Feeling thankful

With Crime in the Spotlight-er Allison Meldrum, Belinda Bauer
 and Elly Griffiths after our terrific Bloody Scotland event

Craig every second Tuesday.

Kia ora and gidday everyone, I hope you’ve all been enjoying some fabulous reads as we hurtle towards the holiday season and new year, whether new books or older ones. 

There are so many good and great crime and thriller fiction tales out there, including several terrific fresh voices that have joined the genre we love in 2025; plenty of cool authors to discover as well as enjoying old favourites.

THE VANISHING PLACE alongside some award-winning
Kiwi crime debuts, in Waterstones in London. 

An example: recently I read an outstanding debut from Scottish-Kiwi author Zoë Rankin, The Vanishing Place, a thriller which takes readers deep into the rugged, deadly magnificence of the New Zealand bush. It’s a compelling, atmospheric tale set on the ‘wild West Coast’ of Zoë's adopted homeland’s South Island, entwined with smalltown secrets, past sins, atypical upbringings, and religious fervour. An exceptionally strong sense of people and place. 

I got to meet Zoë several years ago at Rotorua Noir, our first-ever New Zealand international crime and thriller writing festival (sadly, our only one thusfar - due to COVID killing the planned sequel in 2021). A aspiring crime novelist, Zoë won a short story competition we ran, and was able to read her story onstage before our local and international authors and attendees, including Guests of Honour Alex Gray (Scotland), Kati Hiekkapelto (Finland), Lilja Sigurðardóttir (Iceland), and Michael Robotham (Australia). 

So it's terrific to see Zoë's debut hit shelves late this year - and even more so, for it to be so bloody good. Last week it was included in the Washington Post's Best Books of the Year lists, in some very fine crime thriller company including SA Cosby and Laura Lippman. I really loved both of Shawn and Laura's books too this year, King of Ashes and Murder Takes A Vacation. Very different kinds of crime novels, but exceptionally written. 

It's strange to think that we're already at the 'Best of the Year' time of the year. Hasn’t 2025 flown by? 

So much going on in the world, but still plenty to be grateful for, including the enjoyment provided by – and sometimes transformative power of – books and reading. I've certainly felt that recently, with a few less-than-ideal thigs going on in terms of  few relative's health issues and workplace/financial pressures. Like going for a long walk, especially in nature, diving into a good book has a remarkable calming or recentring effect for me. 

nature - it's pretty cool, even on grey London days

Walking in London has been fun lately. While the weather has been very average at times (Kiwi euphemism), the autumn, or Fall for north American pals, leaves have been in vivid colour for several weeks. Though they've started to all go the last week or two, turning into 'skeleton trees' as my 10-year-old has called them since she was little. 

No matter what's going on in life I always feel better after a good walk, especially in nature. Plenty to be grateful for. 

On that note, on Thursday my many American friends will be celebrating Thanksgiving, a holiday we grow up in New Zealand hearing about through books, TV, and movies, but is not traditionally part of our annual holiday or celebrations calendar. Having said that, I did participate in a big Thanksgiving Dinner for more than a dozen people in New Zealand back in 2012, as I had an American flatmate (housemate or roommate for US pals) at the time. 

An Auckland Thanksgiving

My flatmate Leah had a good group of friends who were fellow ex-pats (Americas working in Auckland), who I'd met and hug out with a bit that year, and we ended up hosting. Somehow even though it was mainly her friends and their visiting relatives, guess who ended up having to cook the large turkey? The Kiwi guy. Fortunately thanks to some orange slices, butter and seasonings under the skin, and no doubt a fair bit of beginner’s luck, and we got there. 

Even though it’s not a traditional holiday for me or my family, I do really love the explicit ‘giving thanks’ element of Thanksgiving. Gratitude is a vital thing, especially in turbulent times. Like walking and reading, it can re-centre us. 

