‘Carved in Blood’ by Michael Bennett

Published by Simon & Schuster,
24 April 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-39853678-4 (HB)

It’s cold, bleak winter in New Zealand, but all’s going well for former DS Hana Westerman. Her driving students have all passed their tests, and her daughter Addison announces her engagement to her partner, PLUS1. Then Hana’s ex-husband Jaye is shot in an off-licence robbery – or was it that simple?

This fast-moving police investigation novel is told in the present tense and third person, going between characters as they take up their parts in the story. Hana‘s the main focus, fuelled by emotional distress over Jaye’s shooting, and torn between her decision to leave the police and her wish for justice for him. The perp-hunt is in full swing when Addison is caught up in the investigation – she receives a phone call from a young woman, saying the police are getting it all wrong. Hana’s good friend Sebastian takes a hand in the game to bait a trap for a local restauranteur. The twists in the tale bring real feeling with them, and the suspense is heightened by chapters from the point of view of a chillingly unemotional killer. The whole book is steeped in the atmosphere and beliefs of the Maori community and culture, and the difficulties faced by young Maori folk are highlighted.

A gripping, moving police investigation novel that moves effortlessly between the world of corrupt top businessmen and the lives of young Maoris. It’s the third in the series, and though it works as a stand-alone, you might want to read the first and second  Hana Westerman books, Better The Blood and Return to Blood.
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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) is an award-winning New Zealand screenwriter and author whose films have been selected for numerous festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and New York. In 2008 Michael was the inaugural recipient of the Writers Award from the New Zealand Film Commission, and in 2005 he was awarded the British Council/New Zealand Writers Foundation Award. In 2011 Michael’s feature film Matariki won Best Feature Film Screenplay at the New Zealand Screenwriting Awards, and in 2013 he was awarded Best Documentary Screenplay for his documentary on the Teina Pora case, The Confessions of Prisoner T. He went on to publish In Dark Places in 2016, which won Best Non-Fiction Book at the Ngaio Marsh Awards and Best Biography/History at the Nga Kupu Ora Awards 2017. Michael lives in Auckland, New Zealand, and is Head of Screenwriting at South Seas Film School. 

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk