Aussie crime writer to visit New Zealand

As has already been revealed on Crime Watch, bestselling international crime writers Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen and John Hart will all be visiting New Zealand shores during July and August. But they are not the only crime writers from overseas who will be heading this way soon.

Bestselling UK-born, New Zealand-raised, Australian-based author Derek Hansen will be in New Zealand on 26 and 27 July 2011. His latest work, A MAN YOU CAN BANK ON, is released this month. From all appearances, it seems to be a comic, perhaps caper-esque, crime thriller - and is Hansen's first real foray into the crime fiction world (as far as I can tell).

Known best for the "Lunch" series which includes the novels; LUNCH WITH THE GENERALS, LUNCH WITH MUSSOLINI, LUNCH WITH THE STATIONMASTER and LUNCH WITH A SOLDIER, these novels reportedly hang on a cast of four middle-aged men (Ramon, Lucio, Milos and the slightly more prosaically named Neil). They meet every Thursday in Gancio’s restaurant in Sydney and tell the stories of their lives.

Hansen, who went to Mt Albert Grammar in Auckland, had his first successful career in advertising. After selling his Sydney based ad agency he tried his hand at writing, spurred on he claims by envy at his mate Bryce Courtenay’s success. According to the Auckland Writers Festival programme from 2008 (when Hansen visited as part of the festival in relation to his then-latest novel REMEMBER ME, set in 1950s Auckland), "Hansen’s novels are fast paced page turners, often with a historical theme."

Inspired by the GFC, and the fact that "More money is stolen by corporate cowboys than criminals with guns", Hansen has now written A MAN YOU CAN BANK ON, set in rural Australia. Here's a blurb:

"Lambert Hampton is the man the small, drought-ravaged country town of Munni-Munni turn to when they uncover $3 million stolen from bookies by ruthless bandits, and buried seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

A former bank manager, Lambert uses the money and his considerable entrepreneurial skills to rescue the town and re-establish it on a viable, economic footing.

The day of reckoning comes when the crims are released from gaol.

The crims want their money.

The cops want their money.

A rogue insurance investigator wants the money.

And so do Australia’s two most notorious hit men.

In trying to save his town and all he’s achieved, Lambert is forced to risk everything – his life, the lives of town folk, his own daughter, ten thousand barramundi and a really lovable Jack Russell."

It certainly sounds like a bit of a hoot. I'm looking forward to reading it soon. I will keep you updated with further details of Hansen's New Zealand visit, as they come to hand.

Have you read any of Derek Hansen's other work? Do you enjoy comic or caper-esque crime thrillers, whether in books or on film or TV? Comments welcome.