My Herald on Sunday reviews: YOU'RE NEXT by Gregg Hurwitz and THE DYING HOUR by Rick Mofina

This year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-known newspapers. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way to getting crime fiction into the books sections of some local media.

My fifth 'column' was published yesterday, in the new 'Living' magazine supplement to the newspaper. Moving forward I will usually be doing four reviews (up from three) each month, however a last-minute design change meant they only used two of my reviews this month. Here is my latest (abbreviated) column.

Crime picks

Book blogger Craig Sisterson reveals his top picks from his recent reading

You’re Next

By Gregg Hurwitz (Sphere, $29.99)
Former Shakespearean scholar Hurwitz has become a true master of the ‘suburban thriller’, where ordinary people find themselves in extraordinary peril. Developer Mike Wingate has a nice life and family. He’s come a long way since being abandoned at a playground as a child. But things start going wrong: a stranger seems to recognise him, then threats, then attacks. How can he protect his family when he doesn’t even know what his unknown enemies want? A gripping page-turner, full of real emotional tension.

The Dying Hour
By Rick Mofina (Mira, $32.99)
Canadian thriller maestro Rick Mofina has been popular overseas for years, but his books have only recently become more available downunder. Rookie Seattle crime reporter Jason Wade is part of a cut-throat competitive internship, and finds himself investigating the puzzling disappearance of a college student whose car was found abandoned. When another woman is found murdered in a ritualistic fashion, no-one thinks the cases are connected, except Jason, who embarks on a terrifying journey that causes him to examine himself as much as the ‘case’. A throttle-open thriller with an engaging hero, compelling characters, and enough tension to keep you up late at night.

 
Craig Sisterson was one of the judges of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel last year. He blogs about crime and thriller fiction at http://goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com/.
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This column was first published in the Herald on Sunday on 12 June 2011, and is reprinted here with permission.
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What do you think of my mini-reviews? Of having such a regular column in one of New Zealand's major newspapers? Have you read (or do you intend to) any of these titles? What are some of the upcoming titles I should definitely include in future columns? Comments welcome.

My Herald on Sunday reviews: LIVE WIRE, THE FIFTH WITNESS and SHADOW SISTER

This year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-known newspapers. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way to getting crime fiction into the books sections of some local media.

My fourth 'column' was published while I was away in Turkey and Greece, in the 'Detours' lifestyle supplement to the newspaper, so I apologise for the delay in sharing it with you here. Here is my latest column.

Crime picks
Book blogger Craig Sisterson reveals his top picks from his recent reading

Live Wire
By Harlan Coben (Orion, $39.99)
When her musician husband vanishes following internet rumours about her fidelity, a pregnant former tennis starlet turns to sports agent-cum-amateur sleuth Myron Bolitar for help. Meanwhile Bolitar’s dealing with his own family crisis; a dying father and the possible return of his long-lost brother, with trouble close behind. Then things take a deadly turn. Bolitar is a fascinating, at times funny, hero who’s easy to follow. Coben’s storytelling hooks early, then takes us on a twisting ride towards a thrilling conclusion.

The Fifth Witness
By Michael Connelly (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)
‘Lincoln Lawyer’ Mickey Haller, who’s happy to use a few tricks to help clients facing the might of the state, has been hit hard by the recession; he’s now defending clients more from mortgage foreclosures than criminal charges. But then an outspoken protestor is arrested for murdering a bank CEO, and Haller is back in criminal court, fighting a case that will cause him to reexamine everything. A legal thriller about much more than its plot, Connelly shows once more that he’s right at the top of the crime writing tree.

Shadow Sister
By Simone van der Vlugt (Text Publishing, $39)
Lydia and Elise are twin sisters, identical in appearance but not in personality. Lydia’s an opinionated teacher with a husband, daughter, and relatively settled life. Elise is a photographer: quieter, darker, and troubled. However, it’s Lydia’s life which becomes truly troubled, starting when a student pulls a knife on her, and ending with a violent death. The second novel from ‘Holland’s Queen of Crime’ to be translated into English, this psychological thriller conveys plenty of creepiness and a brooding sense of unease.

