Want to win an advance copy of THE STAKES by Ben Sanders?

Thanks to the lovely people at Allen & Unwin New Zealand, the official Ngaio Marsh Awards Facebook page has some advance reader copies of three-time Ngaios finalist Ben Sanders' upcoming standalone thriller, THE STAKES, to give away. Great news for crime readers!

Just click through to the Ngaio Marsh Awards page to read more, and enter (note: this competition is only available to New Zealand-based readers).



Here's some more information about the new tale:

An NYPD robbery detective uses his insider knowledge to rob criminals. The dazzling new stand-alone thriller from the bestselling author of American Blood and Marshall's Law.

'It's easy to see what the fuss is about. Sanders' prose is sharper than a switchblade ... It's like Raymond Chandler, Lee Child and Elmore Leonard rolled into one.' Sydney Morning Herald

Rip-offs are a dangerous game, but NYPD robbery detective Miles Keller thinks he's found a good strategy: rip off rich New York criminals and then retire early, before word's out about his true identity. New town, new name, no worries.

Retirement can't come soon enough, though. The NYPD is investigating him for the shooting of a hitman named Jack Deen, who was targeting a former police informant who also happened to be Miles's ex-lover.

Miles thinks shooting hitmen counts as altruism, but in any case a murder charge would make life difficult. He's ready to go to ground, but then Nina Stone reappears in his life.

Nina is a fellow heist professional and the estranged wife of an LA crime boss. Miles last saw her five years ago, when he was investigating her for bank robbery and looked the other way, for reasons he is still trying to figure out. Since then her life has grown more complicated: her husband wants her back, and he's dispatched his go-to gun thug to play repo man.

Complicating matters is the fact that the gun thug in question is Bobby Deen, cousin of the dead Jack Deen - and Bobby wants vengeance.

The stakes couldn't be higher, but Nina has an offer that could be lucrative. Maybe Miles can stick around a while longer and get the big payoff he's been waiting for? But luck has a way of running out and soon Miles is in way over his head.

Effortlessly cool, suspenseful as hell and pure reading pleasure.

Win a personally signed copy of a cracking Kiwi novel

Readers from around the world have the opportunity to win personally autographed copies of this year's Ngaio Marsh Award finalists, as the "Reading Kiwi Crime" competition kicks off for 2015. 

Going into the draw to win is simple: all you need to do is take a picture of yourself reading any New Zealand crime, mystery, or thriller title - from old classics like Ngaio Marsh, Fergus Hume, Elizabeth Messenger and Laurie Mantell, to the latest from award winners like Paul Cleave, Paul Thomas, and Neil Cross. Then share it with the Award organisers by:

1. Tweeting the pic and tagging @ngaiomarshaward; OR
2. Posting the pic to the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page; OR
3. Emailing the pic to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. 

If you follow the Award's twitter account or like the Facebook page, you'll get a bonus entry in the draw.

The prize winner(s) will be drawn following the announcement of the Ngaio Marsh Award winner, likely on or around 4 October 2015. The more entries we get, the more winners there will be. 

Just to clarify: the book in your photo doesn't have to be set in New Zealand, just written by an author connected to New Zealand (citizen, resident, grew up here, etc). If you're scratching your head for choices, here's a long list of possibilities.

So grab something from your shelf or hit your local bookstore or library, and get snapping.

Lend me your ears! Win an audiobook

Yesterday, I shared my recent interview with Alexandra Sokoloff, a Californian horror and thriller screenwriter turned supernatural and serial killer suspense novelist. Alex has now kindly offered to give away a free audiobook copy of HUNTRESS MOON, the first novel in her Huntress/FBI series. The book was a Suspense Magazine pick for best book of 2012, and a Thriller Award nominee. 

Here's the backcover blurb for HUNTRESS MOON:

FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is closing in on a bust of a major criminal organization in San Francisco when he witnesses an undercover member of his team killed right in front of him on a busy street, an accident Roarke can't believe is coincidental. His suspicions put him on the trail of a mysterious young woman who appears to have been present at each scene of a years-long string of "accidents" and murders, and who may well be that most rare of killers: a female serial. 

