Ngaio Marsh Award giveaway - and the winner is...

Over the past few weeks here on Crime Watch, the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page, and elsewhere, we have been running a giveaway where one lucky reader, from anywhere in the world, would win all eight of the longlisted Kiwi-written crime/thriller novels eligible for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

It was great to see a very good number of entries rolling in, from several countries around the world, considering there was a bit of a hurdle to entry: taking a photo of yourself reading a New Zealand-written crime, mystery, thriller or suspense novel. You can see many of the entries in the "Reading Kiwi Crime Fiction" photo album on the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. It's interesting to see which books and authors cropped up the most too. Vanda Symon and Paul Cleave were particularly popular, but others such as Neil Cross, Ngaio Marsh, Alix Bosco and Donna Malane all had multiple representations too.

The draw was made on Saturday, the day before the Setting the Stage for Murder event in Christchurch (and presentation of the award to Paul Cleave for BLOOD MEN), and I'm very pleased to announce the winner is: Lisa Smith of Northcote, New Zealand, who took a photo of herself reading Paula Morris's HIBISCUS COAST (see above). Congratulations Lisa - your fantastic prize pack is on its way to you.

When the random draw picked out Lisa's photo, I did have to chuckle a little - because that was the only entry that surprised me when it came in, in terms of the books people were reading. I'd never realised that Paula Morris had written a thriller - but on closer inspection HIBISCUS COAST is a tale revolving around art forgery and a heroine on the run from dangerous people, so there you go.

You learn something new... as they say. I'll have to add the book to my bibliographical list (see above).

Congratulations to Lisa. For everyone else, thanks so much for sending your entries in. Keep your eyes peeled for another giveaway in the very near future. And in the meantime, if you're on Facebook, head to the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page and click 'like', if you haven't already. Thanks.

Win a set of the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award longlisted novels!

Crime fiction readers around the world now have the chance to go into the draw to win a full set of all EIGHT crime, mystery, and thriller novels longlisted for the upcoming 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award.

This prize is open worldwide, and is a terrific line-up of crime and thriller fiction, with the eight longlisted titles offering a diverse range of writing styles, settings, protagonists, and storytelling. Early comments from the international judging panel, which has been "impressed" by the calibre of New Zealand crime fiction in the running this year, include "such good books, but all so different", and "NZ is such a rich environment for writing... there should be a way to spread the news about these fine authors".

Now you have a chance to try for yourself the entire line-up that has been impressing the Ngaio Marsh Award judging panel. You can enter the prize draw simply by emailing a photo of yourself reading any New Zealand crime, mystery, or thriller title - contemporary or from days gone by - to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. The book in your picture doesn't have to be set in New Zealand, as long as the author is associated with New Zealand (lives in New Zealand, was born or grew up in New Zealand, etc).

So whether it's a well-loved copy of a Ngaio Marsh, Laurie Mantell, or Paul Thomas novel that's been sitting on your bookshelf for years, or a brand new New Zealand crime novel you've recently picked up from a bookstore or library, grab your camera, take a smiling photo of yourself with the book, and send it to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com.

If you need some inspiration when it comes to finding an eligbile, mystery, or thriller novel to read and photograph, check out this list of more than 80 authors and more than 250 titles here.

Photos will be displayed on the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page, which you can visit and 'like' here.

The winner of the competition will be randomly drawn from the entered photos, and announced just prior to the presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award on 21 August 2011.

Best of luck, and happy snapping.