Craig Sisterson was one of the judges of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel last year. He blogs about crime and thriller fiction at http://goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com/.

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This column was first published in the Herald on Sunday, and is reprinted here with permission.

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What do you think of my mini-reviews? Of having such a regular column in one of New Zealand's major newspapers? Have you read (or do you intend to) any of these titles? What are some of the upcoming titles I should definitely include in future columns? Comments welcome.

Positive reviews for Ngaio Marsh Award judge's latest mystery novel

I've received plenty of credit for the creation of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, including in a few media stories about the rise and growing recognition of Kiwi crime fiction (read Herald on Sunday article here, Listener article here, Fairfax magazines article here), but the truth of the matter is that it was very much a team effort to bring New Zealand's first-ever crime fiction award to fruition late last year.

Amongst those who played a key part were the panel of judges, who generously gave their time to read novels that (in some cases) weren't even available in their own countries. One of those fantastic judges was Lou Allin, the Vice-President of Crime Writers of Canada, and a mystery novelist in her own right (write?). As an aside, last year Lou and I realised that we would have actually crossed paths back in April 2008, when I attended a CWC event announcing the Arthur Ellis finalists at the Vancouver Public Library, while I was travelling through Canada.

It's great to see that Lou is now getting positive reviews for her own latest mystery novel, SHE FELT NO PAIN, part of her RCMP Holly Martin series. Here's the blurb for the novel:

Summer in sleepy Fossil Bay on Vancouver Island gets a rocky start when the body of a homeless man is found near a popular creek. With his death confirmed as an overdose, RCMP Corporal Holly Martin discovers that he’s the long-lost criminal brother of a respected local woman, who’s planning to start a wellness centre. Living at home in her first command post, Holly is also troubled by slow progress in solving the disappearance ten years ago of her activist-lawyer mother. A record drought heats up the vacation paradise, and one match could send Canada’s Caribbean up in flames.

Spinetingler magazine said: "The author concentrates on developing the story against the raw beauty of nature and environment, which not only provide a truly forceful setting for the plot, but also a powerful conclusion" (read full review here).

Joan Barfoot in the Toronto Sun said: "Allin writes vividly and at length about the landscape and appeals of southern Vancouver Island, about some of the holistic practices popular in some circles there, and about aspects of aboriginal culture" (read full review here).

Margaret Cannon of the Globe and Mail said: "Allin is great at putting the bits together and keeping readers glued to the page. This one is lots of fun" (read full review here).

Harriet Klausner of Genre Go Round said: "An engaging whodunit that contrasts murder with the beauty of Vancouver Island. That comparisons of nature’s stark beauty to humanity’s avaricious homicidal tendencies makes for a strong whodunit as Holly investigates the murder and her own heritage with every step she takes enhanced by the setting she traverses." (read full review here).

Way to go Lou!

You can read my 9mm interview with Lou Allin here. I haven't been fortunate enough to read one of Lou's books for myself yet (they're not readily available here), but I think I might have to go online to remedy that quick smart.

Have you read any of Lou Allin's Belle Palmer or RCMP Holly Martin novels? Do you like the sound of SHE FELT NO PAIN? Of crime fiction set on Vancouver Island?

I is for INSIDE DOPE by Paul Thomas (Crime Fiction Alphabet)

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 INSIDE DOPE by Paul Thomas, a book which won the inaugural Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel back in 1996 (co-winner with Barry Maitland's THE MALCONTENTA). Although Paul Thomas is a Kiwi, I believe he was living in Sydney at the time, so that may be why he was eligible for the Australian crime writing awards.

After studying at the University of Auckland, Thomas worked as a public relations executive, consultant, journalist and editor before turning to writing full-time. When he did so, Thomas quickly established a reputation as quite a prolific writer - churning out newspaper articles, novels, short stories, and non-fiction work, particularly cricket and rugby-related sports biographies, at a steady pace over the years.

