A few days ago we brought you the shortlists for Australia’s Ned Kelly Awards. Well, New Zealand too has an prize for its crime authors – The Ngaio Marsh Award. Instead of naming it after a local criminal, this gong takes its moniker from Dame Ngaio Marsh, a hugely popular author of Golden Age crime fiction between the 1930s and 1982, when she passed away. The shortlist for the 2012 award has been announced.

Now, we haven’t read any of these books so can’t pass comment on them, but with an international panel of judges narrowing down the longlist to a shortlist, they must have something going for them.

Collecting Cooper by Paul Cleave
Published by Simon & Schuster, this one sees ex-cop/ex-con Theodore Tate investigating the disappearances of psychology professor Cooper Riley, and student Emma Green. It’s set in Christchurch

Luther: The Calling by Neil Cross
Bristol-born Neil Cross now lives in Wellington. Yes, this book is about the one and same Luther who appears in the BBC crime series and in The Calling we get a look at DCI John Luther’s past, which is full of vengeance and anger, apparently.

By Any Means by Ben Sanders
A shooter kills a man in a crowded Auckland street on a busy Friday evening and coppers Devereaux and Hale must hunt down the killer. All is not as it seems in Ben Sanders’ novel.

Bound by Vanda Symon
This one’s set in the New Zealand town of Dunedin and starts off with a home invasion that culminates in murder. Detective Sam Shepherd investigates the death of the businessman and it seems two powerful criminals were involved… until the bodycount starts rising.

The winner will be announced at the Christchurch Writers Festival next month. For more on Kiwi crime fiction visit this excellent blog.