Paul Cleave | |
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 Paul Cleave at WORD Christchurch 2018 | |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
Paul Cleave (born 10 December 1974) is a crime fiction author from New Zealand.
Paul Cleave | |
|---|---|
| Paul Cleave at WORD Christchurch 2018 | |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
Paul Cleave (born 10 December 1974) is a crime fiction author from New Zealand.
Paul Cleave is an internationally bestselling author who is currently dividing his time between his home city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where all of his novels are set, [1] and Europe. His work has been translated into 18 languages. He has won the Ngaio Marsh Award for best crime novel in New Zealand three times, he won the Saint-Maur book festival's crime novel of the year in France, has been shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Barry Award in the US, and shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award in Australia.
His first published novel, The Cleaner, was released by Random House in 2006 and was listed as the top-selling crime/thriller title for 2007 on Amazon in Germany. It was also shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing. [2] The Cleaner was subsequently adapted into a television series called Dark City: The Cleaner by producers John Barnett and Chloe Smith. Cohen Holloway and Chelsie Florence starred as the two main leads. The series was funded by Lionsgate, the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air, Sky Television and ChristchurchNZ's Screen CanterburyNZ fund. Filming for the series took place in Christchurch in 2023. [3] The series debuted on 4 March 2024 on Neon, Sky Go and SoHo. [4] [5]
In September 2009, Cleave's novel Cemetery Lake was published in the United Kingdom by Arrow Books. When talking about setting his books in Christchurch in an article in Crime Time magazine, Cleave said: "Christchurch is a great setting for crime – it has two sides to it, there's the picture perfect setting you see on postcards everywhere, but there's also a dark, Gotham City feel here which has, sadly, turned this city into the murder capital of New Zealand. I love making Christchurch a character for the books, creating an 'alternate' version of the city, where the main character often muses that 'Christchurch is broken'." [6]
His fourth novel, Blood Men, was released in February 2010. Cleave won the 2010 Ngaio Marsh Best Crime Novel Award for Blood Men. [2]
His fifth novel, entitled Collecting Cooper (2011), is again set in his home town of Christchurch (the setting for all his novels) and sees the return of Theodore Tate, who was introduced in Cemetery Lake. It was shortlisted for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Best Crime Novel Award. [2]
His sixth novel, The Laughterhouse (2012), is the third novel in Theodore Tate quartet. It was shortlisted for the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Awards. [2]
His seventh novel, Joe Victim (2013), is a sequel to The Cleaner and was shortlisted for the 2014 Edgar Allan Poe Awards. [7]
His eighth novel, Five Minutes Alone (2014), is the fourth book in the Theodore Tate quartet. It won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Fiction. [2]
Trust No One is a stand-alone novel featuring a retired crime writer, Jerry Grey, who has developed Alzheimers. He confesses to crimes that he wrote about - but the lines between what happened in his books and what is happening start to blur.
A Killer Harvest follows the story of Joshua who receives an eye transplant after his fathers dies. He has been blind from birth but due to a medical mishap, he receives two different eyes, and learns about a thing call cellular memory. He can see images and memories from two different people - his father and a killer.
 | This article lacks ISBNs for the books listed.(August 2020) |
The books focus on Joe Middleton, a serial killer who works as a janitor for the Christchurch police department.
"Most people come back from New Zealand talking about the breathtaking scenery and the amazing experiences. I came back raving about Paul Cleave. These are stories that you won’t forget in a while: relentlessly gripping, deliciously twisted and shot through with a vein of humour that’s as dark as hell. Cleave creates fictional monsters as chilling and as charming as any I’ve ever come across. Anyone who likes their crime fiction on the black and bloody side should move Paul Cleave straight to the top of their must-read list." Mark Billingham, award-winning crime writer
“...an eccentric, intriguing and rather gory story." – Alison Pressley, Good Reading [16]
“Cleave also has an excellent ability to keep the surprises coming as the book unfolds, and at the same time has carefully and cleverly mapped out the journey of a criminally insane mind unravelling." – Lucy Clark, Sunday Telegraph
"Paul Cleave... is a talent to watch" – The Courier-Mail
“It's an exceptional debut by young New Zealand writer Paul Cleave whose concept of telling a story from a mass murderer's viewpoint is compelling." – Ray Chesterton, Saturday Daily Telegraph
"Cleave's writing is uncompromising, unpredictable, and enthralling... Made me vomit – seriously, it's that good" – Jack Heath, author, THE LAB
"...an impressive novel from a talented writer..." Craig Sisterson, Good Reading [17]
"If ever a debut novel deserved the description of 'a tour de force', THE CLEANER by New Zealander Paul Cleave is it.", Denise Pickles, Mary Martin Books, Australia. [18]
Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.