Roarke's hunt for her takes him across three states...while in a small coastal town, a young father and his five-year old son, both wounded from a recent divorce, encounter a lost and compelling young woman on the beach and strike up an unlikely friendship without realizing how deadly she may be. As Roarke uncovers the shocking truth of her background, he realizes she is on a mission of her own, and must race to capture her before more blood is shed.

All you have to do to go in the draw to win an audiobook of HUNTRESS MOON is leave a comment on Alex's interview from yesterday. You can read the interview and leave a comment here.

And the winner is...

A couple of months ago, we kickstarted a giveaway competition in relation to the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. Anyone who 'liked' the Award's Facebook page went into the draw to win a personally autographed copy of whichever of the books ended up winning this year's award.

Liam McIlvanney's WHERE THE DEAD MEN GO was named as the winner of the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award at the Christchurch Writers Festival on 30 August, and subsequently a random draw was made from everyone who had liked the Facebook page.

I'm pleased to announce that the winner of the signed copy of the award-winning crime novel was Liz Andrews of Auckland, New Zealand. Liz was kind enough to send through a photo of the signed book, which she received from Liam McIlvanney earlier this month.

It's a terrific thriller Liz, and we all hope you enjoy the great read.

Keep an eye out for more giveaways in future, of great Kiwi crime novels and more. And if you haven't already 'liked' the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page, it'd be terrific if you did. Click here.

Ngaio Marsh Award: win a signed copy of the winner!!

Earlier this month, the four finalists for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel were announced. From an outstanding long-list of eight excellent novels, the deepest and most diverse long-list in the Award's five-year history, the following four books were selected by the international judging panel:

• JOE VICTIM by Paul Cleave
• FREDERICK'S COAT by Alan Duff
• MY BROTHER'S KEEPER by Donna Malane
• WHERE THE DEAD MEN GO by Liam McIlvanney

To celebrate the upcoming announcement of the winner of the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival on 30 August, we're running a competition where you can win a personally signed copy of the winning book. The book will be autographed, with a personal message for the winning entrant(s) from the winning author. That's pretty cool!

Entering is simple. All you have to do is 'like' the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. Nothing else. Easy as. The more entries there are (ie likes on the page), the more personally autographed copies of the book will be given away as part of the competition. Just click on the image above or right here to go to the Award's Facebook page. The winner(s) will be drawn on 31 August 2014, following the official announcement of which book has won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

You've got to be in to win! So get 'liking'. 

Be in to Win (autographed book)

Earlier this month, the four finalists for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel were announced. From an outstanding long-list of eight excellent novels, the deepest and most diverse long-list in the Award's five-year history, the following four books were selected by the international judging panel:

• JOE VICTIM by Paul Cleave
• FREDERICK'S COAT by Alan Duff
• MY BROTHER'S KEEPER by Donna Malane
• WHERE THE DEAD MEN GO by Liam McIlvanney

To celebrate the upcoming announcement of the winner of the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival on 30 August, we're running a competition where you can win a personally signed copy of the winning book. The book will be autographed, with a personal message for the winning entrant(s) from the winning author. That's pretty cool!

Entering is simple. All you have to do is 'like' the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. Nothing else. Easy as. The more entries there are (ie likes on the page), the more personally autographed copies of the book will be given away as part of the competition. Just click on the image above or right here to go to the Award's Facebook page. The winner(s) will be drawn on 31 August 2014, following the official announcement of which book has won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

You've got to be in to win! So get 'liking'. 

Win a personally signed copy of 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award winner

Yesterday, the four finalists for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel were announced. From an outstanding long-list of eight excellent novels, the deepest and most diverse long-list in the Award's five-year history, the following four books were selected by the international judging panel:

• JOE VICTIM by Paul Cleave
• FREDERICK'S COAT by Alan Duff
• MY BROTHER'S KEEPER by Donna Malane
• WHERE THE DEAD MEN GO by Liam McIlvanney

To celebrate the upcoming announcement of the winner of the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival on 30 August, a competition is running where you can win a personally signed copy of the winning book. The book will be autographed, with a personal message for the winning entrant(s) from the winning author. That's pretty cool!

Entering is simple. All you have to do is 'like' the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. Nothing else. Easy as. The more entries there are (ie likes on the page), the more personally autographed copies of the book will be given away as part of the competition. Just click on the image above or right here to go to the Award's Facebook page. The winner(s) will be drawn on 31 August 2014, following the official announcement of which book has won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

You've got to be in to win! So get 'liking'. 