After writing three sports biographies (in conjunction with top rugby and cricket players and coaches), his first crime novel was released in 1994, OLD SCHOOL TIE (later released in Australia as DIRTY LAUNDRY). It introduced DS Tito Ihaka, a Maori detective based in Auckland, as well as Thomas's blackly comic and witty writing style - one critic described it as "Elmore Leonard on acid", and the novel was widely acclaimed.

INSIDE DOPE was Thomas's second of three novels to feature Ihaka, and centred on a hunt for missing drugs from the notorious real-life Mr Asia gang which spanned Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia in the 1970s (and which was featured recently in the Australian TV series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities). Disgraced former cop Duane Ricketts is on hand to hear the dying words of Frank Varty, the only man who knows the location of 10kg of high-grade cocaine misplaced after an aborted drug run a decade before. As Ricketts hunts for the drugs, he opens a Pandora's box of trouble, and Thomas has the reader racing along on a plot filled with bodies in spa pools, rogue CIA agents, indiscreet diplomats, crooked lawyers, hoods, and a CIA assassin. As well are recurring hero Ihaka and his police colleagues, of course.

As I said above, INSIDE DOPE was co-winner of the first-ever Australian crime writing award, the Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel in 1996.

INSIDE DOPE, along with his other Ihaka novels and some standalone thrillers (eg THE EMPTY BED in 2002), cemented Thomas's reputation as a high quality crime writer - at a time when New Zealand authors and publishers weren't really taking up the crime writing baton in any major way - understandably, Thomas's work has been called 'groundbreaking', in terms of modern Kiwi crime fiction.

As noted on the NZ Book Council website, in Writing Gothic Matilda: The Amazing Visions of Australian Crime Fiction, Michael Pollack and Margaret MacNabb write about Thomas’ early novels, "These comic novels leave the reader laughing, that’s for sure. The sparkling dialogue, absurd situations and all the crackling one-liners are pure entertainment. But there is always the shadow of doubt falling over the page…After reading Paul Thomas… one never reads a newspaper or watches a television newscast with the quite the same degree of innocence again."

A review of INSIDE DOPE on Amazon from back in 1999 (the very early days of the online bookstore) states, "Inside Dope is brilliantly plotted to tell a complex and highly amusing story. The characters are larger than life; the narrative deliciously demonic; and the dialogue outrageously overblown yet real. The whole adds up to a hilarious novel in a unique and original style. Get it!"

Thomas's crime novels fell out of print, but remained available from libraries and secondhand bookstores. However, in some great news for antipodean crime fiction fans, last year his publisher re-released all three Ihaka novels (OLD SCHOOL TIE, INSIDE DOPE, GUERILLA SEASON) in one volume - THE IHAKA TRILOGY. Even more than a decade later, the stories still hold up, and Thomas's writing can still entrance and amuse readers - the re-released trilogy spent several weeks on the New Zealand Fiction bestseller list (rising as high as #3 for some weeks - at the time that Ben Sanders's THE FALLEN was #1).

Reviewer Karen Chisholm of AustCrimeFiction said, "I just love these books. I love the settings, I love the humour, the quality of the plots and all of the characters. I love the way that Tito Ihaka is a central character, but not necessarily THE central character. These are very much ensemble cast books with Tito and others never taking the entire focus. I also love the way that these books are not necessarily straight-forward police procedurals, although they do involve police investigations (and ex-police investigations) and journalistic investigations and a whole bunch of things happening all at once. Making Ihaka not the entire focus of these books is quite an achievement as he's a larger than life sort of bloke. Maori, toe treading, unconventional, he's balanced beautifully against his very proper, very buttoned up, very Irish, dour boss Ulsterman Finbar McGrail."

You can read Karen's full review here.

I know I'm not alone in hoping that the re-release of the three Ihaka books might herald that Thomas is now working on a new crime novel. Watch this space.

Comments welcome.

