Joan's picks: 17 Years Later and Unmasking Monsters

17 Years Later by J.P. Pomare - who is of course a New Zealander, although I believe these days he lives in Melbourne. He writes terrific thrillers which are often set here, and this time, a family have been murdered in their beds in Cambridge and their chef convicted and sent to prison. Many years later, the prison psychologist is convinced that he didn’t get a fair trial and an Australian podcaster takes an interest in the case and travels here to research it for her show. The two of them team up to investigate what actually happened, which is where the author really shines. He sent me down several rabbit holes and had me off on the wrong track, with a book that’s full of surprises and thriller twists. 

 Unmasking Monsters by David (Chook) Henwood. The author spent almost 40 years with the New Zealand Police and in the early days was part of a team trying unsuccessfully for some years to hunt down a serial rapist who was terrorising South Auckland. They were instrumental in developing Criminal Profiling which had not been used here before but enabled them finally to catch their man, and it’s been in use ever since, forever changing the way that policing is done in New Zealand. His stories about his time with the force are fascinating – some criminals became friends – and he shows real insight and empathy into the lives of many of the people he came into contact with. 

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