Ngaios Champs Named

OK, I guess my late-summer break is finally over. Today brings word of which books and authors have won New Zealand’s 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards. There were three categories of nominees this year.

Best Novel: Ritual of Fire, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)

Also nominated: Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin); The Caretaker, by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins); Pet, by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press); Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White); Going Zero, by Anthony McCarten (Macmillan); and Expectant, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

Best First Novel: Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)

Also nominated: El Flamingo, by Nick Davies (YBK); Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White); A Better Class of Criminal. by Cristian Kelly (Cristian Kelly); and Mama Suzuki: Private Eye, by Simon Rowe (Penguin)

Best Kids/YA: Miracle, by Jennifer Lane (Cloud Ink Press)

Also nominated: Caged, by Susan Brocker (Scholastic); Katipo Joe: Wolf’s Lair, by Brian Falkner (Scholastic); Nikolai’s Quest, by Diane Robinson (Rose & Fern); and Nor’east Swell, by Aaron Topp (One Tree House)

A press release quotes Ngaios founder Craig Sisterson as saying, “I’m stoked we have a special award this year recognising writers of crime, mystery, and thriller tales for younger readers. Many of us owe any lifelong passion for books, and all the good that comes along with that, to the children’s authors we read when we were youngsters ourselves. Aotearoa has amazing kids authors, across many genres. In future we plan to award our Best Kids/YA Book prize biennially, alternating with our Best Non-fiction prize that returns in 2025.”

This year’s prize recipients were announced during a special event at the WORD Christchurch Festival. The Ngaios are named in honor of Dame Ngaio Marsh, the creator of “gentleman detective” Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Lists of previous recipients can be found here.