GROUP A BOOKS 2023-2024: 14 Nominated books. Vote for no more than 7.

A6 Type: Police Procedural (Cop-FBI-Sheriff-GameWarden) Better the Blood by Michael Bennett, 2023 / MVLC: 29

Basics · Protagonist: Hana Westerman (F), a Māori detective with the Auckland CIB, in contemporary New Zealand · Setting: Contemporary Auckland, New Zealand · Context: This the 1st in an anticipated series. This is Bennett's debut novel. · % of Amazon readers giving 5-star ratings: 51% · Combined % of Amazon readers giving either 4 OR 5-star ratings: 86% · Total all Amazon ratings this book: 104 Long Form A tenacious Māori detective, Hana Westerman juggles single motherhood, endemic prejudice, and the pressures of her career in Auckland CIB. Led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man ritualistically hanging in a secret room and a puzzling inward-curving inscription. Delving into the investigation after a second, apparently unrelated, death, she uncovers a chilling connection to an historic crime: 160 years before, during the brutal and bloody British colonization of New Zealand, a troop of colonial soldiers unjustly executed a Māori Chief. Hana realizes that the murders are utu—the Māori tradition of rebalancing for the crime committed eight generations ago. There were six soldiers in the British troop, and since descendants of two of the soldiers have been killed, four more potential murders remain. Hana is thus hunting New Zealand’s first serial killer. The pursuit soon becomes frighteningly personal, recalling the painful event, two decades before, when Hana, then a new cop, was part of a police team sent to end by force a land rights occupation by indigenous peoples on the same ancestral mountain where the Chief was killed, calling once more into question her loyalty to her roots. Worse still, a genealogical link to the British soldiers brings the case terrifyingly close to Hana’s own family. Twisty and thought-provoking, Better the Blood is the debut of a remarkable new talent in crime fiction. --------- “A stellar series launch set in contemporary New Zealand . . . The narrative moves at a quick pace. Immersed in modern-day technologies and with a keen sensitivity to cultural issues, this is a finely crafted page-turner. Bennett is a writer to watch.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Bennett establishes himself as an excellent storyteller . . . The book’s immersion in tribal culture and history makes the greatest impact, lending complexity and sweep to the narrative . . . One can only hope this is the beginning of a series. A striking debut and a significant addition to Indigenous literature.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Riveting . . . Bennett deftly illuminates the plight of the Māori people and its continuing effects in New Zealand. His action-packed narrative, blended with various cultural references, recalls the novels of Tony and Anne Hillerman, Craig Johnson, and William Kent Krueger.”—Library Journal “Bennett unflinchingly weaves together layers of fallout from New Zealand’s bloody colonization, enduring Māori culture, and gripping procedural details. Hopefully this compelling debut heralds the start of a long-running series.”—Booklist This book was read earlier this year and recommended to our 2023-2024 booklist by Leslie. It looks like a great candidate for a mystery book. –Dick Awards for this Book - More likely to appear on next year's various shortlists, but so far in 2023..... § Longlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger § Named a Best Debut Mystery/Crime Novel of 2023 by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine (Barry Awds) § Named a Best Book of the Month by Amazon (Mystery, Thriller & Suspense)