Thanks to our good friends at the Verb Festival, on Sunday 11 September 2022 at 7:00pm there is a rare opportunity to see some of the biggest names in the crime firmament as they swing into Wellington. It’s for one night only and tickets are selling out fast.
The event includes The Queen Of Crime herself, Val McDermid, whose novels have sold more than 16 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages worldwide. Val will be accompanied on stage by no less than multi-award-winning Michael Robotham, whose Joseph O’Loughlin series has been a worldwide smash hit, bestseller and is currently being adapted for the screen. Rotorua-born J.P. Pomare, whose debut novel Call Me Evie won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, and whose second book In the Clearing will soon grace our screens via Disney+. And Wellington’s very own multi-award-winning author Brannavan Gnanalingam will be hosting. Each author is a star in their own right, and the evening promises to be unmissable for all crime and thriller fans.
Verb Wellington have very kindly given us one pair of tickets for this very special event to give away as a prize. To be in with a chance of winning, comment your favourite Val McDermid, Michael Robotham or J.P. Pomare novel on our Instagram post here. The competition winner will be drawn on Sunday 4 September and will be contacted directly from our Instagram account.
To whet your appetite, below is a specially-recorded WCL interview with Val McDermid .
The Verb festival also includes some very special events with the amazing Sarah Winman on 15 September, and Mohamad Hassan on 29 September. Find full details of the Verb festival here.
1989 / McDermid, Val
“It’s 1989 and Allie Burns is back. Older and maybe wiser, she’s running the northern news operation of the Sunday Globe, chafing at losing her role in investigative journalism and at the descent into the gutter of the UK tabloid media. But there’s plenty to keep her occupied.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
1979 / McDermid, Val
“1979. It is the winter of discontent, and reporter Allie Burns is chasing her first big scoop. There are few women in the newsroom and she needs something explosive for the boys’ club to take her seriously. Soon Allie and fellow journalist Danny Sullivan are exposing the criminal underbelly of respectable Scotland. They risk making powerful enemies – and Allie won’t stop there. When she discovers a home-grown terrorist threat, Allie comes up with a plan to infiltrate the group and make her name. But she’s a woman in a man’s world… and putting a foot wrong could be fatal.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Lying beside you / Robotham, Michael
“Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven’s family was murdered. Only he and his brother survived. Cyrus because he hid. Elias because he was the killer. Now Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric hospital and Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, must decide if he can forgive the man who destroyed his childhood. As he prepares for the homecoming, Cyrus is called to a crime scene in Nottingham. A man is dead and his daughter, Maya, is missing…” (Adapted from Catalogue)
When you are mine / Robotham, Michael
“Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds and become a promising young officer with the Metropolitan Police despite being the daughter of a notorious London gangster. Called to the scene of a domestic assault one day, she rescues a bloodied young woman, Tempe Brown, the mistress of a decorated detective. The incident is hushed up, but Phil has unwittingly made a dangerous enemy with powerful friends. Determined to protect each other, the two women strike up a tentative friendship. Tempe is thoughtful and sweet and makes herself indispensable to Phil, but sinister things keep happening and something isn’t quite right about the stories Tempe tells…” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Call me Evie / Pomare, J. P.
“Meet Evie, a young woman held captive by a man named Jim in the isolated New Zealand beach town of Maketu. Jim says he’s hiding Evie to protect her, that she did something terrible back home in Melbourne. In a house that creaks against the wind, Evie begins to piece together her fractured memories of the events that led her here. Jim says he’s keeping her safe. Evie’s not sure she can trust Jim, but can she trust her own memories?” (Adapted from Catalogue)
In the clearing / Pomare, J. P.
“Amy has only ever known what life is like in the Clearing. She knows what’s expected of her. She knows what to do to please her elders, and how to make sure life in the community remains happy and calm. That is, until a new young girl joins the group. She isn’t fitting in; she doesn’t want to stay. What happens next will turn life as Amy knows it on its head. Freya has gone to great lengths to feel like a ‘normal person’. In fact, if you saw her go about her day with her young son, you’d think she was an everyday mum. That is, until a young girl goes missing and someone from her past, someone she hasn’t seen for a very long time, arrives in town…” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Slow down, you’re here / Gnanalingam, Brannavan
“Kavita is stuck in a dead-end marriage, and is juggling parenting two small kids while also being the family’s main breadwinner. When an old flame offers a week away in Waiheke, she agonises but decides to accept. When she steps onto the ferry she knows she has left her family behind – but she’s not sure for how long.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Sprigs / Gnanalingam, Brannavan
“It is Saturday afternoon and two boys’ schools are locked in battle for college rugby supremacy. Priya – a fifteen year old who barely belongs – watches from the sidelines. Then it is Saturday night and the team is partying. Priya’s friends have evaporated and she isn’t sure what to do. In the weeks after ‘the incident’ life seems to go on. But when whispers turn to confrontation, the institutions of wealth and privilege circle the wagons.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
