The new year in local crime fiction begins with a nice surprise. Gavin Strawhan has been a showrunner and writer for many television productions. He kickstarted Shortland Street decades ago and was co-creator of 2019′s controversial television series Filthy Rich, which received millions in funding from NZ On Air but was not well received by critics.
This is his first venture into crime fiction and, on the strength of it, one wonders why he waited so long.
The Call – which was written during Covid lockdowns – won last year’s Allen & Unwin fiction prize and will likely be in contention for more awards as it is a deft and accomplished thriller debut.
Strawhan joins the growing roster of local crime novelists who have turned their hand to the craft after enjoying successful careers in other industries – one thinks of director and screenwriter Michael Bennett’s hugely successful Better the Blood and advertising honcho Simon Lendrum’s The Slow Roll.
The Call has much in common with those tightly plotted, character-rich books. This one is largely set in the fictional northern coastal settlement of Waitutu (“Everyone who stayed in Waitutu thought it was the best place in the world. Everyone who disagreed got out as soon as they could.”)
All three novels take a fresh approach to timely local issues (here, the 501 imports from Australia and their growing influence on organised crime) and set their stories in vividly depicted local settings.
The event of the title that sets Strawhan’s story into motion is an early-morning phone call to Auckland detective Honey Chalmers from Kloe, a battered mother-of-three who’s tired of the beatings and disrespect from her gang-affiliated partner.
The Reapers are 501 “blow ins” who have recently set up shop in Aotearoa and are working on an ambitious deal to bring in a large amount of methamphetamine through the Port of Tauranga, enlisting the help of a local gang.
That 4am call will change both women’s lives. It will lead to Chalmers receiving a vicious beating, which she’s lucky to survive, and set Kloe on a life or death journey as a police informant – a situation complicated when family members begin to suspect something is going on.
After Chalmers’ assault, she takes time off from the police and relocates to Waitutu to recover and take care of her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Here, Strawhan brings in the compelling backstory of Chalmers and her troubled younger sister, and their mutual connection and attraction to a man she was seeing before her death. Marshall is a bit of an enigma. He was awarded an iwi scholarship to study medicine but dropped out to serve time in Afghanistan, then had a spell in jail in Australia. He has since returned to his hometown to care for his uncle despite being shunned by the community for past transgressions.
A scene where Chalmers and Marshall go to the local pub for a game of pool and are met with barely concealed malevolence is a wonderful set piece.
While Chalmers rightly gets most of the page-time, Strawhan also depicts the high-stakes life of Kloe: “She was so busy trying not to give anything away, she couldn’t remember how to be. It was like trying to walk down steps. It came naturally to you, until you tried to deliberately put one foot after the other.”
Strawhan credits an anonymous detective with giving him valuable intel on the relationship between informant and handler, and it rings true. But best of all is DS Honey Chalmers. Strawhan captures her beautifully; tough, vulnerable and smart, and willing to step outside the rules to get things done.
Let’s hope this isn’t the last we see of her.
The Call by Gavin Strawhan (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) is out on March 19.
