Return to Blood - Michael Bennett

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Résumé :
WINNER OF THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2025

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 M?ori 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.

PRAISE FOR RETURN TO BLOOD:

'Another cracking, page-turning journey into another culture' VAL McDERMID
'The vivid picture of ethnic cultural life alone marks out the book as special, but it's Bennett's control of a tense narrative that is key' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Evocative' CRIME MONTHLY
'A confident, convincing work in a crowded genre' NZ LISTENER
'A powerful novel that stays in the mind long after it is finished' JEFF POPPLE
'His deep understanding of marginalised communities, family tensions and the travails of our justice system enrich the novel . . . Return to Blood shows a writer in full command of his material and which reaches deeper into our shared human experience. It also has a surprise ending few readers will be able to predict' GREG FLEMING
'Even better (if possible!) than his searing debut - Michael Bennett's latest, Return to Blood, had me moved to tears of empathy and rage within the first fifty pages. Richly evocative New Zealand detail, a take-no-prisoners female M?ori detective and a riveting crime make for a sizzling and culturally important page-turner' ALEXANDRA SOKOLOFF...

Biographie:
Michael Bennett (Ng?ti Pikiao, Ng?ti 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 for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards and Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, where it won the award for Best First Novel. Return to Blood, the second novel in the acclaimed series, won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in 2025. ? 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 M?ori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the M?ori filmmaking community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling. ? He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand), with his partner Jane, and children T?hema, M?hina and Matariki....

Sommaire:
Michael Bennett (Ng?ti Pikiao, Ng?ti 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 for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards and Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, where it won the award for Best First Novel. 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 M?ori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the M?ori filmmaking community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling. He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand), with his partner Jane, and children T?hema, M?hina and Matariki....