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

Peculier, once more

Craig every second Tuesday. 

Kia ora and gidday everyone.

I know the world seems a mess in so many ways right now, but I hope that wherever you're reading this you're finding some ways each day to have some joy and goodness in your life. 

I've been quite busy lately - in ways good (lots of writing and projects) and not-so-much. So it's kind of snuck up on me that next week, all going to plan, I'll once again be back in the historic town of Harrogate in northern England, enjoying criminally good times with great people. Hopefully. 

Antipodean Noir: Vanda Symon, Stella Duffy, Jane Harper, Christian White, and Craig Sisterson at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in 2019

The (usually) annual Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate is one of the world's best festivals. Not just crime writing festivals, festivals. It's a thrilling weekend where authors bestselling and new mix and mingle with readers, reviewers, and fans of crime writing in the grounds of a historic hotel where Agatha Christie once reappeared after sparking a nationwide search. I was last there pre-pandemic, in 2019 where I had the amazing pleasure of chairing an 'Antipodean Noir' panel before a sold-out and highly engaged audience. 

That was my fourth time at 'Harrogate' (the shorthand in the crime writing community for the festival) - the first three times in 2012, 2016, and 2018 I hadn't done anything onstage but I'd had an amazing time regardless. You're just surrounded by creative, cool people who are brought together by a love of good crime writing, so you never know how a day may go. A large part of the fun is the 'off-stage' stuff, where everyone just hangs out in the bar and outside areas - some of my fondest memories are spontaneous dinners, random late-night chats, or chatting with a range of authors in the 'Big Green Chair' (I did it as kind of a joke, and to find somewhere quieter, the first time - it kinda became a thing after that) for website piece or other things. 

Me with award-winning, internationally bestselling crime writers Yrsa Sigurðardóttir of Iceland and Paul Cleave of New Zealand in 2016 

One of the things I love most about 'Harrogate' is that in addition to the authors onstage, many other crime writers come to town for the festival too. It's like an unofficial annual retreat for the crime writing community. Hanging out in the grounds of the Old Swan Hotel (where Dame Agatha reappeared, all those years ago), glancing across the crowds mixing and mingling is like the crime bookshelves from your favourite bookstore come to life. Everyone having a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones. Collegiality abounds. New stories made.

I'm feeling a mix of excitement with a hint of trepidation this time - I know this festival will be different to past ones, given COVID and various steps being taken. But I'm hopeful the same great vibe will be bubbling away throughout too - just like it was when I went to my first festival in two years, Bloody Scotland, last September (Harrogate will be only my second crime festival since September 2019, after going to several each year pre-pandemic). 

Queen of Crime Val McDermid's 'First Blood' panel is always a highlight of the festival, showcasing fantastic new authors joining our crime writing community

Like every year, there's an amazing onstage programme, with too many highlights to mention. This year's Festival Programming Chair is the marvellous Denise Mina. You can check out the full programme here. 

'Headliners' include: the legendary Michael Connelly, who's celebrating 30 years of his Harry Bosch books and is busier than ever with the hit Bosch: Legacy and Lincoln Lawyer television shows, along with new books; the brilliant Tess Gerritsen, author of the 'Rizzoli and Isles' books; the fantastic Kathy Reichs, creator of the Temperance Brennan forensic series; and the marvellous John Connolly, author of the Charlie Parker books; among others. 

One of the onstage highlights each year is the 'New Blood' panel hosted by Val McDermid, where the Queen of Crime showcases four amazing new crime writers, to a sold-out audience. This year's lineup looks pretty superb - I'm particularly excited to see Māori storyteller Michael Bennett (BETTER THE BLOOD) - perhaps the first indigenous author to be onstage in the history of Harrogate? (I'll have to check) - and fellow newcomer Emma Styles (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD GIRLS), who grew up on Whadjuk Noongar Country in Western Australia. 

(No longer) Strangers on a Train. 

But as I said above, while the onstage programme is full of highlights, many of the best Harrogate memories are created offstage. I have lots to share, but here's just a couple as an example. Back in 2016, I got another 'crazy Harrogate story' even before I got off the train from London. Choosing to read rather than write during my journey up that day, I was powering through a proof of WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman, fully engrossed.

As I got up to switch trains in Leeds, I glanced behind me at the line of other passengers, wondering how many were also going to Harrogate. A blonde lady right behind me looked familiar. She smiled, "Hi, I'm Laura Lippman". I don't know who was more surprised and chuffed - Laura to spot someone reading her book in public or me, who'd been so caught up in the terrific tale I hadn't noticed the author was sitting a few seats behind me!

Only at Harrogate.

Another of my favourite stories/memories: hanging out one evening in Harrogate I'd meant to have gone to dinner with a group of people, but had missed them in the busy-ness. I ran into Isobel Dixon, the fantastic poet and agent, who was in a similar boat and so we spontaneously grabbed dinner together at the Drum & Monkey. We had a terrific meal, chatting about life, the universe, and crime fiction. Our waitress, Becky, was as wonderful as the food, and it emerged she was a big fan of crime fiction, particularly Martina Cole. Isobel and I encouraged Becky to come along to the festival the next day, where she could meet Martina, who was appearing. Unfortunately Becky was working a double-shift, so couldn't. So the next day I grabbed a copy of Martina's debut, told her the story, and she signed it for Becky so I could drop it off at the restaurant. One extremely happy reader! 

That's the magic of Harrogate - with some many cool people who love crime fiction all in the same place, and an atmosphere of everyone mixing and mingling, you never know quite what will happen. After three years away, I'm looking forward to experiencing some of that again next week, while conscious it may be a wee bit different too. 

