Southern Cross Crime The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand

Australian and New Zealand crime and thriller writing is booming globally, with antipodean authors regularly featuring on awards and bestseller lists across Europe and North America, and readers and publishers looking more and more to tales from lands Down Under. Hailing from two sparsely populated nations on the far edge of the former Empire—neighbors that are siblings in spirit, vastly different in landscape—Australian and New Zealand crime writers offer readers a blend of exotic and familiar, seasoned by distinctive senses of place, outlook, and humor, and roots that trace to the earliest days of our genre. This is the first comprehensive guide to modern Australian and New Zealand crime writing. From coastal cities to the Outback, leading critic Craig Sisterson showcases key titles from more than 200 storytellers, plus screen dramas ranging from Mystery Road to Top of the Lake. Fascinating insights are added through in-depth interviews with some of the prime suspects who paved the way or instigated the global boom, including Jane Harper, Michael Robotham, Paul Cleave, Emma Viskic, Paul Thomas, and Candice Fox.

Craig Sisterson is a features writer and crime fiction expert from New Zealand who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He’s been a judge of the McIlvanney Prize and Ned Kelly Awards, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. 

Contents
Foreword: Michael Robotham 9
Author’s Note and Introduction 10

Section One: The novels and the authors 19
Mean Streets – Big City Crime 19
    Sydney 19
    Auckland 35
    Melbourne 46
    Capital Crimes – Canberra & Wellington 60
    Brisbane 64
    Other antipodean cities 66
In the Wop-Wops – Small-town and Rural Crime 78
Home & Away – International Settings 109
Back in Time – Historical Crime 139
Start ‘Em Young – YA and Juvenile Crime 153

Section Two – Antipodean crime on-screen 169
TV and film of the past 25 years 170

Section Three – The Unusual Suspects 193
The Aussie Godfather – Peter Corris 194
Solving Crimes in Silence – Emma Viskic 198
The Kiwi Godfather – Paul Thomas 203
Breaking the Drought – Jane Harper 207
Southern Sassiness – Vanda Symon 211
Dark Prince of the Pen – Paul Cleave 215
Striking Gold – Michael Robotham 219
Scotland in the South – Liam McIlvanney 222
Doin’ it for Themselves – Lindy Cameron 225
The Gold Standard – Peter Temple 229
The Collaborator – Candice Fox 233
Like a Dame – Stella Duffy 237
Finding Peace – Garry Disher 241

Appendix: Ned Kelly, Ngaio Marsh, and Davitt Award winners 245

Acknowledgements 250

Index 251