U is for UNCERTAIN QUEST by Elizabeth Messenger

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.

This week I’m highlighting another lesser-known New Zealand mystery novel from decades past, UNCERTAIN QUEST by Elizabeth Messenger.

UNCERTAIN QUEST is set in the scenic Fiordland region of New Zealand, which is near the bottom of the South Island. High in the forbidding mountains a man named Grant has died in what was reported to have been an accident. However his widow, Lalia Grant, felt there was some mystery behind the accident and she flew across the world to discover the truth, certain that it would only be found at the scene of the tragedy. The first shock came when she arrived at the Palmer homestead to find her hostess murdered. Lalia immediately realised that someone wished the truth to remain hidden and that someone who had already committed murder would not hesitate to do so again.

Lalia, with her life in constant danger, continues her search for information but, when she finally discovers who murdered Vera Palmer, there awaits her a surprise that is to change the whole course of her life.

UNCERTAIN QUEST was published in hardcover in the UK in 1965 by Robert Hale, and is now only available via libraries and some second-hand dealers. It is a real shame that Messenger’s crime writing, which received good reviews in the UK on publication, has now been forgotten by New Zealanders. I’ve managed to source several of her crime novels, and I’m looking forward to reading them, and seeing how Messenger evokes 1950s-1960s rural New Zealand, and whether her characters and storylines stand up decades later.

Like most Kiwi writers of the time, and many of the 'genre' writers in much more recent times, Messenger was published by an overseas publisher (Robert Hale in London). "Elizabeth Messenger’s novels, once popular enough to be serialised and translated into other languages, are now difficult to obtain," says DNZB. I've certainly found that - even after trawling through countless online and real-life second-hand bookstores, and regularly searching the Internet and other resources as part of my unofficial research into New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller writing, I only found out about her fairly recently. I have managed to source several of her books, but it's been a battle.From what I can gather, Messenger wrote at least nine crime/thriller novels in the 1950s/1960s, in addition to her journalism and cookery writing. They are:

• MURDER STALKS THE BAY


• MATERIAL WITNESS


• DIVE DEEP FOR DEATH


• LIGHT ON MURDER


• THE WRONG WAY TO DIE


• A HEAP OF TROUBLE


• YOU WON'T NEED A COAT


• PUBLICITY FOR MURDER; and


• GOLDEN DAWNS THE SUN.

Not a bad output, and it makes it even more remarkable - especially given our purported dearth of crime and thriller writers (other than Dame Ngaio Marsh) pre-1990 - that we seem to have almost completely forgotten about her. Just goes to underline that popular perception (eg New Zealand doesn't have much of a crime fiction history) is not necessarily reality.

What do you think of my 'U' choice? Have you ever heard of Elizabeth Messenger, or read any of her books (crime or otherwise)? Do you like reading older crime novels that are out of print, to see how ‘things have changed’ or to enjoy a different style? And what is it about the smell of old hardcover books? Comments welcome.

Crime Fiction Alphabet: D is for DIVE DEEP FOR DEATH

Now fully caught up in relation to the fantastic Crime Fiction Alphabet series created and run by my fellow Anzac and book blogger Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise - I'm raring to go at the start of this 'D' week.

For those who've been rock-sheltering, the Crime Fiction Alphabet is a great series where each week crime fiction bloggers from around the world write about a notable crime fiction novel or author (first name or surname) starting with a particular letter of the alphabet, all linking to each other.

You can read the 27 posts from my 2010 effort (I did two posts for one letter), here. Last year I included 11 posts relating to New Zealand crime writers or crime novels. Not a bad strike-rate, in terms of highlighting Kiwi crime fiction to the world.

As I said last week, I've now decided that I am going to this year set myself the very 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 you will get a review or profile of more than 26 Kiwi crime/thriller novels over the course of this series (given that some weeks I'll feature multiple books, like the 'B' post which had five Bs over three book titles).

This week, for the letter 'D', I've decided to dig back into the Kiwi crime and thriller fiction past, peeling back the decades to feature a book by a somewhat forgotten author, Elizabeth Messenger, who wrote several New Zealand-set thrillers back in the 1950s and 1960s. Niftily for 'D' week, the book I'm going to focus on is called DIVE DEEP FOR DEATH (3Ds).

DIVE DEEP FOR DEATH (Robert Hale, 1959) was Messenger's third crime thriller novel. "What was the secret of the Takaka Hills which Brendan Burch took to his death? Was that death an accident? Who were the people gathering back at the scene and what were there particular interests? Who was the beautiful girl who kenw so much about Alistair Alleyn, a complete stranger in a strange country? Did the answers to all these queries lie hidden in the heart of a marble mountain from which an icy underground torrent gushed forth?

These were just a few of the riddles Alleyn had to solve almost as soon as he landed in New Zealand, a country he had chosen at random in an attempt to forget his past and the fact that he had ever been a doctor. He was not allowed to escae, however, but was foreced to perform the strangest and most terrible operation of his life, besides risking injury and death himself, before he discovered the answers.

Messenger was a journalist, cookery writer, and crime novelist (you can read a full bio here) born in the Coromandel in 1908. According to the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Messenger's thrillers, "which she produced at the rate of one or two a year from 1958, were set in tourist spots such as the Marlborough Sounds (Murder stalks the bay), Lake Taupo (Material witness) and the Bay of Islands (A heap of trouble)."

