"Talented new voice in the mystery genre" - review of PAPER CAGE

PAPER CAGE by Tom Baragwanath (Knopf, 2024)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Lorraine Henry is generally content to keep her head down and get on with her work as a records clerk at the Masterton police station. But when children start going missing in her small town, Lo can’t help but pay attention. After all, she has Bradley, her young nephew, to worry about, and the cops don’t seem to be putting much effort into finding the kids. 

And then the unthinkable happens: Bradley disappears. Distraught but determined, Lorraine vows to bring him home no matter what. And, together with a detective from Wellington, she embarks on a dangerous mission, one that will illuminate all the good and all the bad in Masterton.

While there are some familiar elements to Paris-based Kiwi author Tom Baragwanath’s debut crime novel – a rural small-town setting, missing children, police superiors who are antagonists rather than supporters of our hero – there’s also many layers of freshness and some beautiful writing that put Paper Cage firmly on the top shelf among recent debuts. Baragwanath is a writer to watch, already.

Lorraine Henry is a middle-aged records clerk at the police station in Masterton, a town that serves as the hub for a region of sheep farms, forests and now wineries, separated from New Zealand’s capital city of Wellington by an hour and more’s drive, and the Remutaka mountain range. Lorraine’s Māori husband Frank used to be a police officer in the town, until he died due to a tragic workplace accident. Now she lives alone, and is both relied on and overlooked by the other police and staff. Among others in the community. Lorraine sneaks rent money to her niece, Sheena, who she raised after her sister and brother-in-law died in an accident. Sheena’s her own woman now, though, complete with young son, a gang member boyfriend, and a drug habit.  One night Lorraine witnesses her niece’s son Bradley playing with friends, catching eels in the local neighbourhood. The next morning one of Bradley’s friends, eight-year-old Hemi, is missing. A few weeks ago, Precious Kingi, a young Māori girl, also vanished from her home. While she married into a Māori family, and her sister did too, Lorraine has never really felt part of the extended whanau (family), or the neighbourhood. Though her new neighbour Patty has proven a godsend; a supportive new friend, if a nosy one. 

The local police are moving slowly on finding the missing children, so a detective from Wellington is sent to get the case going. While Lorraine’s colleagues overlook her value, Detective Justin Hayes quickly sees her talents for observation and organisation, and brings her in on the case. But when things go badly wrong during a standoff between the police and some gang members, Lorraine is placed on leave, and told by her local boss that her position is likely to downsized before she returns. While the police blame the missing kids on local gangs, Lorraine is sure something else is going on, and with the help of Detective Hayes and her local knowledge, keeps digging for the horrifying truth. 

Baragwanath has written an exceptional, stylish debut (that has unsurprisingly won and been shortlisted for multiple awards in New Zealand and Australia before being published internationally in 2024). There’s an understated quality to his storytelling – while there’s some beautifully poetic descriptions and paragraphs, it’s not ‘in your face’. Stylistic yet subtle. Paper Cage flows wonderfully, drawing us in by prose, characters, and sense of place along with the mystery storyline.

Like Lorraine herself, Baragwanath has great observational skills, crafting a clear and nuanced portrait of small-town life in modern New Zealand, and exploring issues current and historic, from racial division to the insidious impact of drugs and alcohol, gangs, and widening inequality. 

Baragwanath has a great touch for bringing such issues into his overall story in Paper Cage in a subtler, nuanced way, without having to force-feed readers to ensure they understand. Overall Paper Cage is a stylish, multi-layered debut that introduces a fascinating and rather fresh heroine, and bodes well for hopefully plenty more tales from a talented new voice in the mystery genre. 

This review was first published in the May 2024 issue of Deadly Pleasures magazine

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.