Category Archives: Kiwi author

The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone

Posted on 13 October 2024 by Barbara Howe

The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone, by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward, is a Kiwi-infused mystery set in Havelock North, a town in New Zealand’s Hawk’s Bay region. This story about two ex-Brit coppers turned bookstore owners is written by … Continue reading →

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2023 Recap

Posted on 1 January 2024 by Barbara Howe

I started 2023 with a list of eight books I was excited about reading. Unfortunately, an intriguing concept doesn’t always turn into a compelling story, and I ultimately abandoned several of them, and none of them made it onto the … Continue reading →

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Tides of Magic, Tides of Change

Posted on 21 September 2023 by Barbara Howe

Tides of Magic and Tides of Change are the first two books in a series of fantasy novellas by New Zealand author Andi R. Christopher. Both are charming, feel good stories; a pleasant antidote when the tidal wave of bad … Continue reading →

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Quiet in Her Bones

Posted on 13 January 2023 by Barbara Howe

 Ten years ago, Nina Parvati Rai vanished without a trace, taking with her a quarter of a million dollars in cash. Her disappearance was assumed to be an act of defiance: a bored socialite’s revenge on her wealthy, controlling husband. … Continue reading →

Posted in Kiwi author, Mysteries, New Zealand | 2 Comments

2022 Recap

Posted on 16 December 2022 by Barbara Howe

I started off this year with a post about the half-dozen books on the top of my TBR pile, and was only happy with one of them (When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain). What about the others? I loved … Continue reading →

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The Rogue and the Peasant

Posted on 2 December 2022 by Barbara Howe

Esme is destined to be a queen. At least, that’s what her mother has always said, and Esme doesn’t doubt her, despite living like a peasant in a small village all her life, where she plays—and fights—with the miller’s children, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fairy Tales, Kiwi author | 1 Comment

Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand

Posted on 19 November 2022 by Barbara Howe

Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand is a recent anthology of stories around 10,000 words each, shorter than a novella but longer than the typical short story. For me, these long stories (novelettes?) were a nice change of … Continue reading →

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Aftermath

Posted on 5 November 2022 by Barbara Howe

Aftermath: Stories of Survival in Aotearoa New Zealand is a collection of about two dozen stories, poems, and images, set in post-apocalyptic New Zealand. The disasters represented range from the quite possible (catastrophic climate change, nuclear war, earthquakes, pandemics, …) … Continue reading →

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A Trio of Short Reviews

Posted on 19 August 2022 by Barbara Howe

A trio of books, all by New Zealand authors: Ten Acceptable Acts of Arson: and other very short stories, by Jack Remiel Cottrell, is a collection of flash or micro fiction; the longest stories are a page and a half, … Continue reading →

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Isobar Precinct

Posted on 18 February 2022 by Barbara Howe

Lestari Cassidy and her two friends have witnessed a murder. Or have they? The video they captured on a cell phone agrees with what they reported to the police—a man’s throat is slit; blood sprays out, soaking the shrubbery—but the … Continue reading →

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