“There’s a dark side up there” – Crime writers meet for Northland Noir

It has some of the country's most beautiful beaches, the stunning Bay of Islands and is the cradle of New Zealand history – but some say Northland should also be known as a crime novel setting.

This is the premise of “Northland Noir,” a panel discussion for crime writers at the upcoming Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival.

Among the participants is Catherine Lea from Kerikeri, who has read crime novels all her life and has been writing her own thrillers since the 1990s.

Crime writer Catherine Lea from Kerikeri now sets all of her books in the far north.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Her first books were set in the US and published by Amazon because – so the theory went – ​​New Zealand readers and publishers had no interest in local literature.

But just as Kiwis have embraced local music, they have also discovered the joy of reading about themselves and the places they live.

Lea is now halfway through her four-volume Detective Inspector Nyree Bradshaw series, all of which are set in the far north and published by local publisher Bateman Books.

In the first – The water is dead – DI Bradshaw must solve a brutal murder in River Falls, a town with an eerie resemblance to Kerikeri.

The second in the series – Better to leave dead – The film is scheduled to open in Kerikeri this Sunday and is set in the fictional settlement of Waimana North in the far north. The deeper the dead will be set on the exclusive island of Taranui, a location inspired by Urupukapuka in the Bay of Islands.

“The far north offers everything a crime writer could wish for,” says Lea.

“There are secrets, there are personal agendas, there is cultural diversity and it is beautiful. We have the beaches and the stuff from the tourist brochures, but all of this is juxtaposed with terrible poverty. I call it a vast sea of ​​poverty in which small islands of wealth and privilege survive.”

According to Lea, there are also gangs and real crime in the north, as well as a dramatic under-resourcement of public services.

“But at the end of the day, it's about people. Everyone in these places is trying to get along with each other. It's about how they get through their lives and what problems they might face.”

Also participating in the panel is Angus Gillies, co-author of High North with film director David White.

He describes the book as the true story behind the television series of the same name, which is based on a comically botched attempt to land half a ton of methamphetamine on Ninety Mile Beach in 2016.

Scene from the television series Far North with Temuera Morrison and Robyn Malcolm.
Photo: Delivered / Matt Klitscher

Gillies, who splits his time between Kawakawa and Auckland, was very familiar with this incredible story thanks to his previous work as a producer at Newshub.

He was also able to draw on his first-hand knowledge of Northland.

“There's a dark side up there. I noticed that when I moved here. All the motorcycles zipping around on all the roads and going to hard to reach places… Things are happening that we don't know about. And a lot more,” says Gillies.

“It’s definitely a really interesting place to set crime novels or crime books in general.”

Whangārei author Michael Botur, best known for his horror story collections such as Blood alcohol And The devil took hersays High North has helped to make the region known in the crime world.

“High Norththe book and the series were really important because they offer this beautiful juxtaposition of all the beauty and all the sleepiness of the Far North and Ahipara with organized crime, violence and all kinds of unpleasant things.”

Whangārei author Michael Botur is best known for his horror stories.
Photo:

Botur says he tries to capture the same juxtaposition in his current book. Glass Barbiewhich he describes as a buddy-cop road trip crime thriller told from the perspective of an unreliable crack addict.

The story begins in Whangārei, continues north to Kaitāia, where the protagonist fails to rescue a kidnapped drug user, and ends in Haruru in the Bay of Islands with a showdown at a tattoo convention.

Just as Lea draws on her experience as a volunteer with the Community Patrol, Botur draws on insights he gained as a researcher from interviewing people who had just been arrested for drug offenses.

Botur says it is also worth writing about places you know.

“If you can incorporate your life experiences into a story when you write, you will produce more compelling material.”

All three authors are participating in a writers panel called Northland Noir, part of the upcoming Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival.

Co-director Dave Armstrong says the idea was inspired by the large number of crime writers who call the region home.

“Upsurge Festival really wants to be a festival for the Bay of Islands, not an imported festival from somewhere else. We try to do things that have a lot to do with Northland, so we thought this would be a good theme.”

The Northland Noir panel is chaired by Tūtūkākā author Lauren Roche.
Photo: Delivered

Northland Noir is hosted by Lauren Roche, a Tūtūkākā author best known for her memoirs and whose debut novel Mila and the Bone Mantakes place in a forest in the far north.

She is now working on three books simultaneously.

Roche says she felt a strong sense of belonging from the moment she moved to Northland.

“I can't really explain it. Especially Hokianga. I went there and it was like coming home. It's a place full of character and breathtakingly beautiful,” she says.

“But Northland also has quite a dark side, which is partly shaped by poverty and inequality. There are places of enormous wealth, and these are right next to places where the poverty is very obvious. There are beaches and forests so big you could hide anything in them. And there are secrets surrounding the forest and all kinds of conspiratorial conversations about what's in the forest. It's a fabulous place to set a book.”

Armstrong says there's something for everyone at Upsurge, even those who aren't crime fans.

“Troy Kingi opens the festival. We have Hollie Smith and a wonderful piece called Krishnan's Dairy by Jacob Rajan. We have the Royal New Zealand Ballet with 100 children from Moerewa, Kawakawa and Oromahoe. They are performing a work inspired by a book by Whangārei children's author Ataria Sharman called Hine and the Tohunga Portal. That, in turn, has a connection to Northland. We have top comedian Abby Howells and lots of smaller shows at the Black Box Theatre in Kerikeri. It's a real smorgasbord.”

Upsurge 2024 will take place from 8 to 15 September at various venues in Kerikeri, Haruru, Waimate North and Russell.

Northland is considered the cradle of New Zealand's history, but some say the city should also be known for its crime fiction.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf