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The riveting follow-up to the acclaimed crime debut Better the Blood . Having left Auckland''s Central Investigation Branch, Hana Westerman has moved to the coast for a fresh start. When the skeleton of a young Māori woman who went missing a decade before is discovered in the dunes near her house, Hana is drawn into the investigation. Twenty years ago a schoolfriend of hers was found buried in the exact same spot. But her killer died in prison. Did the police get the wrong man? And, if so, why did he plead guilty? No longer part of the CIB, Hana turns to her ex-husband Jaye for help, but when Jaye cuts her out of the investigation, Hana must fidn the answers she needs on her own to get justice for both women. And all the while her daughter Addison is being drawn into the world of the victim found in the sand dunes . . . and a potentially fatal collision course with her killer. Praise for Better the Blood : ''A compelling, atmospheric page turner with an authentic insight into Māori culture'' Val McDermid ''A tensely plotted, gritty crime novel that has the courage to force us all to rethink our relationship with the past'' Vaseem Khan ''Stunning . . . a gripping mystery, complex and memorable characters, and timely social and cultural commentary. Don’t miss it'' David Heska Wanbli Weiden, author of Winter Counts
Info autore
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, director and author. His first book, a non-fiction work telling the true story of New Zealand’s worst miscarriage of justice, In Dark Places, won Best Non-Fiction Book at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Michael's second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas, is a time-travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang.
Better the Blood, the first Hana Westerman thriller, was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction/Ockham New Zealand Book Award, as well as for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards and Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, where it won the award for Best First Novel. Return to Blood, the second novel in the acclaimed series, won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in 2025.
Michael's short and feature films have won awards internationally and have screened at numerous festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London and Melbourne. Michael is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the Māori filmmaking community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling.
He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand), with his partner Jane, and children Tīhema, Māhina and Matariki.
