Dr. Reichs has travelled to Rwanda to testify at the UN Tribunal on Genocide, and helped exhume a mass grave in Guatemala. As part of her work at JPAC (Formerly CILHI) she aided in the identification of war dead from World War II, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Reichs also assisted with identifying remains found at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

I am hoping to head along on Sunday to the Dymocks Newmarket event. Any Auckland-based Crime Watch readers going to join me?

Tick, tick, tick... Bouchercon!

Well, it's almost upon us. This week the 2010 edition of the fantastic (I've heard) Bouchercon crime writing festival will kick off. From a look at the lineup and the building excitement on blogs and elsewhere amongst the crime fiction community, Bouchercon by the Bay is going to be absolutely huge.

I've got to say, I'm pretty envious of everyone heading along. Scratch that, really envious. Incredible Hulk green with envy. I was quite tempted to hop on a plane from New Zealand, especially as San Francisco, the location of this year's 'Con is one of my favourite US cities, and also a fairly accessible/affordable flight from New Zealand (one of the most geographically isolated countries in the world, apparently). Unfortunately finances and timing hampered my Bouchercon 2010 dreams. But maybe next time.

For all of you heading along this year, I hope you have a magnificent time. For those, like me, who can only look on, our faces pressed up against a faraway window, hopefully there will be all sorts of fantastic articles and blog posts coming out about the events, from those lucky enought to be on the ground there in San Francisco. I'm talking to you Peter Rozovsky (Detectives Beyond Borders), Jon and Ruth Jordan (Crimespree magazine), Janet Rudolph (Mystery Readers International), J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet), and others... make sure you share it all with us.

Lee Child, who I was fortunate enough to interview and meet in New Zealand earlier this year (read NZLawyer feature, read 9mm interview) is 'Distinguished Contribution to the Genre' in 2010, and Scottish author Denise Mina, who's Gold Dagger-shortlisted novel STILL MIDNIGHT I recently read, is the International Guest of Honour, at Bouchercon by the Bay.

Skimming the programme, there are so many cool events on offer. I'd certainly have some pretty full days there. Watching the San Francisco-set crime movies The Maltese Falcon, Bullitt, and Murder by Death on Wednesday night (6pm onwards) would be a great start to what is going to be a really terrific few days. In amongst all the authors events, there is also the announcement/presentation of several prestigious crime/mystery writing awards, ie the Macavitys, the Barrys, and the Anthonys. And the Dashiell Hammett-inspired walking tours also sound great - San Francisco is such a great strolling city.

You can check out the line-up of events here:

• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

I hope that everyone heading to the festival has a truly terrific time, and I look forward to reading about all the festivities.

What do you think about the Bouchercon by the Bay lineup? Are you heading along? What events/authors would you most like to attend, if you were going? Who should win some of the awards? Do you enjoy author events and mystery writing festivals? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Meet award-winning debutant crime writer Donna Malane in Wellington next week

Those in or near the Wellington area have a chance to meet hometown crime writer and award-winning TV scriptwriter and producer Donna Malane next Monday evening. Malane already had a few awards on her mantelpiece thanks to her involvement in high quality TV productions like Until Proven Innocent, when earlier this year she won the inaugural NZSA Pindar Publishing Prize for the manuscript of her debut adult novel, the crime thriller SURRENDER.

Although SURRENDER (read my review for the New Zealand Herald here) is Malane's first foray into book-based crime fiction, she does have quite a true crime and crime fiction pedigree on the small screen. During her years researching and writing re-enactments for television’s Crimewatch series, Donna had unprecedented access to police files and cases. During that time she formed enduring relationships with police, forensic scientists, lawyers, victims and their families, as well as with the odd (and some not so odd) criminal.

Then, while continuing to write and produce a wide variety of prime-time television dramas and documentaries, Donna continued her interest in and enjoyment of writing crime drama. She wrote for the television police drama series Shark in the Park, the international doco-drama series Indelible Evidence, crime drama series Duggan (for which she won Best Drama Script at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards in 2000) and in 2008 co-wrote and produced the film for television Until Proven Innocent, the story of the wrongful conviction of David Dougherty for the rape and abduction of his 11 year old neighbour. Until Proven Innocent won seven major awards at the 2009 Film and Television Awards, including Best Drama. You can read my review of that telemovie here.

I was fortunate enough to meet Malane at the Auckland launch of SURRENDER in late September. Along with being a very good writer, she's also an interesting person - so I would heartily recommend any readers who are in or near Wellington to head along to the event next Monday evening. It should be a lot of fun.

Meet the winner of the 2010 NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize

Monday 11 October

at Thistle Inn, 3 Mulgrave St, Thordon

starting 7.30 pm

NZSA members $2

non-members $3

Just a reminder that you can also go into the draw to win your own brand new copy of SURRENDER here. The Crime Watch giveaway is open worldwide, and thanks to the good number of entries already, I will now be giving away multiple copies of the book. So if you haven't entered yet, make sure you head here and get yourself in the draw!