My monthly crime picks for the Herald on Sunday

As I said last month, this year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-read newspapers. It's terrific to see some of New Zealand's larger media (big newspapers, magazines, TV shows etc) starting to include a little bit more crime fiction in their review pages. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way as well.

My second 'column', so to speak, was published on Sunday 26 February - see above - in the 'Detours' lifestyle magazine, and now I can share it here with you. Each month I will pick 2-3 books that I have read in the past month (usually new or recent releases, but not always), and talk a little about them. Due to space constraints I don't have a lot of words to play with, but I'll be doing my best to highlight some good and great crime fiction, that could be enjoyable for some of the Herald on Sunday readers to try, as best I can.

Here's the second instalment of the monthly series (note - the HOS subeditors made a couple of minor tweaks/word count cuts to my submission, so I’ve republishing here what was actually printed in the HOS, rather than my slightly longer draft, with one exception - they changed ‘caper-esque’ in the Wambaugh review to Capraesque - not at all what I meant, so I’ve corrected it back to caper here):

Still Missing
By Chevy Stevens (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)
A searing debut from Canadian writer Stevens, Still Missing consists of a series of sessions Annie O’Sullivan has with her psychiatrist, during which she reveals what happened during the year she spent imprisoned in a remote mountain cabin, and in the aftermath, while she struggles to piece her life back together and uncover the truth behind her abduction. It’s a flashback structure that could backfire, but Stevens utilises it with aplomb, ratcheting up the tension, and building empathy for O’Sullivan as the horror of what she went through is revealed.

Bound
By Vanda Symon (Penguin, $30.00)
A leading light amongst the recent surge in quality Kiwi crime fiction, Vanda Symon kick-starts her latest thrilling tale with a brutal home invasion; a dodgy businessman is shot gunned, his wife nearly chokes to death on a gag. Feisty heroine Sam Shephard’s Dunedin CID colleagues zero in on two lowlifes suspected of an earlier cop killing, but she’s uneasy, and keeps investigating. Excellent storytelling with real verve and energy, starring one of the most enjoyably readable heroines on the crime fiction scene.

Hollywood Hills
By Joseph Wambaugh (Corvus, $39.99)
An influential icon of the ‘police procedural’ sub-genre, former LAPD detective Wambaugh returns with another raucous ensemble tale, filled with a cast of memorable characters, layered with caper-esque plotlines and quirky vignettes of Hollywood life. A veteran cop and wannabe actor agrees to watch a B-list director’s home, an art dealer has an audacious plan to overcome his financial struggles, and a couple of junkies dream of the big score. There’s no central hero or singular investigation to power the plot, but it comes together to make an enjoyable read.

Craig Sisterson was one of the judges of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel last year. He blogs about crime and thriller fiction at http://goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com//

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This column was first published in the Sunday 26 February 2011 issue of the Herald on Sunday, and is reprinted here with permission.

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What do you think of my mini-reviews? Of having such a regular column in one of New Zealand's major newspapers? Have you read (or do you intend to) any of these titles? What are some of the upcoming titles I should definitely include in future columns? What should I review for March? Comments welcome.

New Zealand crime fiction in the news, and more reviews...

Yesterday I updated the "Other reviews" linkbar page above, which focuses on links to external crime fiction (particularly Kiwi) reviews, with a few new/recent reviews.

Along with my own recent Weekend Herald review of #1 bestseller THE FALLEN by Ben Sanders, and my Reviewing the Evidence review of POSTCARD KILLERS by James Patterson and Liza Marklund, Eurocrime review of CAPTURED by Neil Cross, and Latitude review of CONTAINMENT by Vanda Symon, I've also linked to reviews by several other people and publications of some recent New Zealand crime fiction. Hopefully this may help you get a better idea about some of the recent Kiwi crime fiction that perhaps you might like to give a go yourself.

I've added links to new reviews of Alix Bosco's SLAUGHTER FALLS (Otago Daily Times review, Latitude magazine review), Paul Thomas's THE IHAKA TRILOGY (AustCrimeFiction, M/C Reviews), and Ben Sanders' THE FALLEN (Nelson Mail review), all of which were released in the past couple of months.