Gregory William McGee is a New Zealand writer and playwright, who also writes crime fiction under the pseudonym Alix Bosco.
Barbara Ewing is a New Zealand actress, playwright and novelist based in the UK. In the 1980s Ewing played the character Agnes Fairchild in British comedy series Brass. Ewing's novel The Petticoat Men was shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award in 2015.
Death at the Bar is a crime novel by Ngaio Marsh, the ninth to feature her series detective Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard and published in 1940 by Collins (UK) and Little, Brown (USA).
Colour Scheme is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the twelfth novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1943 by Collins Crime Club. The novel takes place in the Northland region of New Zealand during World War II; the plot involves suspected espionage activity at a hot springs resort on the coast of New Zealand's Northland region.
Vanda Symon is a crime writer and radio host from Dunedin, New Zealand, and the Chair of the Otago Southland Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. Three of her novels have been shortlisted for New Zealand's annual Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.
Carl Nixon is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer and playwright. He has written five novels and a number of original plays which have been performed throughout New Zealand, as well as adapting both Lloyd Jones' novel The Book of Fame and Nobel prize winner J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace for the stage.
Charlotte Grimshaw is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer, columnist and former lawyer. She has written both fiction and non-fiction, often drawing on her legal experience. Her short stories and longer works often have interlinked themes and characters, and feature psychological and family dramas.
Michael Te Arawa Bennett is a New Zealand writer, scenarist and director for film and television.
Brian Falkner is a novelist who was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He has one brother and two sisters. He attended The University of Auckland and studied Computer Science. He attained a diploma of journalism from the Auckland University of Technology then worked for Radio New Zealand. He moved to the South Island of New Zealand where he resided until the age of 26 when he returned to Auckland. His first novel for children was published in 2003. He has received a number of prestigious awards including the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Science Fiction.
Brannavan Gnanalingam is a New Zealand author and practicing lawyer with the New Zealand firm Buddle Findlay at its Wellington office.
The Ngaio Marsh Awards, popularly called the Ngaios, are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand to recognise excellence in crime fiction, mystery, and thriller writing. The Awards were established by journalist and legal editor Craig Sisterson in 2010, and are named after Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of the four Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The Award is presented at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival in Christchurch, the hometown of Dame Ngaio.
Chelsie Florence Preston Crayford, sometimes credited as Chelsie Florence, is a New Zealand actress.
Ben Sanders is a bestselling crime writer from Auckland, New Zealand. His work has received critical acclaim, been shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award, and his fourth novel, American Blood, has been optioned for film adaptation by Warner Bros, with four-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper slated to play the lead role.
Tina Shaw is a New Zealand author.
Des Hunt is a New Zealand teacher and a writer for children and young adults. Several of his books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, including Cry of the Taniwha which won the Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book in 2016. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award in 2017. He lives in Matarangi, Coromandel Peninsula.
R.W.R McDonald is a New Zealand author, living in Melbourne, Australia best known for his crime novels The Nancys. and Nancy Business
Becky Manawatu is a New Zealand writer. In 2020, she won two Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her first novel, Auē and Best Crime Novel at the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Kirsten McDougall is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer and creative writing lecturer. She has published three novels, and won the 2021 Sunday Star-Times short story competition.
Dark City: The Cleaner is a New Zealand crime fiction television series based on author Paul Cleave's 2006 novel The Cleaner. The series was co-produced by John Barnett and Chloe Smith, with Cohen Holloway and Chelsie Florence starring as the two man characters Joe Middleton and Melissa Flowers. Dark City: The Cleaner was funded by Lionsgate, the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air, Sky Television and ChristchurchNZ's Screen CanterburyNZ fund. The series debuted on 4 March 2024 on Neon, Sky Go and SoHo.
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