Recently at Newtown Library we had the rare opportunity to hear four fabulous crime writers in full flow talking about their work, when the Ngaio Marsh Awards in association with Wellington City Libraries invited booklovers to an unmissable crime and thriller evening as part of the build-up to the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
It was a fabulous night, and although this very special event has now passed into the annals of history, we were very lucky to have permission from all the authors and the Ngaio Marsh Awards to film the proceedings. It’s now our pleasure to present that recording for your enjoyment further below.
The event featured two Ngaio Marsh Award winners, one finalist and one of the hottest debut crime writers around. The very special guest panel (pictured together above) featured:
Nick Davies — debut author and actor, and a native Wellingtonian whose 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 was very luckily back in Wellington and able to come along.
Kim Hunt — author of The Quarry, and 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 wonderful 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 Ngaio Marsh award’s 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.
We wish to extend our most heartfelt thanks to authors Nick Davies, Kim Hunt, Jennifer Lane, Charity Norman, as well as Craig Sisterson at the Ngaio Marsh Awards for making this very special event happen.
You can now view the video below, or visit our You Tube channel:
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.