Grab a New Zealand thriller for free

I've often been told by Crime Watch readers and other friends and acquaintances overseas that they'd love to try more Kiwi crime and thriller fiction, but that it's hard to find where they are, in print or even online.

This is a legit gripe. While increasingly books by some local authors, such as Paul Cleave, Paul Thomas, Liam McIlvanney and Neil Cross, are available to readers in the UK and USA, many other equally fine writers are not. Vanda Symon, Paddy Richardson, and Alix Bosco have been published in Germany, but not the English-speaking northern hemisphere markets. Ben Sanders' upcoming fourth thriller is set in the USA, and will be published there next year, but his first trilogy is harder to come by.

So I'm pretty stoked to be able to share today that Wellington author Cat Connor's books SNAKEBYTE is currently available for free on Amazon Kindle, meaning wherever you are in the world, you can give a Kiwi thriller a go. If like me you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle app to read the book on your laptop or other devices.

I haven't yet read SNAKEBYTE, but I did really enjoy one of the earlier books in the series starring FBI Agent Ellie Conway. Connor writes exciting, visual tales. You can read her 9mm interview here.

Try some Kiwi crime writing and download SNAKEBYTE for free here. Happy reading!

Win a personally signed copy of the Ngaio Marsh Award winner

To celebrate the upcoming announcement of the 2013 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel winner, a competition is running where you can win a personally signed copy of the winning book. The book will be autographed, with a personal message for the winner, by the winning author. That's pretty cool!

Entering is simple. All you have to do is 'like' the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. Nothing else. Easy as. The more entries there are (ie likes on the page), the more personally autographed copies of the book will be given away.

You can enter by liking the Facebook page here.

Want Donna Malane's SURRENDER for free?

If you're a regular reader of Crime Watch, you will have recently seen some posts about Donna Malane's second Diane Rowe thriller, MY BROTHER'S KEEPER, which was released this month. I reviewed it in last week's issue of NZLawyer, as well as writing a large feature for the New Zealand Listener (available in print in New Zealand this week, and online to subscribers). You can see Malane talking about MY BROTHER'S KEEPER in the vid above.

In some great news, Malanes' first novel, SURRENDER, has been chosen as the Apple iBook store 'Book of the Week', meaning that it can currently be downloaded for free from iTunes. It is available for download on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iBooks and on your computer with iTunes. Books must be read on an iOS device. I am not sure of any geographic restrictions, but regardless, it's worth taking a peek and seeing if you can nab a great thriller for free.

And the winner is...

A mea culpa: I've been incredibly tardy on announcing the winner of the draw for all seven Ngaio Marsh Award longlisted books. The lucky keen crime reader is Michael Chin from Singapore (pictured right with a copy of Paul Cleave's debut THE CLEANER - an Australian edition by the looks).

Congratulations to Michael - who was informed of his win last month, shortly after the presentation of the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel to Neil Cross at the Christchurch Writers Festival (I've just been slack at informing everyone else, sorry - as you may have gathered from the lack of recent posts, there's a lot going on here).

Michael will now get a chance to try Cross's award-winning 'Luther' novel for himself, along with more excellent crime novels from Cleave, Vanda Symon, Ben Sanders, Paddy Richardson, Jack Eden, and Ian Wedde. From the looks of Michael's bookshelf in the photo background, he's certainly a keen crime reader - so I hope he enjoys a greater taste of Kiwi crime fiction!

Thanks to everyone who entered this year's contest. I really appreciate all the comments and feedback.

Win seven terrific Kiwi crime novels

READERS AROUND the world still have a chance to go into the draw to win a full set of all seven crime, mystery, and thriller novels longlisted for the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. But you'll have to hurry - this terrific opportunity closes next week!

