SYNOPSIS
Two murders. Two decades apart.
One chance to get justice.
Hana Westerman has left Auckland and her career as a detective behind her. Settled in a quiet coastal town, all she wants is a fresh start.
The discovery of a skeleton in the dunes near her house changes everything. The remains are those of a young Māori woman who went missing four years before, and Hana has a connection to the case. Twenty years ago, a schoolfriend of hers was found buried in the exact same spot. Her killer died in prison, but did the police get the wrong man? And if he was innocent, then why did he plead guilty?
No longer part of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Hana turns to her ex-husband Jaye, a high-flying Detective Inspector, for help. But when he cuts her out of the investigation, she realises that she will have to find the answers she needs on her own.
But in digging deeper, she sets herself on a potentially fatal collision course with a killer.
MY REVIEW
I had the pleasure of reading book one in this series in 2022 Better The Blood where the reader was introduced to Māori Hana Westerman who at the time was still a detective. in this book she has left the Auckland Criminal Investigation Bureau and has moved back home. ro Tata Bay, living with her dad ,Eru.Her daughter Addison and her friend Plus 1, with their puppy Boca, are living in Hana’s apartment.
Addison and Plus 1 are visiting Hana and Eru enjoying a stroll on the beach when Addison lets out a scream calling her mum. As Hana arrives Addison has stumbled across human bones, the way the body is positioned it is clearly a murder. But 21 years earlier near that same spot another girls body had been found, that was the body of Paige Meadows but the killer had been caught and went to prison where he died. Could they have got the wrong man? Eru had never believed they had got the right person in the first place.
The body found turns out to be Kiri Thomas, a young Māori girl who had disappeared 4 years earlier, she had battled drug addiction, but had joined the Youth at Risk Group. So she would have been known by Senior Sergeant Lorraine Delaney, who worked with the group. She is now investigating the murder with Hana’s ex husband Jaye Hamilton. Hana is told several times to leave the work to them, that she is no longer an acting officer.
Hana’s life now is working with young Maori’s who need a driving licence she helps to prepare them to take their test. She is also doing insurance work for a private agency. But she cannot help but looking into some things regarding the death of Kiri. Addison is also struggling with finding the body, she had been the same age as Addison.
This book covers a number of Māori traditions, the author uses the proper names for these, then translates the meaning at the bottom of the page, it covers culture, mythology, history, lives and concepts, this adds depth to the Māori side of things which is quite educational and interesting. The story is told through Hana and her life outside of the force, interspersed with chapters of Kiri’s life. The crime side is investigated but it is more of a secondary thing. The story is interesting and sad from Kiri’s point. But there is a terrific twist at the end of the book that I didn’t see coming at all.
An engrossing, interesting read, I am wondering whether Hana will be returning to the force in the next book or will she continue to stay at home to be with her father. The relationship between Addison and Plus1 is interesting as well, I enjoyed how that was developing how Addison became distracted from it as she also wanted to know more about Kiri. Overall a good read I look forward to book 3. Thank you to @Simon SchusterUK @likely_suspects for sending me an ARC of this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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 being shortlisted for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for both Best First Novel and Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards. 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.
Jackie’s Reading Corner 