Debut author and winner of the Allen and Unwin Fiction Prize 2023, Gavin Strawhan, is no stranger to storytelling. Originally from Australia, and now based in New Zealand, he is the creator/writer, show runner and executive producer of myriad New Zealand and international shows.

Auckland cop, DS Honey Chalmers has returned home to the coastal town of Waitutū to care for her mother who is in the early stages of dementia. Her mother is not happy about her decline
and is scratchy and difficult. Honey herself is still healing both her body and mind from a brutal attack by members of the outlaw motorcycle gang, the Reapers, who left her for dead months earlier, after a deal with an informer went south.

Honey’s return home is further complicated by the memories of her younger sister Scarlett’s unexpected suicide and the tentative rekindling of a friendship with her oldest friend, Marshall.

Honey’s informant, Khloe, who was the partner of a lower-level gang member, is missing and Honey presumes she’s dead. Just as Honey starts to unravel some of the mystery around her sister’s death, Khloe turns up, on the run and terrified for her life, tailed by two of the Reapers most feared enforcers.

From here the pace ramps up another notch. My heart was in my mouth as I sped through the final chapters to the shock-filled conclusion.

Strawhan has delivered a cracking read for his debut novel. The writing is tightly paced and assured in style. Even the more confronting moments of violence were contextual and not gratuitous. I kept turning the pages and making deals with myself for one more chapter.

The Call is a worthy addition to the stable of Australian and New Zealand crime writers who are making their mark both here and around the world.

Reviewed by Maryanne Vagg

Read an article about The Call by Gavin Strawhan

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gavin is a creator/writer/show runner and executive producer of many NZ and international shows.