Kiwi Crime Standouts

Organizers of New Zealand’s annual Ngaio Marsh Awards for crime fiction have announced their longlist of nominees for the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, as follows:

• Shadow of Doubt, by S.L. Beaumont (Paperback Writers)
• Trust Me, I’m Dead, by Sherryl Clark (Verve)
• Whatever It Takes, by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press)
• One Single Thing, by Tina Clough (Lightpool)
• Girl from the Tree House, by Gudrun Frerichs (Self-published)
• Auē, by Becky Manawatu (Mākaro Press)
• The Nancys, by R.W.R. McDonald (Allen & Unwin)
• Hide, by S.J. Morgan (MidnightSun)
• The Great Divide, by L.J.M. Owen (Echo)
• In the Clearing, by J.P. Pomare (Hachette New Zealand)
• The Wild Card, by Renée (Cuba Press)
• A Madness of Sunshine, by Nalini Singh (Hachette New Zealand)

“Tenth anniversary, 11th season—however you term it, our wee award we began back in 2010 is hurtling towards the teenage years now,” writes judging convener Craig Sisterson on Facebook. “Great to see Kiwi crime writing flourishing, and the broad range of authors, settings, and styles making up our take on the genre. The ladies are taking over a bit this year, with nine of the 12 novels on the longlist written by women, and two of the others featuring female protagonists too. Plenty of playing with crime-fiction tropes and upturning ideas about rescued/rescuer and other things. Really cool to see so many fresh voices and first-time entrants.”

Sisterson adds that “The finalists for the 2020 Ngaios (in both the Best Novel and Best First Novel categories) will be announced later this year, with the authors celebrated and the winners revealed at a special event at the WORD Christchurch Festival to be held from 29 October to 1 November 2020.”

Congratulations to all of the contenders!