Canterbury Earthquake Fundraiser: Simon Kernick at Takapuna Library on Thursday evening

British thriller writing star Simon Kernick will now be appearing at Takapuna Library this Thursday evening at an event to raise funds for those affected by the Canterbury earthquake.

As I reported this morning, due to the property and infrastructure damage caused by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, on Saturday, and the ongoing effects caused by the quake and a series of more than 100 aftershocks, the 2010 The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival has unfortunately been cancelled.

Kernick was one of the international stars due to appear at the Festival, including as part of the Setting the Stage for Murder event on Friday night where the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel was to be presented. Now he is helping raise funds for those affected by the disaster.


Kernick is a former computer programmer in his early 40s who has been described as "Britain's most exciting new thriller writer". He debuted with THE BUSINESS OF DYING in 2002, and his ninth thriller, THE LAST 10 SECONDS, was published here in New Zealand last month. In 2007, his book RELENTLESS, after being selected by Richard and Judy for their recommended summer reads promotion, went on to become the bestselling thriller in the UK for that year.

Kernick is touted as having talked, during the research for his novels, "both on and off the record to members of Special Branch, the Anti-Terrorist Branch and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, so he gets to hear first hand what actually happens in the dark and murky underbelly of UK crime." You can read my NZLawyer review of THE LAST 10 SECONDS here.

It should be a terrific evening on Thursday - Helen Woodhouse and the team at Takapuna Library always put on great events - and I urge anyone in the area to head along, both to meet a cool author, and to help raise some money for our friends down South.

Thanks to Random House and the Takapuna Library, all refreshments are being covered, so entry is just a gold coin donation to the Canterbury Earthquake Fund. RSVP to Helen Woodhouse on (09) 486 8469 or helenw@shorelibraries.govt.nz

Hope to see you there!

Reminder: Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid touring New Zealand over the next four days

Just a quick reminder that 2010 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid will be touring New Zealand over the next few days, in support of her latest thriller TRICK OF THE DARK. McDermid is appearing in all four main centres; Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

McDermid has written dozens of bestsellers, sold more than 10 million books, won and been shortlisted for many awards (including winning the prestigious CWA Gold Dagger for THE MERMAIDS SINGING, and also winning the LA Times Book of the Year Award and the Stonewall Writer of the Year Award), and had her stories adapted into acclaimed TV shows like Place of Execution and Wire in the Blood. In 2009 she was also inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards.

McDermid's first event is tomorrow (Saturday) in Dunedin, and then she will be appearing in Christchurch, Wellington, then finishing in Auckland on Tuesday evening. For those in the upper North Island, grab a copy of tomorrow's Weekend Herald to read my interview with McDermid (note - my feature will be in the Arts pages of the main newspaper, rather than in the Canvas magazine, this time).

You can see McDermid at the following public events:

Saturday 21 August, 5.30pm – Dunedin

The Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago and the Otago Settlers Museum are pleased to host an event with Val McDermid

The Otago Settlers Museum,

31 Queens Gardens, Dunedin.

Free ticketed event.

Tickets available from The University Book Shop and The Otago Settlers Museum.

As an aside - this Dunedin event features McDermid in conversation with Scots-turned-Kiwi thriller writer Liam McIlvanney (author of the excellent ALL THE COLOURS OF THE TOWN), so that should be fantastic for those of you in the deep south.

Sunday 22 August, 4.30pm – Christchurch (EVENT SOLD OUT!)

An evening with Val McDermid in conjunction with Plains FM

Our City O-Tautahi,

Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

Monday 23 August, 6.00pm – Wellington

Rainbow Wellington Event in conjunction with Unity Books

Unity Books,

57 Willis Street, Wellington

$10 for members $15 for non-members for entry, free nibbles and two free drinks.

Pay at the door.

Please note: McDermid is one of ten speakers at the anuual Rainbow Wgtn Book Review Night at Unity Books. She will speak in response to the review for her new book TRICK OF THE DARK. After that everyone will break for a wine and she will sign copies of her book. The annual Rainbow Book Review night celebrates new books by LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bi, trans /intersex) authors.

Tuesday 24 August, 6.00pm – Auckland

An evening with Val McDermid at The Women’s Bookshop

105 Ponsonby Road, Auckland

Entry $5 at the door.

RSVP (for catering purposes) to: (09) 376 4399, email books@womensbookshops.co.nz or secure website: http://www.womensbookshop.co.nz/

Personally I will be heading along to this latter Auckland event. I'm very much looking forward to meeting McDermid in person, having had a fantastic phone interview with her recently. It should be a lot of fun at her events.

I've also just recently finished reading TRICK OF THE DARK, which I really enjoyed. You can read an extract from TRICK OF THE DARK here.

So, what do you think of McDermid's dark crime novels? Are you a fan of 'Tartan Noir'? Have you watched the Wire in the Blood TV series? Will you head along to one of her events here in New Zealand? Thoughts and comments welcome.