One Kiwi crime novel that came out within the last year that I haven't yet talked about much here on Crime Watch is ASSIGNED TO MURDER, the debut thriller from Trish McCormack. I've just picked up a copy of this for myself from Page & Blackmore Booksellers when I was down in Nelson last weekend, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

The tagline for ASSIGNED TO MURDER is "A Tale of Death and Revenge on the South Island's West Coast", and the blurb reads "As Philippa Barnes, a young West Coast glacier guide, is getting over the accidental death of her parents whilst climbing, Kirsten, a journalist friend of hers, is murdered beside nearby Lake Kanieri. Philippa teams up with Kirsten's brother Jack to try and find out what Kirsten was investigating."

Trish McCormack is a Wellington-based author who grew up on the West Coast. Earlier this month Joanna Davis of The Dominion Post, one of the major newspapers in New Zealand, featured ASSIGNED TO MURDER for the 'Your Weekend' magazine in the weekend edition. You can read Davis's full article here.

Crime Fiction Reviews from the latest Latitude magazine

As I've noted before, the editor of the excellent Canterbury regional lifestyle magazine Latitude, Joanne Taylor, has been kind enough to let me republish any crime fiction reviews published in Latitude, here on Crime Watch. It's an excellent magazine - it comes out quarterly and is about 160-180 pages each issue - so keep an eye out for it if you're in the area. I've written some large features, travel articles, and book reviews for them over the past year.

The current (Spring) issue, which came out the week prior to the Canterbury earthquake, included several crime fiction reviews - including reviews of the latest books from each of the three Ngaio Marsh Award finalists; Vanda Symon, Alix Bosco, and Neil Cross.

As I've already published a longer review of Neil Cross's CAPTURED here on Crime Watch, I won't republish the Latitude review here. However, here are the other two Kiwi crime fiction reviews from the latest Latitude. Enjoy.

SLAUGHTER FALLS
By Alix Bosco
Reviewed by Joanne Taylor

I eagerly awaited the second novel from Auckland writer Alix Bosco. SLAUGHTER FALLS continues the ability of the prime character, Anna Markunas, to end up in bizarre crime scenes. Eager to put her research skills to use in Queensland while there on holiday, Markunas attempts to track down the family of a fellow tour party member who died suddenly. As she gets closer to the truth, the dark world of Australia's corrupt underbelly looms - who is helping and who is hindering the investigation continues to keep the reader turning the pages.

The character of Anna Markunas develops nicely in this sequel (to the first novel CUT & RUN) with the stories of her children interwoven throughout with the impending arrival of a grandchild and the worry that her sone will slip back into bad habits. A great book to curl up with.

CONTAINMENT

by Vanda Symon

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Dunedin crime writer Vanda Symon brings back her feisty local heroine Sam Shephard for a third instalment in what has become an excellent detective series. In CONTAINMENT, the junior detective investigates a bizarre death - what seems a routine diving accident before forensics reveal the man didn't die from drowning and his body was stuffed in the wetsuit afterwards - that might be linked to the grounding of a container ship on the Aramoana coast.

CONTAINMENT once again shows Symon's talent for well-rounded characters, unique set-pieces, and Dunedin touches that give readers a strong sense of the student-packed southern city, while fleshing out even more about Shephard's personal life. Enjoyable, and well worth reading.

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What do you think of the reviews (we are very constrained for space)? Are you planning on reading either book? If you already have, what to do you think of it/them? Thoughts and comments most welcome.

Crime Watch enters its 2nd year on the blogosphere!

Wow, how quickly a year flies by! I was just tootling along this morning, busy with several work, writing, book-related, and other-life things, when I realised that Crime Watch's birthday must be coming up soon.

Checking the calendar, I then realised that today is actually Crime Watch's first birthday, for it was on 9 August 2009 that this blog was birthed into the (blogosphere) world, with my opening post, "Haere mai" (meaning 'welcome' in Maori). Wow. One whole year already. Time does fly.

