Hana Westerman

'A compelling, atmospheric page turner with an authentic insight into Māori culture' Val McDermid A DETECTIVE IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH. A KILLER IN SEARCH OF RETRIBUTION. A CLASH BETWEEN CULTURE AND DUTY. THE PAST NEVER TRULY STAYS BURIED. WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF PARADISE. Detective Senior...

A tenacious Maori detective, Hana Westerman juggles single motherhood, endemic prejudice, and the pressures of her career in Auckland CIB. Led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man ritualistically hanging in a secret room and a puzzling inward-curving inscription. Delving into the investigation after a second, apparently unrelated, death, she uncovers a chilling connection to an historic crime: 160 years before, during the brutal and bloody British colonization of New Zealand, a troop of colonial soldiers unjustly executed a Maori Chief.

After the perils of a case that landed much too close to home, Hana Westerman turned in her badge and abandoned her career as a detective in the Auckland CIB. Hoping that civilian life will offer her the opportunity to rest and recalibrate, she returns to her hometown of Tata Bay, where she moves back in with her beloved father, Eru. Yet the memories of the past are everywhere, and as she goes for her daily run on the beach, Hana passes a local monument to Paige, a high school classmate who was murdered more than twenty years ago and hidden in the dunes overlooking the sea.

WINNER OF THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2025 WINNER OF THE 2025 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND BOOK INDUSTRY AWARDS, LIBRO.FM AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR 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...

THE GRIPPING NEW DUAL-VOICE THRILLER FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF BETTER THE BLOOD AND RETURN TO BLOOD. In the depths of the bleak New Zealand winter comes the rising of Matariki – a sacred constellation in Maori culture, heralding a time of new beginnings. For former Detective Senior...