Christchurch Noir
Christchurch, New Zealand is one of my favourite cities in the world and I was heartbroken to hear of yesterday's earthquake. I recently read a mystery set in Christchurch and it seems an appropriate time to write about it.
I once sat in a Christchurch coffee shop long after closing time because the proprietor was too polite to ask me to leave. Paul Cleave's Christchurch is not nearly that pleasant. His is a town of unexpected violence where outwardly normal people struggle constantly with their inner demons, and frequently lose the battle. In Collecting Cooper former policeman Theo Tate knows all about that. As the book opens he's just being released from after serving a four-month prison term. Haunted by previous investigations, Tate wants to stay away from criminal investigation, but a serial killer is targeting police officers and one of Tate's former colleagues asks him to help. He also becomes involved with a missing persons investigation. Several people have gone missing in Christchurch and one of them is Emma Green, a young woman Tate knows well. She had very nearly been killed by Tate in the DUI accident that landed him in prison and he is compelled to investigate, determined to find her alive.
It's a dark, violent and thoroughly intriguing novel.
Collecting Cooper is the second book to feature Theo Tate. He made his first appearance in the novel Cemetary Lake.
3 thoughts on “Christchurch Noir”
Fascinating! Thanks.
“dark, violent and thoroughly intriguing” – a great way to describe this novel, which was one of my very favourite reads of 2011 (out of 88 crime novels, and 100 books overall).
I’ve been to Christchurch and it’s one of my favorite cities too. I’m very interested to read Paul Cleave’s book. Thanks much for sharing.