The longlisted titles that one lucky entrant will win are:

• COLLECTING COOPER by Paul Cleave
• LUTHER: THE CALLING by Neil Cross
• FURT BENT FROM ALDAHEIT by Jack Eden
• TRACES OF RED by Paddy Richardson
• BY ANY MEANS by Ben Sanders
• BOUND by Vanda Symon
• THE CATASTROPHE by Ian Wedde

"This year’s longlist features everything from dark serial killer tales to the latest books in popular detective series, ‘ripped from the headlines’ psychological suspense, and a prequel to one of the most compelling TV crime series of recent years," said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. "We have the mysterious tale of a narcissistic restaurant critic’s kidnapping, penned by New Zealand’s poet laureate, and an engaging debut thriller written under a nom de plume.”

Now readers have a chance to try for themselves the entire line-up that impressed the judging panel. Anyone can enter the prize draw simply by emailing a photo of themselves reading any New Zealand crime, mystery, or thriller title - contemporary or from days gone by - to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com.  

The book in your picture doesn't have to be set in New Zealand, as long as the author is associated with New Zealand (lives in New Zealand, was born or grew up in New Zealand, etc). So whether it's a well-loved copy of a Ngaio Marsh, Elizabeth Messenger, Laurie Mantell, Michael Wall, or Paul Thomas novel that's been sitting on your bookshelf for years, or a brand new New Zealand crime novel you've recently picked up from a bookstore or library, grab your camera, take a smiling photo of yourself with the book, and send it to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com.  

If you need some inspiration when it comes to finding an eligible, mystery, or thriller novel to read and photograph, check out this list of more than 80 authors and more than 250 titles here: 

Photos will be displayed on the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page, which you can visit and 'like' here. 

The winner of the competition will be randomly drawn from the entered photos on Friday 31 August 2012, in the lead-up to the presentation of the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award at The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival on 1 September. Best of luck, and happy snapping.

Kiwi eco-thriller MILKSHAKE free on Amazon

Today, New Zealand thriller writer Matt Hammond is offering his eco-thriller MILKSHAKE for free download on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. So if you'd like to give a new author a go, now is a great time to charge up the Kindle and grab this thriller, which combines politics, ecology, energy and other issues.

Here's the blurb:

Put that in your car and smoke it!
On the day David Turner is supposed to emigrate to New Zealand, he witnesses a savage murder and becomes caught up in ruthless global conspiracy. 
A thirty year-old technological discovery threatens his own future and jeopardises the lives of millions of others as David discovers that starting a new life is about to become a deadly game of cat and mouse... and, somewhat surprisingly, cows.
Modifying milk so that ethanol can be processed from it could be the solution to an impending global oil crisis, but drinking it will kill you. 
Can the truth be uncovered before an entire country is sacrificed to satisfy the world's demand for bio-fuel? 

I read MILKSHAKE last year, and enjoyed many aspects of it. While there were flaws that you would expect from a self-published e-book (well, actually, many big-name books from big-name authors and publishers suffer from the same flaws), the storyline was quite exciting, and I found myself keeping wanting to turn the page to find out what happens - which I guess is one of the most important things. There were also some intriguing characters, and the book raises some thought-provoking themes. I think many readers would enjoy the book (some positive online reader reviews demonstrate this is the case too). 

You can give MILKSHAKE a go for free, on Amazon here, and Amazon.co.uk here. 

Reminder: win seven crime novels

Just a quick reminder about the fantastic competition being run to win the full longlist for the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel - that's seven New Zealand crime novels! So if you've ever wanted to try some more great Kiwi crime writers, now is the perfect time.

For more information and entry details, click here.

Want to try some Kiwi crime fiction for free?

READERS AROUND the world now have the chance to go into the draw to win a full set of all seven crime, mystery, and thriller novels longlisted for the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

The longlisted titles that a lucky entrant will win are:

• COLLECTING COOPER by Paul Cleave (Simon & Schuster)
• LUTHER: THE CALLING by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)
• FURT BENT FROM ALDAHEIT by Jack Eden (Pear Jam Books)
• TRACES OF RED by Paddy Richardson (Penguin)
• BY ANY MEANS by Ben Sanders (HarperCollins)
• BOUND by Vanda Symon (Penguin)
• THE CATASTROPHE by Ian Wedde (Victoria University Press)

The longlist reflects the growing depth and breadth of contemporary New Zealand crime and thriller writing, said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “This year’s longlist features everything from dark serial killer tales to the latest books in popular detective series, ‘ripped from the headlines’ psychological suspense, and a prequel to one of the most compelling TV crime series of recent years. We have the mysterious tale of a narcissistic restaurant critic’s kidnapping, penned by New Zealand’s poet laureate, and an engaging debut thriller written under a nom de plume.”

