City Library’s 3rd floor turns to murder

The latest Reed Gallery exhibition, Authors in crime: A Journey through NZ crime fiction, opened on March 16th at City Library. The exhibition is the result of collaboration between Margie Michael, Victoria University of Wellington PhD candidate, and Lorraine Johnston, Heritage Collections Librarian at Dunedin Public Libraries. Lorraine and Margie met at the Centre for the Book Symposium last year where they got talking crime fiction. The result of this partnership in crime is an exhibition showcasing a vivid and lurid range of works from old-fashioned “penny dreadfuls” through sophisticated “whodunnits” to modern psychological thrillers.

Since Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was first published in 1886 and Gilbert Rock’s By Passion Driven in 1888, New Zealand has had a long tradition of crime writing. The exhibition draws on that tradition, taking you on a journey through time and around the world in the company of some of our finest, and lesser known, crime writers.

Although Hansom Cab was written and set in Melbourne, Hume grew up and was educated in Dunedin having immigrated with his family at the age of three. He went on to become one of the most prolific crime writers of his time. One section of the Gallery is dedicated to Hume, Rock and other writers of Dunedin or with a strong Dunedin association. Here you will find Vanda Symon’s Sam Shephard novels; Paddy Richardson’s psychological thrillers; and newcomer to Dunedin, Liam McIlvanney’s tales set in his native Scotland. There are also two Dunedin first novels: Andrew Porteous’s Kinglake Publishing Unpublished Author Award-winning A Political Affair, and Jane Woodham’s Twister.

The “Antipodean Queen of Crime”, Dame Ngaio Marsh, features alongside other internationally-acclaimed writers, such as Paul Thomas, Paul Cleave and Neil Cross. Fans of Marsh will recognise the inspiration for the exhibition title. Three cases are dedicated to Marsh, showing her first and last novels, her New Zealand-based stories, and those set in the theatre.

The exhibition has a strong emphasis on contemporary New Zealand writers in the hope of drawing more readers into the fascinating world of crime and detective fiction.

Authors in Crime: A journey through NZ crime fiction

Reed Gallery, Dunedin City Library

Runs until 11 June 2017