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Pitch-perfect detective crime thriller

1/4/2022

The Water's Dead:
A DI Nyree Bradshaw Novel
by Catherine Lea

A young Maori woman is murdered, her body found at the base of Mason’s Rock waterfall. Also, six-year-old Lily Holmes is missing, last seen in the victim’s care.
For Detective Inspector Nyree Bradshaw, the clock is ticking. Lily is diabetic and needs to be found quickly. Nyree must find the murderer to save Lily.
This is a pitch-perfect detective crime thriller. It reminds me in flavour of Anne Cleeves and has all the twists and strong characters you would expect from one of her novels.
Lea’s DI Bradshaw follows the pattern of police officer with an imperfect life fighting to do the right thing. Bradshaw is up against the toxic masculinity which bedevilled the 1980’s New Zealand Police and the traces (perhaps more than just traces) which linger on. She’s also up against the beliefs and wishes of the Maori whanau surrounding the murdered girl – simmering violence, the need for revenge, for utu challenges her investigation.
Lea is a deft hand with dialogue and everyone we meet has their history and well-defined character. My sympathies shifted, ebbed and flowed around them all. I learned one or two things about death rituals from a Maori perspective and shared the aching misery of dire poverty which dogs the population, particularly in the North. Lea managed to show without preaching and her writing is all the more effective because of that.
Great twists in the end brought the novel to an immensely satisfying conclusion.
I see from the back of this book, Lea has other titles to her name and I will be looking for them. But please, Catherine – I would love more from DI Nyree Bradshaw.

Review by T J Ramsay

Title: The Water’s Dead
Author: Catherine Lea
Publisher: Breaklight Press
ISBN: 9780473594749
RRP: $34.95
Available: bookshops

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Splendid accomplishment

25/3/2022

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Tūnui | Comet
by Robert Sullivan

Most of us can’t easily be described as a natural phenomenon, but in this book, Robert Sullivan is most definitely a comet, sweeping time and place across the sky in a seamless history of ancestors and country.
   His opening poem, ‘Tētahi Waerea (Prayer of Protection)’ concludes:
  Yes, I speak plainly, when I hear your voice,
  bringing the unseen chains of a grandfather clock
and a Polynesian paddle into the conversation.
                         (p. 9)
The action begins with Māui and his brothers, continues along the Great North Road and spreads out across the whole country, bringing with it all sorts: families, wars, Tahitian ships and stones, steampunk. Time begins long ago, only labelling itself first ‘With Cook’s new things...’ when
           We learned to see with spectacles,
           and used our own
           medicines in vials ...
           The trees
           got to live.                 (‘Ah’, p 20)
   And along with the poet, we learn ‘about topsails and studding sails’ and reminisce about contributing to the ‘admirals’ imperio cogito/ never-setting horizons ergo sum’ (‘i wasn’t a poet for writing placenames’, p 23). A European perspective rolls in, all set to build a Government and a House to keep it in, but – after a bit of architectural posturing – gives over to a better, foot-stomping solution:
           I want to wrap Old Government House
           like Christo and Jean-Claude
           I want to wrap Old Govt House
           in pages of the Treaty
           I want to wrap OGH
           in lavalavas
           I want to wrap OGH
           in fine feather cloaks
           I want to wrap OGH
           in tartans
           I want to wrap OGH
           in parachute silk in balloon rubber
           I want to wrap OGH
           in illuminated vellum
           I want to wrap OGH
           in four enormous kanji blankets ...
                                (‘Old Government House’, p 24)
The 14-part series of poems ‘Te Whitianga a Kupe’ is set in the the 250 Tuia celebrations, waka, va’a and tall ships commemorating Cook’s 1769 expedition and calling in at Whitianga (among a dozen other stops). Like the commemoration, the poems mix old and new, here and there, rock groups and reef knots.
   The language the poet plays with accommodates a po-faced world ‘where education is strongly linked/ to wellbeing outcomes for all’ (H.G. Wells, p 42) and a mad world where El Cid’s corpse defends Castile on his horse Babieca, who ‘stands resolute before the people/ who struggle on.’ (‘Standing Up’, p 43).
   I’ll quote the last two poems of the series in full – taken together, they give an idea of the wonderful range of this collection, both in subject matter and in word use/play. But you’ll need to get the book itself to appreciate what a splendid accomplishment the entire collection is.
           13. Thousand-Faced Waka
           a myriad choral voices
           in the singing of the mōteatea,
           the Mahabharata, the Kumulipo,
           the oceanic and earthly spires
           on the thousand thousand journeys
           roaming the jagged ribs
           of singers swimming
           the ocean’s billion
           billion ashes
           this waka weaves
           stories of bazaars
           and pig husbandry
           duetted by sailors
           who studded
           the Araby
           and came
           out of Pele’s
           mouth                          (p 47)
           14. Cookies
           A cup of tea
           a picture of the Endeavour
           replica on my phone
           from the beach
           on my way back
           and the upload
           to our Five Eyes
           partners
           confirming
           I was there            (p 48)

Review by Mary Cresswell

Title: Tūnui | Comet
Author: Robert Sullivan
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 978 1 86940 969 2
RRP: $19.99
Available: bookshops

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Novel shows generational contrasts

18/3/2022

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Trials and Tribulations of a Talented Teen
by Robin Lee-Robinson

After finishing Book 2 in this series I was itching to find out what happened to Jack’s mysterious grandmother. Book 3, focuses on Rosalyn’s diaries in 1983 when she was 15-16 years old.
The backdrop of the story is Gisborne, 1983, and the author’s depiction of this era of New Zealand’s cultural norms and values shows a contrast to today. These differences would be an eye-opener to many teenagers, including the absence of technology.
Teenage Rosalyn, has a distinct personality, with a self-absorbed vision and confidence. Undeterred by society’s expectations, Rosalyn, is intent on forging the life of her dreams regardless of any gender barriers or external constraints. Her complete disregard for anyone else’s point of view results in many hilarious episodes and misunderstandings.
There’s a strong emphasis throughout this series on whanau bonds throughout the generations.
At the back, there’s a glossary of Maori words and phrases.
With pages dwindling towards the end of the book, I wondered if Rosalyn’s mysterious disappearance was going to be resolved satisfactorily, or if I was going to be kept in suspense. The ending was surprising, but also cleverly foreshadowed.

