The 12 books up for the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, the New Zealand crime fiction award, were announced July 14.

2021 BEST NOVEL

• The Stone Weta, by Octavia Cade (Paper Road Press)
• The Girl in the Middle, by Rose Carlyle (Allen & Unwin)
• The Snow Thief, by C.J. Carver (Right Nuisance)
• Shakti, by Rajorshi Chakraborti (Penguin)
• Dance Prone, by David Coventry (Pan Macmillan)
• The Murder Club, by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press)
• Sprigs, by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)
• Caught Between, by Jeannie McLean (Self-published)
• The Tally Stick, by Carl Nixon (Random House)
• The Secrets of Strangers, by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)
• Tell Me Lies, by J.P. Pomare (Hachette)
• Soldiers, by Tom Remiger (Text)

INAUGURAL PRIZE FOR NOVEL FOR YOUNGER READERS. Also, for the first time, a commendation will be presented to a novel written specifically for younger readers. The finalists are:

• Katipo Joe: Blitzkrieg, by Brian Falkner (Scholastic New Zealand)
• Red Edge, by Des Hunt (Scholastic New Zealand)
• A Trio of Sophies, by Eileen Merriman (Penguin)
• Deadhead, by Glenn Wood (OneTree House)

The Ngaio Marsh finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-fiction will be announced on August 28. The winners will be unveiled in October.