DIVE DEEP FOR DEATH is set in Takaka, at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. This is also a nice tourist/holiday area - and another thing that drew me to this book, since I grew up 'just down the road' in Nelson. I visited Takaka Hill several times as a youngster - I remember looking forward to the Ngarua Caves on the hill, though dreading the drive over it when we holidayed at lovely beaches in Golden Bay.

Like most Kiwi writers of the time, and many of the 'genre' writers in much more recent times, Messenger was published by an overseas publisher (Robert Hale in London). "Elizabeth Messenger’s novels, once popular enough to be serialised and translated into other languages, are now difficult to obtain," says DNZB.

I've certainly found that - even after trawling through countless online and real-life second-hand bookstores, and regularly searching the Internet and other resources as part of my unofficial research into New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller writing, I only found out about her fairly recently. I have managed to source several of her books, but it's been a battle.

From what I can gather, Messenger wrote at least nine crime/thriller novels in the 1950s/1960s, in addition to her journalism and cookery writing. They are:

• MURDER STALKS THE BAY
• MATERIAL WITNESS
• DIVE DEEP FOR DEATH
• LIGHT ON MURDER
• THE WRONG WAY TO DIE
• A HEAP OF TROUBLE
• YOU WON'T NEED A COAT
• PUBLICITY FOR MURDER; and
• GOLDEN DAWNS THE SUN.

Not a bad output, and it makes it even more remarkable - especially given our purported dearth of crime and thriller writers (other than Dame Ngaio Marsh) pre-1990 - that we seem to have almost completely forgotten about her. Just goes to underline that popular perception (eg New Zealand doesn't have much of a crime fiction history) is not necessarily reality.

What do you think of my 'D' choice? Have you ever heard of Elizabeth Messenger, or read any of her books (crime or otherwise)? Do you like reading crime novels from different eras, eg actually written back in the 1950s, 1960s etc - not just set then? Comments welcome.

Forgotten Kiwi crime writer: V. Merle Grayland

As I noted last month, and some of you would no doubt have already been aware of, for some time now I have been gradually searching out lesser-known Kiwi crime, mystery and thriller writers from both modern times and days gone by (and where possible, acquiring some of their books).

It has been quite a surprising journey, especially as I have come across several lesser-known or otherwise forgotten Kiwi writers who produced several crime novels in their time. Many were even quite popular, but have now been largely (completely?) forgotten

Regular readers may recall the completely unexpected comments and happenings that eventuated after I stumbled across the works of Wellington writer Laurie Mantell (five Steve Arrow murder mysteries, 1978-1984, plus a standalone in the lates 1990s) earlier this year.

I have also previously touched on the likes of Freda Bream (who while retired published 13 murder mysteries starring the Rev Jabal Jarrett between 1982-1997), Edmund Bohan (who wrote five historic Inspector O'Rorke novels between 1996-2003), Carol Dawber (who wrote three Top of the South-set mysteries around the same period), and Elizabeth Messenger (who wrote at least nine crime thrillers that I know of, in the 1950s-1960s).

Another such forgotten Kiwi crime writer I recently 'discovered' thanks to the back cover of an old circa 1960s Elizabeth Messenger hardcover, is V. Merle Grayland. According to the sleeve of the copy of THE GRAVE-DIGGER'S APPRENTICE that I've managed to acquire:

"Valerie Merle Grayland was born in the old New Zealand gold-mining town of Thames. She has been writing since she was seven, when her first short story was published in the children's page of a newspaper. She had had numerous short stories and articles published and for a time concentrated on humourous writing. She is married to a New Zealand journalist and author, Eugene C. Grayland and together they run a small private press as a hobby; the Colenso Press, named after one of New Zealand's pioneer printers, William Colenso. She also enjoys reading, gardening and cats, but most of all seeing New Zealand."

It seems that as well as writing other books under her name Valerie Grayland, Valerie also collaborated with her husband Eugene on some New Zealand non fiction geography/history style books focused on the region where she live das well, eg TARAWERA, HISTORIC COROMANDEL, and COROMANDEL COAST.

In terms of her crime fiction, the 'blurb' for THE GRAVE-DIGGER'S APPRENTICE, which was published by London's Robert Hale and New Zealand's Whitcombe & Tombs in 1964, says:

"What was wrong with the lanky Benny Meer? What was he frightened of and why was he so interested in death? Why did he haunt cemeteries asking questions about a grave that did not seem to exist? And who put the poison in the pie - and why? Maori Detective Hoani Mata and his old friend, Inspector Plimsoll, seek the answers to these and other puzzling questions in a crime investigation with an unusual angle to it. Although The Grave-Digger's Apprentice was a name given in jest it proved to have a sinister double meaning in this New Zealand double murder case."

According to the inside flap, V. Merle Grayland wrote at least two other crime thrillers:

• THE DEAD MEN OF EDEN
• NIGHT OF THE REAPER

I've also seen mentioned elsewhere on the Internet a book called JEST OF DARKNESS by V. Merle Grayland, so it seems Valerie Grayland wrote at least four crime thrillers under this semi-pseudonym.

Have any of you heard of V (Valerie) Merle Grayland? Read any of her work, crime fiction or otherwise? Do you like stumbling over long-forgotten crime writers? Seeing the difference between crime writing then and now? And what is it about the smell of old books? Thoughts and comments welcome.