The Ngaio Marsh Award is made for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident. A panel of local and international judges are currently considering the best of locally written crime and thriller fiction. This year the judges are from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and New Zealand. The three finalists for the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award will be announced in July. Now readers have a chance to try for themselves the entire line-up that has been impressing the judging panel. Anyone can enter the prize draw simply by emailing a photo of themselves reading any New Zealand crime, mystery, or thriller title - contemporary or from days gone by - to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com.

The book in your picture doesn't have to be set in New Zealand, as long as the author is associated with New Zealand (lives in New Zealand, was born or grew up in New Zealand, etc). So whether it's a well-loved copy of a Ngaio Marsh, Elizabeth Messenger, Laurie Mantell, Michael Wall, or Paul Thomas novel that's been sitting on your bookshelf for years, or a brand new New Zealand crime novel you've recently picked up from a bookstore or library, grab your camera, take a smiling photo of yourself with the book, and send it to ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. If you need some inspiration when it comes to finding an eligible, mystery, or thriller novel to read and photograph, check out this list of more than 80 authors and more than 250 titles here.

Photos will be displayed on the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page, which you can visit and 'like' here.
The winner of the competition will be randomly drawn from the entered photos, and announced in the lead-up to the presentation of the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award at The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival on 1 September.

Best of luck, and happy snapping.

And the winner is...

Recently, thanks to the generosity of New Zealand's contempory Queen of Crime, Vanda Symon (pictured right), I ran a competition here on Crime Watch for one lucky reader to win a personally signed copy of Symon's latest crime novel, THE FACELESS.

We had entries come in from all around the world, but after a random draw, the lucky winner was:

Yvonne Eve Walus of Auckland.

Congratulations Yvonne! I'm sure you'll enjoy THE FACELESS. It's a terrific book.

In addition, in a very nice gesture, Symon has also decided to give away a second personally signed copy of THE FACELESS to another entrant, Belynda Smith of Christchurch. Several entrants actually commented (or messaged me) that if they won they'd like their copy of the book to go to Belynda, a keen reader who had lost all of her own books in the Christchurch earthquakes.

So congratulations to Belynda as well! Your book will be winging its way to you soon.

Thanks so much to the wonderful Vanda Symon for donating the signed books.

For those who missed out, I can highly recommend trotting down to your local bookstore and picking up a copy (or for those overseas, feel free to email me and we'll see if we can work something out).

Thanks again to everyone for entering.

Win a personally signed copy of Vanda Symon's THE FACELESS!

Sorry things have been a little quiet on Crime Watch lately, but today at least I can make up for it with a terrific opportunity for readers, wherever you are around the world!

Kiwi crime queen Vanda Symon (pictured left at last week's book launch) has graciously offered Crime Watch a personally signed copy of her brand new standalone thriller, THE FACELESS, to give away to one lucky reader. I have read THE FACELESS, and can confirm it's a terrific thriller (see initial comments here). You can also read Joanne Ganley's review here.

The giveaway competition is open worldwide. Vanda Symon will personally sign a copy of THE FACELESS for the winner, and send it to you, wherever you reside around the world. How's that for service eh? What a fantastic gesture on her part.

So, the important bits - how do you go into the draw for this great prize?

Well, to enter you need to message me with your name, postal address, and an answer to the following question: "What makes THE FACELESS different to Vanda Symon's first four books?"

There are many ways in which THE FACELESS is different, so as long as you name one of them, you go into the draw. You can enter either by leaving a comment on this blog post, or (because I know sometimes it can be difficult to leave comments on Blogger blogs) by emailing ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com.

The competition will be drawn next Friday (NZT), so you have around a week to enter.

Good luck!

