A neurodivergent expert on toxic botanicals, a harrowing exploration of jury deliberations, a high-tech thriller from an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, a desperate mother searching for her son as lockdown kicks in, a gay sleuth in Renaissance Florence, and the return of a beloved fictional detective are among the diverse books named today on the longlist for the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel

“Fifteen years ago we launched the Ngaio Marsh Awards, in association with our friends at what’s now WORD Christchurch, to celebrate Kiwi excellence in one of the world’s most popular storytelling forms,” says Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson.

“Over the years we’ve celebrated some world-class storytelling, and seen our local take on crime writing, aka #yeahnoir, really flourish. There were many books our judges really loved this year, beyond those that have made the longlist, and the strength and variety of this year’s longlist is going to make it another tough decision for our international panel.”

The Ngaios are named for Dame Ngaio Marsh, a contemporary of Agatha Christie and one of the Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, who penned bestselling mysteries that entertained millions of global readers from her home in the Cashmere Hills.

The 2024 longlist includes a mix of past winners and finalists, some first-time entrants and new voices, and several authors who’ve won a variety of other major awards including CWA Daggers, the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, NZ Booklovers Award for Adult Fiction, Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award, and the Booker Prize.

The longlist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel prize is:

• DICE by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)
• THE CARETAKER by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)
• RITUAL OF FIRE by DV Bishop (Macmillan)
• BIRNAM WOOD by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• PET by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• EL FLAMINGO by Nick Davies (YBK Publishers)
• DOUBLE JEOPARDY by Stef Harris (Quentin Wilson Publishing)
• THE QUARRY by Kim Hunt (Spiral Collectives)
• DEVIL’S BREATH by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)
• GOING ZERO by Anthony McCarten (Macmillan)
• HOME BEFORE NIGHT by JP Pomare (Hachette)
• EXPECTANT by Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

The longlist is currently being considered by an international panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA will be announced in early August, with the finalists celebrated and winners announced as part of a special event held in association with WORD Christchurch in late August.

For more information on this year’s Best Novel longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com