Paring Down the Competition

Tonight brings an announcement from New Zealand of the finalists for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. They are:

• Blood Men, by Paul Cleave (Random House)

• Captured, by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)

• Hunting Blind, by Paddy Richardson (Penguin)

• Slaughter Falls, by Alix Bosco (Penguin)

The longlist of eight nominees can be found here.

A news release, sent our way by journalist, book critic, and blogger Craig Sisterson, explains: “This year’s winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced at a ceremony at the conclusion of the ‘Setting the Stage for Murder’ event at the TelstraClear Club in North Hagley Park [in Christchurch, New Zealand] on the afternoon of Sunday 21 August 2011. New York Times bestselling international crime writers Tess Gerritsen and John Hart will also be appearing at the event. The winner will receive a distinctive handcrafted trophy designed and created by New Zealand sculptor and Unitec art lecturer Gina Ferguson, a set of Ngaio Marsh novels courtesy of HarperCollins, and a cheque for $1,000 provided by the Christchurch Writers Festival Trust.”

Congratulations to all four nominees!