Win a copy of TERRORBYTE (global comp)

Upper Hutt-based author Cat Connor is the creator of Ellie Conway, a tough and fiesty FBI Agent who's already been through a lot over the course of three exciting books: KILLERBYTE, TERRORBYTE, and EXACERBYTE. I read and enjoyed the third in the series last year - it was certainly action-packed, as Conway and her crack FBI team ended up in New Zealand, chasing an elusive criminal who has been abducting vulnerable children all over the world. A criminal who almost brought Conway and her team to their knees previously

To mark the release of the fourth Ellie Conway book, FLASHBYTE, Connor is running some competitions to win copies of the earlier books in the series, on her blog. You can now enter the competition to win TERRORBYTE, the second in the series - a book that really raised the stakes for Conway and her team.

You can enter the competition to win a copy of TERRORBYTE, in paperback or ebook (for New Zealand entrants) or ebook (for overseas entrants) at Cat Connor's blog here.

Good luck!

4.3 million book vouchers to be given away

New Zealand Book Month has announced it will give away more book vouchers than ever before - about 4.3 million - so that "every New Zealander" gets the chance to find a book to change their lives this Book Month. Last year almost 100,000 NZ Book Month vouchers were redeemed at bookstores.

This year's massive book voucher giveaway will put $20 million worth of "book money" into the hands of New Zealanders, said NZ Book Month organiser, Megan Dunn.

Vouchers will be sent to mailboxes around New Zealand, to every single school, and will be available on the NZ Book Month website, at Caltex service stations and in the New Zealand Herald along with a range of regional papers. The organiser of the nationwide event, Dunn, said: "We want everyone to benefit from owning and enjoying books and that's why we're again distributing over four million book vouchers - reaching out to readers new and old - and all Kiwis to find their next life-changing book during Book Month."

As part of the NZ Book Month 'Books Change Lives' campaign, celebrity ambassadors Annabel Langbein, Emily Perkins, Tamati Coffey, and Sir Peter Jackson have shared how books have changed their lives.

Peter Jackson said: "I was 18 when I first read The Lord of the Rings. To give myself something to do on the 12-hour train journey to Auckland, I bought myself The Lord of the Rings and I sat there watching the landscape of New Zealand sliding by the train window while reading the story. When I began to get very excited about what computers could do - showing things that up to then had really been impossible to do on film, The Lord of the Rings came to my mind. It had been nearly 20 years since I had read the book so I immediately read it again. I still had the same copy on my shelf."

As part of the NZ Book Month 'Books Change Lives' campaign over 200 events, including several involving local crime writers, will take place around the country to encourage people to read and enjoy more books.

So if you're a reader in New Zealand, grab your Book Month voucher and go and buy a great local crime, mystery, or thriller title. There are plenty of fantastic authors to choose from!

Ngaio Marsh Award giveaway - and the winner is...

Over the past few weeks here on Crime Watch, the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page, and elsewhere, we have been running a giveaway where one lucky reader, from anywhere in the world, would win all eight of the longlisted Kiwi-written crime/thriller novels eligible for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

It was great to see a very good number of entries rolling in, from several countries around the world, considering there was a bit of a hurdle to entry: taking a photo of yourself reading a New Zealand-written crime, mystery, thriller or suspense novel. You can see many of the entries in the "Reading Kiwi Crime Fiction" photo album on the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. It's interesting to see which books and authors cropped up the most too. Vanda Symon and Paul Cleave were particularly popular, but others such as Neil Cross, Ngaio Marsh, Alix Bosco and Donna Malane all had multiple representations too.

The draw was made on Saturday, the day before the Setting the Stage for Murder event in Christchurch (and presentation of the award to Paul Cleave for BLOOD MEN), and I'm very pleased to announce the winner is: Lisa Smith of Northcote, New Zealand, who took a photo of herself reading Paula Morris's HIBISCUS COAST (see above). Congratulations Lisa - your fantastic prize pack is on its way to you.

When the random draw picked out Lisa's photo, I did have to chuckle a little - because that was the only entry that surprised me when it came in, in terms of the books people were reading. I'd never realised that Paula Morris had written a thriller - but on closer inspection HIBISCUS COAST is a tale revolving around art forgery and a heroine on the run from dangerous people, so there you go.

You learn something new... as they say. I'll have to add the book to my bibliographical list (see above).

Congratulations to Lisa. For everyone else, thanks so much for sending your entries in. Keep your eyes peeled for another giveaway in the very near future. And in the meantime, if you're on Facebook, head to the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page and click 'like', if you haven't already. Thanks.