So in keeping with the season, I’m certainly very thankful – among some more personal things – for books and reading and the many unexpected opportunities a childhood love for the crime and thriller genre had grown into and has brought me over the years. Just in the past few months alone I’ve got to be involved onstage with some terrific festivals in England and Scotland, interviewing outstanding writers from several continents (some onstage in front of enthusiastic audiences, some backstage for magazines and newspapers). I've got to catch up with old friends and hang out with some cool new people, and even had a few readers kindly buy and ask me to sign copies of books I've written or edited, Southern Cross Crime (which came out in 2020 to some lovely reviews and later awards recognition but strangled distribution and a string of cancelled 

I'm still not used to signing books myself, but
it is kinda a cool feeling (Bloody Scotland)

events during the height of COVID), and our Dark Deeds Down Under anthologies of Australian and New Zealand crime and thriller short stories. 

I've got to chat with some other really cool authors from all over the world for podcasts, which in the last few weeks includes: fellow Kiwi RWR McDonald, whose superb Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel-winning debut, The Nancys and the Case of the Missing Necklace, was published in the UK last week; Icelandic star and fellow Rotorua Noir alumnus Lilja Sigurðardóttir, and the modern-day Queen of Crime herself, Val McDermid. 

I’ve also got to see, from afar, the Ngaio Marsh Awards, which I helped start in my home country of New Zealand back in 2010, recently celebrate its fifteenth anniversary at a fabulous event in Dame Ngaio’s hometown of Christchurch, complete with an improv murder mystery performed by a famous theatre group. It's been so cool to see New Zealand crime and thriller writing, aka #yeahnnoir, has grown in leaps and bounds since our awards began. I'm very grateful to everyone involved, as it has really been a passion project built on goodwill and the 'smell of a oily rag', as my Mum would say. I'm thankful for all our authors - both Kiwis and international authors who've read and supported our #yeahnoir storytellers and events, or even presented our awards in the case of the likes of Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Michael Robotham, and others. I'm grateful for all our judges who've given their time and expertise, all the libraries and librarians around the country who've hosted events, our long-time partners WORD Christchurch, and all the readers, critics, publishers, bloggers, media, and others who've embraced or spotlighted #yeahnoir. 

Kiwi authors Jared Savage, Claire Baylis, Denise Fitzpatrick
and Zoë Rankin at a Rotorua Mystery in the Library event

This year we also surpassed 120 free ‘Mystery in the Library’ events put on by the Ngaios for audiences all across Aotearoa (occasionally overseas) over the past decade, highlighting hundreds of local authors in local communities, and promoting the value of libraries to society. It's a fun full circle thing for me, given how much I loved libraries (my primary school and high school ones, and the local public library) growing up - I'd alternate my free time in the holidays between sports fields, home or friends' places, and the library as a youngster in Aotearoa.  The Ngaios were also sparked by visits in 2008 to two libraries thousands of miles apart, Vancouver and Papatoetoe. 

Christchurch City librarian Fiona with the first 
Dark Deeds Down Under anthology

I also worked on good chunks of both Southern Cross Crime and the first two Dark Deeds Down Under anthologies in a few local libraries in SW London, along with enjoying fun times and many cool activities there with my daughter over the years, from preschool Wriggle & Rhyme sessions, to meeting authors, to books clubs, and arts & crafts. 

So yeah, very thankful for libraries. 

How fortunate I feel to get to be involved in various ways in many wonderful book-related things, all over the world, from interviewing authors to judging awards to putting on events to helping authors get published, and more. So I’m thankful for all the wonderful authors out there, my fellow Murder is Everywhere columnists, and also and especially to the many, many  readers who love mystery and thriller fiction. Happy holidays, everyone. 

Until next time. Ka kite anō.

Whakataukī of the fortnight: 

Inspired by Zoe and her 'word of the week', I'm ending all my MIE posts by sharing a whakataukī (Māori proverb), a pithy and poetic thought to mull on as we go through life.

"Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini"

(My success should not be bestowed onto me alone, as it was not individual success but success of a collective)

Bringing booklovers together - our "Nefarious Newtown" event earlier this year
with Jennifer Palgrave, Carl Shuker, Jennifer Lane, and Helen Vivienne Fletcher