Review by Wendy Scott
Award-Winning Children’s Author

Title: Trials and Tribulations of a Talented Teen
Author: Robin Lee-Robinson
Publisher: Red Hen Books
ISBN: 978-0-473-59447-3
RRP: $25
Available: Paperback from author website Robin Lee-Robinson Books
or [email protected]

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Multilingual poems in collection

11/3/2022

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ināianei/now
by Vaughan Rapatahana

This multilingual assemblage comes together very much like a position paper. The author looks at relationships, places, the histories and tragedies of this land, and emotions and ideas.
The poems are in Te Reo Māori (generally with English version provided) and in English, with sprinklings of Mandarin and Tagalog; the last part of the book contains an increasing number of concrete poems. In each section, the author’s voice very clearly states what he thinks now, today, in view of what is going on now, today.
The relationships speak of old loss, just as painful now as when it first occurred, and the poem ‘invictus redux’ (pp 15-16, quoted in full) seems to speak for the collection as a whole:

this was your favourite verse.
   something I did not know
                                  until     later.
   far too late.
   your life
   revoked its rhythm
   rescinded its rhyme,
   would never reach
   crescendo.
   we     became     fissured.
   not masters of our fates
   nor captains of our souls.
   the kōrero we never had
   the mokopuna we never shared
   our future time together
   a speculative fiction.
   now only words remain.
   a brusque poem
   on bulimic paper,
   wrenched from an aged book
   lorn in a hick town library
   no one remembers
   but me.
The third section (and parts of the second) contains much more anger – as well as more Te Reo – and is very much in tune with the idea of ‘now’: the history and tragedies of this land stands out, reinforcing the belated moves to teach a corrected account of 19th century history to New Zealanders.
With a multilingual poet, it’s always a temptation – though no proof is possible, I suppose – to wonder why they are pushed towards one language rather than another for a particular poem. In this section, there are more Te Reo poems than elsewhere in the book, and the outrage seems to grow in the same proportion.
Early on (‘he parekura: Ōrākau 1864’, pp 81-84), Rapatahana quotes the New Zealand Herald’s 1864 casual description of slaughtered women and children, describing his visit to the site with the refrain
   does anyone know what happened there?
   does anyone care?
In this poem, he includes Te Reo in direct quotes. In the next poem, ‘te korekore tonu’ (pp 85-86), the whole poem is in Te Reo. Pages later, he is insistent that speakers of both languages listen to him equally, and his format changes to two languages side by side in columns (though I’m unable to compare meanings for both). ‘so the theft continues/na reira ka haere tonu te tāhae’ points the finger in no uncertain terms:
   so the theft continues
   –less manifest this
   time around–
   but still white fingers
   in the cake, eh
   poking, ever poking
   into the core
   while licking off the
   icing.
In the final section, emotions and ideas, the poet reaches into his memory for other feelings, to accompany (but not replace or erase) the anger.  The wisdom of a long life speaks (‘coloratura’, pp 130-131):
   be kind to your younger self.
   they did not know.
   be forgiving
   of their foolish acts.
   ...
   love
   who you once were.
   be generous
   to that former self,
   in a coloratura
   to that unversed mimic
   no longer gazing back
   from the mirror.
Interestingly, this last section is very heavy on concrete poems. Perhaps this a hint that words themselves are not enough – that where they sit and what shape they take is just as important as grabbing handfuls out of the dictionary, whichever language we choose.
here to edit.

Review by Mary Cresswell

Title: ināianei/now
Author: Vaughan Rapatahana
Publisher: Cyberwit, Allahabad, India
ISBN: 978-81-8253-774-3
RRP: NZ$27.00, US$18 +p&p
Available: from the publisher http://www.cyberwit.net
and from Amazon

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One night, one lion, one cake

4/3/2022

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Lion Guards the Cake
by Ruth Paul

You’ve seen those stone lions that stand as guardians at entrances. You may even have a pair on your gateposts. But do you know what they may get up to during the night?
This is a story of one night, and one such lion who takes his role of guardian very seriously.

Lion sits above the yard,
Hour by hour, keeping guard.
But in the dusk he slips his post,
quietly, like a golden ghost,
and goes to where he’s needed most.

The title and the cover give clues about what this defender of the household is up to on this particular night.
The rhyme and metre of the text are bouncy and appealing with recurring lines that encourage even the littlest listeners to participate in the telling.
As with all picture books from Scholastic New Zealand, the 32 pages are beautifully laid out and illustrated with full-colour full-page pictures that add detail to the text.
This story of Lion’s night-time dedication to duty, written and illustrated by Ruth Paul, is bound to be a much requested bedtime favourite of many children.

Review by Emily R

Title: Lion Guards the Cake
Author: Ruth Paul
Publisher: Scholastic New Zealand
ISBN: 9781775437451
RRP: $19.99
Available: bookshops

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Pitch-perfect detective crime thriller

Splendid accomplishment

Novel shows generational contrasts

Multilingual poems in collection

One night, one lion, one cake

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