Recently arrived fiction from Aotearoa New Zealand
Newly arrived Kiwi fiction spanning thriller, short story, experimental fiction and cosy mystery. Take your pick!
Softly calls the devil by Chris Blake
A taut and cleverly plotted crime novel set in around Haast, where sole charge police officer Matt Buchanan is posted after retiring as a Detective in the big smoke. When two men die in quick succession in the tiny community, Matt suspects they're connected to the murder of a family 40 years earlier, and the disappearance of a backpacker in the early 90s. Softly calls the devil follows on from The sound of her voice (written under a pseudonym Nathan Blackwell) but can be read as a standalone too.
The retired assassin's guide to country gardening by Naomi Kuttner
After a life as a world-class assassin, Dante is attempting to retire into a life of peace and petunias in the quirky (and fictional) coastal town of Te Kohe. Unfortunately this appears easier said than done and when a body turns up, Dante's quiet life is hijacked. A cosy mystery redolent of small town New Zealand that is certain to charm and entertain.
Warrior pose by Susan Rogers & John Roosen
Ric Peters is an Australian secret agent, his fiancée Elaina, a yoga instructor. What was supposed to be a peaceful trip to New Zealand to meet Ric’s parents turns deadly when a mysterious skull is unearthed at a toxic waste site near his childhood home. As Ric faces murder accusations stemming from a past mission in Indonesia, he and Elaina are pulled into a web of hitmen, environmental crimes, and long-buried family secrets. They must navigate the rugged New Zealand landscape to find the truth before the past catches up with them. A fast-paced mix of espionage and domestic mystery.
How to paints a nude by Sam Mahon
Christchurch activist, author and artist Mahon melds memoir with novel, following Sambo, (a version of Mahon himself) and Gregor Kerensky, a refugee who has fled the totalitarian regime of Belarus to find artistic freedom in New Zealand. Set in the months before and after the Christchurch earthquakes, Mahon uses real-life figures and events to blur the lines between fact and fiction. Longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at this year's Ockham book awards.
A collection of eleven interconnected short stories set in London, exploring the 'hidden' city inhabited by those who live in its shadows - commuters, estate residents, and pub regulars, where the mundane streets become backdrops for secrets, historical revelations, and mysteries that blur the line between memory and reality. J.W Du Four is a member of the S.T.E.M writers and The City was Launched here at Nelson Public Libraries in October 2025.
Over London by George Penney & Tony Johnson
Set in an alternate, floating version of London where history took a wild turn, Captain Alex Reign is a former pirate turned 'private ear'. Alex is hired to solve a bizarre crisis: priests from the Church of Vengeful Acquisition are spontaneously exploding. To save her airship and stay out of the hangman’s noose, she must lead her misfit crew - including a badger-man and a rogue artificer - through a city of clockwork horrors and weaponised blasphemy. Steam punk fantasy from a Nelson author, for fans of Terry Pratchett and magical alternate histories.
Other people's bodies by Megan Nicole Reed
Five very different women join an exclusive, glass-walled gym run by a magnetic leader Lars and his silent, observant wife Priya. Initially, the women find a sense of community and transformation, however, as their devotion to the gym's philosophy deepens, the boundary between empowerment and submission begins to blur. Lars’s influence grows increasingly dark, leaving Priya to decide if she will remain a silent witness or intervene to save the women from her husband’s grip. Like her previous novels, Reed explores the anxieties of middle class life, mixing domestic noir with the pursuit of wellness as religion. A page turning read.
The secrets of the lost vineyard by Erin Palmisano
Local author Palmisano swaps the Greek Isles for lush, high-altitude Argentina in this story of Victoria, who, reeling from a broken relationship is informed of her inheritance - a barren vineyard. The mystery of the lack of fruit is somehow tied to her own history - Victoria has always known she is adopted, and to save the estate she must team up with her new neighbour, a charming winemaker. Readers of Palmisano's previous works will enjoy this new vintage and the descriptions of the Andean landscape are breathtakingly vivid.
