Name: Deadly in Devonport - Mystery in the Library
Start: 2026-05-06T08:30:00+12:00
Location: Devonport Library (Devonport)

Deadly in Devonport - Mystery in the Library

Do you enjoy mysteries and thrills? In May, the popular Mystery in the Library series returns to Devonport, for a thrilling evening of criminally good conversation with SIX talented Kiwi writers.
Long-time Ngaio Marsh Awards judge Stephanie Jones chairs a fun and fascinating storytelling panel with past Ngaios Best Novel winner Charity Norman, visiting from the Hawke's Bay, along with 2026 Ockhams longlistee Bryan Walpert, renowned screenwriter and past Ngaios finalist Gavin Strawhan, and with kids mystery writers Lauren Middleton and Hannah Tunnicliffe
WHEN: Wednesday, 6 May 2025
WHERE: Devonport Library, 2 Victoria Road, Devonport
WHEN: 6.30pm
Free entry.
Lauren is a writer, social media manager, actress, and world-traveller who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau. As the National Youth Representative of the New Zealand Society of Authors, Lauren is passionate about fostering a community of young writers who can survive and thrive in an ever-changing publishing landscape. Her bestselling first junior fiction book, PIPPA AND THE SHEEP SNATCHERS made the Whitcoulls Kids Top 50 book list for 2026.
Charity is a Hawke's Bay writer who was born in Uganda and worked as a lawyer in northern England before immigrating to Aotearoa in 2002. Her novel AFTER THE FALL was a World Book Night title. Her seventh book, REMEMBER ME, won the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. Her latest, HOME TRUTHS, is a thriller about the impact of online conspiracy theories.
Gavin is an award-winning writer, producer, and showrunner of many NZ and international television shows. Originally from Australia, he was Shortland Street’s first script editor and head writer, and co-created hit local shows Go Girls and Nothing Trivial. He was also showrunner of mystery thriller This Is Not My Life, and Aussie crime drama Hyde & Seek. Gavin's debut novel THE CALL won the 2023 Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize, and was a Ngaios finalist. His second novel, SLASH, is published on 5 May 2026.
Hannah is an Auckland author of several books for kids and adults, including trilingual picture book MARJORY AND THE MOUSE. Her domestic noir THE POOL has been described as "Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap with an added whodunnit layer". She is also the co-creator of the Detective Stanley graphic mysteries for kids, with the second in that series, DETECTIVE STANLEY AND THE GREEN THUMBED THIEF, published in early 2026.
Bryan is a poet, fiction writer, literary scholar, essayist, and editor who has published ten books. His novel ENTANGLEMENT was shortlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards. His new novel EMPATHY has been described as “fiction of the highest order” (Lloyd Jones) and “a superbly plotted thriller” (Cristina Sanders), and was longlisted for the 2026 Ockham NZ Book Awards.
Stephanie is an editor, writer of non-fiction, and an experienced senior communication specialist. She has been a long-time judge of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, has chaired many Mystery in the Library and other book events, been a judge of the NZ Booklovers Awards, and for several years was a book reviewer for Coast FM radio station.