Getting in some frisbee golf with Kiwi author Paul Cleave and German bestseller Wulf Dorn 

Have you ever been to Harrogate, for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival or otherwise? Are you a fan of crime writing festivals and meeting authors and readers? Please share your thoughts in the comments. 

Until next time. Ka kite anō. 

Whakataukī of the fortnight: 

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

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei

(Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain)

A view across to Aoraki/Mt Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand

Back among the books...

Award-winning indigenous filmmaker turned debut crime novelist Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) hanging with Queen of Crime in Hatchards, London

Craig every second Tuesday

Kia ora and gidday everyone,

Well, we're well and truly settled back into London life after a wonderful April back in Aotearoa New Zealand, and bookish things really seem to be ramping up for me and many others. While I didn't make it to Bristol for Crimefest over the weekend - having just returned from a month away and with plans to attend several British crime festivals over the coming months, eg Harrogate, Bute Noir, and Bloody Scotland - the past week has been bookaful for me. 

Last Wednesday I went to my first 'author lunch' since before the pandemic, to celebrate bestselling Irish novelist and screenwriter Jo Spain's new psychological thriller, THE LAST TO DISAPPEAR. It was really lovely to catch up with Jo and several fellow reviewers and awards judges/crime aficionados including Ayo Onatade, Jon Coates, Barry Forshaw, Laura Wilson, Mike Ripley, and Paul Burke. In fact, it was the first time Paul and I had met in person, though we'd had several conversations and video chats throughout the pandemic, so I felt like I knew him already. 

Some criminally good company at Jo Spain's author lunch

It was really nice to hang and out and chat crime fiction and more for a couple of hours - the first time several of us had seen each other since pre-pandemic, after getting used to many catch-ups each year at various festivals. For me, other than the excellent Bloody Scotland festival last September, this was my first in-real-life crime fiction hangout since March 2020, and first author lunch since Australian author Michael Robotham was in town in late 2019. 

Many weeks I have books-related writing to do: features for magazines and newspapers or reviews for the same or online. But last week I actually had clear decks on that front - the interviews I was doing were with African lawyers for one of my day jobs, and the High Commissioner to Singapore for a non-books feature for a magazine - though I still had some crime fiction related writing, or rather editing, to do. 

On Sunday night I pressed 'send' on the manuscript for a very cool project I was asked late last year to helm: a first-of-its-kind anthology of Australian and New Zealand crime writing. With the boom in global recognition of the terrific crime writers now pouring out of Australia and New Zealand (there've always been some really good writers down that way, but now more eyes are looking), it's been a lot of fun - as well as a fair bit of work - to showcase some many authors from 'the antipodes' not only in feature articles and reviews but also both in Southern Cross Crime, my pandemic-released first book, and now with Dark Deeds Downunder.

A superb table of contents for DARK DEEDS DOWNUNDER, including the first new story from legendary Aussie crime writer Shane Maloney in many years

It's been pretty cool getting put together this anthology - the line-up we got is amazing, ranging from long-time legends of modern Aussie crime like Garry Disher, Kerry Greenwood, and Shane Maloney (all Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement honorees) to many award-winning, well-established novelists, and some really exciting, fresh voices. I'm particularly stoked that we have a really wide range of voices too, spreading all across 'Downunder' geographically and demographically. The response we had from authors was superb - so much better than I hoped at the start. So much so that before this manuscript was even done we already have Volumes 2 and 3 underway. 

Dark Deeds Downunder will be released in a few weeks time. Check it out when it's out. 

After pressing send on that manuscript near midnight on Sunday, I spent the bulk of Monday and today (outside of some legal journalism and Dad stuff) doing more bookish things with visiting Māori storyteller Michael Bennett, who was passing through London after doing some work in Ireland on a television series (he's an award-winning film and TV director and screenwriter) and some European and North African travel. Michael's first crime novel, Better the Blood, comes out in August in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and in the USA early next year. 

Michael will be part of the 'New Blood' panel of debut authors hand-picked by Val McDermid at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate in late July, so lots of crime readers and authors will get a chance to meet him then. It's really cool to see his first crime novel getting published globally - he's a heck of a storyteller, and from a broader perspective it's really heartening to see a talented indigenous author added to our crime ranks. For me, our big crime writing tribe only benefits from more and more different perspectives and experiences joining in. 

Craig, Michael, and Katherine outside Goldsboro Books

Along with some meetings with his publishers, we took the chance to show Michael around London a bit, including visiting fabulous spots like Goldsboro Books - one of my favourite places in the city - and Hatchards, which has been doing its bookselling thing since the late 18th century, and stopping into the Lamb & Flag pub, a Dickens haunt. 

I'm looking forward to Michael getting to meet and hang out with lots of cool crime-lovers at Harrogate and elsewhere later this year, when he's back over from Aotearoa New Zealand. As many of you reading this will know, we have a really cool 'crime tribe', that's overall very welcoming and a great bunch to hang out with. 

The love of books and creativity and ideas (and talking about all those things - often over a drink or three) is a nice thing to have in common, and the crime writing community in general is pretty amazing. 

On that night, I may sign off for today. It's been a busy bookish week, in among other life things, but a very good one because of that. Lots of exciting things ahead over the northern Spring-Summer-Autumn (Fall for our North American pals). I hope to see some of you at a festival or event or two as we start sharing more in-real-life things. 

Stay safe, and happy reading. 

Until next time, ka kita ano. 

Whakataukī of the fortnight: 

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

Ahakoa he iti he pounamu

(Although it is small, it is greenstone)

Pounamu are treasured items carved in a variety of traditional designs that are full of meaning and should never be bought for yourself - only gifted to you by others