Five Prime Picks for the Marsh Prize

It’s Monday morning in New Zealand, time to announce the shortlist of nominees for the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. Arranged alphabetically by their authors’ names, the contenders are:

• Five Minutes Alone, by Paul Cleave (Penguin NZ)
• The Petticoat Men, by Barbara Ewing (Head of Zeus)
• Swimming in the Dark, by Paddy Richardson (Upstart Press)
• The Children’s Pond, by Tina Shaw (Pointer Press)
• Fallout, by Paul Thomas (Upstart Press)

To quote from a press release sent out by judging convenor Craig Sisterson: “The shortlist contains a diverse range of styles and stories, but each book melds page-turning entertainment with an undercurrent of deeper issues that go the very heart of our communities and society.” As one of this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award judges (a post I’ve also held for the last couple of years), I naturally have one favorite among the five finalists, though I won’t express my bias as yet. It is a strong list, pared down from an original list of nine books.

The winner is scheduled to be declared during a special WORD Christchurch event in late September.

A hearty congratulations to all of the nominees!