COLLECTING COOPER to be published locally

Last year, Paul Cleave won the second ever Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel for his fourth dark Christchurch-set tale, BLOOD MEN (read the Herald on Sunday story here, and one in The Press here). A few weeks before the ceremony in Christchurch, the hometown of Dame Ngaio, Cleave's fifth novel, COLLECTING COOPER was published in the United States, to some very good reviews. Unfortunately, due to a publisher change here in New Zealand, COLLECTING COOPER hasn't yet been published locally.

In some great news, Cleave has now been picked up for New Zealand publication by Penguin, who add Cleave to an already very strong local crime writing stable including 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award winner Alix Bosco (Greg McGee), 2010 finalist Vanda Symon, 2011 finalist Paddy Richardson, and dual finalist Neil Cross (who is distributed in New Zealand by Penguin).

Penguin will be publishing COLLECTING COOPER in mid 2012 (New Zealand cover pictured above right), and following up with Cleave's next dark thriller, THE LAUGHTERHOUSE, in November this year. Great news for local crime fiction fans, who will get more of a chance to see why Cleave is so incredibly popular in continental Europe.

What do you think of the cover? Have you read an overseas version of COLLECTING COOPER? If so, what do you think? Who do you think might win the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award?