The shortlist for the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, the New Zealand crime fiction award, was announced September 15.

BEST NOVEL

• The Murder Club (Nikki Crutchley, Oak House Press)
• Sprigs (Brannavan Gnanalingam, Lawrence and Gibson)
• The Tally Stick (Carl Nixon, RHNZ Vintage)
• The Secrets of Strangers (Charity Norman, A&U)
• Tell Me Lies (J P Pomare, Hachette)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

• The Girl in the Mirror (Rose Carlyle, A&U)
• The Beautiful Dead (Kim Hunt)
• Where the Truth Lies (Karina Kilmore, S&S)
• For Reasons of Their Own (Chris Stuart, Original Sin)
• While the Fantail Lives (Alan Titchall, Devon Media)

BEST NONFICTION (BIENNIAL)

• Weed: A New Zealand story (James Borrowdale, Penguin)
• Rock College: An unofficial history of Mount Eden Prison (Mark Derby, Massey University Press)
• From Dog Collar to Dog Collar (Bruce Howat)
• Gangland (Jared Savage, HarperCollins NZ)
• Black Hands: Inside the Bain family murders (Martin Van Beynen, PRHNZ).

INAUGURAL PRIZE FOR NOVEL FOR YOUNGER READERS

• Katipo Joe (Brian Falkner, Scholastic NZ)
• Red Edge (Des Hunt, Scholastic NZ)
• A Trio of Sophies (Eileen Merriman, Penguin)
• Deadhead (Glenn Wood, OneTree House).

The winners will be revealed during an online event in association with WORD Christchurch on October 30.