Filmmaker and author Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) has been recognised for his crime writing, winning best first novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Bennett’s award was for Better the Blood, a thriller about a serial killer on the loose in Auckland, and Hana Westerman, a tenacious Māori detective juggling single motherhood and the pressures of her career in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch.
“When she’s led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man hanging in a secret room. Hana and her team work to track down the killer, searching for New Zealand’s first serial killer.”
The award-winning screenwriter and author said his lead character is a reflection of the “incredible women” in his life.
“Hana is a montage, an amalgam of so many strong women in my world. She’s an amalgam of my aunties, my sisters, my incredible daughters, of my mum - my mother’s maiden name was Westerman - [and] my partner,” Bennett said in an interview with Wardini Books in October 2022.
