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The Ngaio Marsh Awards, in association with the Wairarapa Library Service, invites booklovers to a thrilling korero with five talented Kiwi storytellers to celebrate legendary Golden Age Queen of Crime Dame Ngaio Marsh's 130th birthday. Crime writing has come a long way since the days of Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh (who set a handful of her popular Inspector Alleyn tales among Aotearoa's landscapes), shifting from puzzling entertainments to modern tales that range from brainteasing classic murder mysteries to dark serial killer tales and novels that delve deeply into people, places, and psychology.
To celebrate Dame Ngaio's 130th birthday, for the first time the Mystery in the Library series will be coming to Carterton, with past Ngaios Best First Novel finalist Kim Hunt chairing a fascinating discussion with academic and true crime writer James Hollings, local Wairarapa thriller writers Melissa Buck and
Rosy Fenwicke, and past Ngaios Best Novel winner Paul Thomas, aka ‘the Godfather of Modern New Zealand Crime Writing’.
WHEN: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
WHERE: Carterton Library, 50 Holloway Street, Carterton
WHEN: 6pm doors open for a 6.15pm panel discussion
Free entry. Light refreshments provided.
James is Associate Professor of Journalism at Massey University, Wellington. With award-winning investigative journalist Kirsty Johnston he co-wrote THE CREWE MURDERS, a reexamination of Aotearoa's most infamous cold case: the murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970, and subsequent wrongful conviction and pardon of Arthur Allan Thomas and royal commission into police corruption.
Melissa Buck is the pen name of a local Wairarapa author of domestic psychological thrillers centred on people with morally questionable values. She has previously worked as a flight attendant, in corporate relations, in recruitment, and run a popular local cake making business. Under another name Melissa has written Amazon bestselling women's fiction and romance novels. Her first psychological thriller is ALL THEIR SINS.
Paul is an award-winning novelist and columnist who lives in the Wairarapa. Along with his groundbreaking series featuring Detective Tito Ihaka, which won Australia's inaugurals Ned Kelly Award in the mid 1990s and our Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in the 2010s, he's written extensively on sport, including book collaborations with All Blacks legends John Kirwan and Tana Umaga, and former NZ cricket captain John Wright. Paul is considered "the Godfather of modern New Zealand crime fiction".
Rosy is a retired doctor and Amazon bestselling novelist who lives in Martinborough. Her first book, IN PRACTICE, examined the lives of women doctors in the 21st century. She has since published a cosy mystery series, a family drama centred on a female undertaker, and cryptocurrency thriller COLD WALLET. Her latest novel, DIRE TRAITS, is the fifth in her Euphemia Sage Chronicles.
Kim is a Kapiti Coast writer whose short stories have been published in a variety of anthologies and literary journals. She has a Masters in Creative Writing and previously worked as a band roadie, DJ, tiler, horticulturalist and women’s refuge worker. Her debut THE BEAUTIFUL DEAD introduced NSW park ranger Cal Nyx and became a Ngaios Best First Novel finalist. The sequel was longlisted for Best Novel. Kim's latest novel is THE FREEZER.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Carterton Events Centre, 50 Holloway St, Carterton 5713, New Zealand,Parkvale, New Zealand, Clareville
