The Ngaio Marsh Awards, in association with Wellington City Libraries, invites booklovers to an unmissable crime and thriller event coming up, as part of the build up to the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
The event features two Ngaio Marsh Award winners, one finalist and one of the hottest debut crime writers around!
When: Friday 22 March 6.00 – 7.00pm
Where: Newtown Library
Villainous Newtown Ngaio Marsh Awards Facebook Event
This is a free event, featuring:
Debut author and 2024 entrant Nick Davies, author of El Flamingo
Ngaio Marsh Best First Novel finalist and 2024 entrant Kim Hunt, author of The Quarry
Ngaio Marsh Best First Novel winner Jennifer Lane, author of Miracle
and, rounding this incredible panel off:
Ngaio Marsh Best Novel winner 2023 Charity Norman, author of Remember Me
More info about the panellists:
Debut author and actor Nick Davies is a native Wellingtonian and his already-acclaimed debut sunset noir novel, El Flamingo, is a very popular 2024 Ngaio entrant. Nick usually lives in Mexico, the setting of his fabulous debut book, but we are fortunate he is back at the moment for a short period of time.
Kim Hunt, author of The Quarry, is a 2024 Ngaio entrant and previous finalist. Kim was also recently named runner-up for the PRIDE Award for emerging LGBTQIA+ writers, sponsored by US-based organisation Sisters in Crime.
Jennifer Lane, author of Miracle, is a copywriter, short story writer, and author. Her short stories have been published in journals and magazines in New Zealand and Australia. Jennifer’s debut novel, All our secrets, won the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel.
Charity Norman, winner of the 2023 Best Novel Award for Remember Me, is the author of seven novels, including World Book Night title, After the Fall, and is a past Ngaio Marsh Awards finalist for See you in September and The Secrets of Strangers. Born in Uganda, Charity worked as a lawyer in northern England before immigrating to New Zealand in 2002.
So why not join us for an exciting evening of criminally good conversation featuring four of the best writers around?
Below is a selection of titles from the authors involved available to borrow from the library:
El Flamingo / Davies, Nick
“With no role in sight and nothing to lose, actor Lou Galloway heads to Mexico to drown his sorrows. After a mezcal too many, he is mistaken for a rogue assassin known as El Flamingo. Before he can decide whether he wants to find a way out, he is enthralled by Maria-Carla, an enigmatic beauty with incredible perfume and swept into the dangerous world of Latin-American espionage. From Mariachi weddings to Colombian salsa bars, Lou discovers only one choice. To achieve his destiny, he must assume the identity of El Flamingo.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Miracle / Lane, Jennifer
“Born in the middle of Australia’s biggest-ever earthquake, Miracle is fourteen when her world crumbles. Thanks to her dad’s new job at Compassionate Cremations — which falls under suspicion for Boorunga’s spate of sudden deaths — the entire town turns against their family. She fears for her agoraphobic mother, and for her angelic, quake-damaged brother, Julian. When Oli plays a cruel trick on Miracle, he sets off a chain of devastating events. Then her dad is arrested for a brutal attack. How can she convince the town of her dad’s innocence?” ( Adapted from Catalogue)
All our secrets / Lane, Jennifer
“A girl called Gracie. A small town called Coongahoola with the dark Bagooli River running through it. The Bleeders – hundreds of ‘Believers’ who set up on the banks of the river, who start to buy up the town and win souls. The River Children – born in the aftermath of the infamous River Picnic. They begin to go missing, one after another. Gracie Barrett is the naively savvy spokesperson for her chaotic family (promiscuous dad, angry mum, twins Lucky and Grub, Elijah the River Child and fervent, prayerful Grandma Bett), for the kids who are taken, for the lurking fear that locks down the town and puts everyone under suspicion…” (Adapted from Catalogue)
The quarry / Hunt, Kim (eBook)
For further information, read about The Quarry on Kim’s website
“Life on the margins just got a whole lot scarier. Ranger Cal Nyx works alone in the vast NSW bush reserves but is pulled away from the quiet and solitude by a coded message that only one other person could understand. Dif, the only remaining link to her family, is in danger. He’s also the last person the police are going to take seriously. No stranger to the complications of Dif’s life, and with her femme MIA interstate, Cal burns rubber up and down a lonely coastline, calling in favours from her unique contacts to intercept a relentless killer. Are Cal’s skills, badass bravado and risky schemes enough to bring a single-minded murderer out of the shadows? Can she save the one and only person who truly gets her?” (Catalogue)
Remember Me, Charity Norman (ebook)
A heartfelt, page-turning suspense novel from the bestselling author of The Secrets of Strangers – ideal reading-group fiction, perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult and Liane Moriarty.
Also available as a Physical copy.
The secrets of strangers / Norman, Charity
“Five strangers, one cafe – and the day that everything changed. A regular weekday morning veers drastically off-course for a group of strangers whose paths cross in a London cafe – their lives never to be the same again when an apparently crazed gunman holds them hostage. But there is more to the situation than first meets the eye and as the captives grapple with their own inner demons, the line between right and wrong starts to blur. Will the secrets they keep stop them from escaping with their lives?” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.