It's funny looking back on what I said in that opening post, and all that has happened in the 12 months since, both here on the blog, and elsewhere, particularly when it comes to New Zealand crime and thriller writing.

Since birthdays, like New Years' holidays, are times for a bit of reflection, I thought I would take a look back and share a random selection of facts, stats, and moments etc with you all:

• 463 posts have been published on a variety of crime fiction news, issues, and happenings;
• There were just under 30,000 visits to Crime Watch in the first year, and daily and weekly visits now average 3-5 times what they did in the first few months;
• The three most-visited days were those relating to the Lee Child 9mm interview (the first in the series), the PD James birthday and 9mm interview, and the James Lee Burke feature article - the latter recently topped the Lee Child 9mm interview as the most popular of all during the first year of Crime Watch;
• The post with the most comments was, unsurprisingly, one of the competitions I ran to win some Kiwi crime fiction;
• Encyclopaedic-style biographies have been written for 12 New Zealand crime and thriller fiction authors - contemporary and historic - and more than fifty other such Kiwi authors have been 'discovered', discussed and/or linked to on Crime Watch - far more than I would have ever thought possible when I started;
• Fifteen novels that could come within a broad definition of Kiwi 'crime, thriller or mystery fiction' were published during 2009 and discussed or linked to on Crime Watch - several having got little to no attention elsewhere on the Internet or in other media;
• I have interviewed 29 authors thusfar for the popular 9mm series of quickfire author interviews (that are exclusive to Crime Watch), ranging from relative unknowns to big-name bestsellers and crime fiction legends. Who would have thought this time last year that I would have the likes of PD James answering questions exclusively for you?
• Crime Watch has been part of some terrific series - including 27 posts for Kerrie's excellent Crime Fiction Alphabet series, successfully completing the Expert Level of Dorte's fantastic 2010 Global Reading Challenge (I am closing in on the extreme level), and casting my eye over how well several New Zealand bookstores support local crime writing;
• I have included 24 full crime fiction reviews on Crime Watch, while linking to dozens and dozens of others, both New Zealand crime fiction and international books; and
• Guest posts and guest reviewers have recently been introduced, as well as other features like the linkbar at the top, embedded YouTube videos, and links to radio/TV broadcasts.

It's been a hell of a fun ride thusfar, and I hope you are all enjoying it, feel that you are getting something from reading Crime Watch, and that I am accomplishing at least some of what I set out to do back on 9 August last year. I'm always happy to get feedback, good or critical - so please feel free to leave some comments re: what you've liked or disliked from the past year, and what you would like to see in future. Kia Kaha.

My EuroCrime reviews

The indefatigable Karen Meek of the excellent EuroCrime website has been at it again - making more improvements to what is already a terrific resource for crime fiction fans around the globe.

For those of you that aren't yet familiar with EuroCrime, it is a site for fans and would-be fans of British and European crime fiction. It includes both British and other European crime fiction writers (that have been published in English) as well as non-European born authors who are strongly associated with European crime fiction (eg. Donna Leon). Euro Crime reviews the latest books and its other features include a comprehensive bibliography section, a summary of upcoming titles, author websites, details of events, links to newspaper reviews, crime fiction award results and a regular competition.

It's a fantastic website, and a must-visit for any keen crime fiction fan.

One of the improvements Karen Meek has made recently is a list of reviews by reviewer. I have sporadically reviewed for EuroCrime, and you can see a list of my reviews for EuroCrime thusfar, and click through to the reviews themselves, here.

Yes, it's a rather meagre tally at the moment compared to some of the other fantastic EuroCrime reviewers (and there is no way I will ever catch the relentless Maxine Clarke - I started counting her reviews and gave up after I was at 40-something and still in the 'Cs'), but hopefully I will add more EuroCrime reviews over time. There are already a couple more pending, and there are some fantastic European authors waiting to be read on my TBR bookshelves.

In the meantime, swing by the site and have a look around. It'll be worth your while.