About the author
Justin Warren was born in Westport, New Zealand. His father was a newspaper reporter, his mother a dental nurse. Justin's parents purchased The Westport News and employed their son as a reporter from the age of 15, fostering a love of writing that has survived to this day. Justin studied at the University of Canterbury, graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce, and embarked on a career in teaching. He currently works at a large New Zealand high school where he is the Head of Commerce.
Justin decided to write his first novel during a stopover at Sydney Airport. His plane was delayed and he was without anything to read so he purchased a novel from the local bookshop. However, as he read, it dawned on him that the story did not flow and that he could do better. Six months later the idea for DEAD GROUND was born and one year after that the first draft of the manuscript was completed.
The work of Michael Connelly has had a major impact on the style and pacing of Justin’s writing. Other authors that have influenced his work include Raymond Chandler, Ian Rankin and Ben Sanders.
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dead ground
Dylan Harper is a young, up and coming detective with a point to prove. When he and his mentor, Detective Joe Gardella, are summoned to the office of the Chief of Police and given an assignment that is outside their jurisdiction, they sense something is up. Sent across the country to investigate the disappearance of a small town newspaper reporter, Harper and Gardella find themselves a long way from home and working without any backup.
Almost as soon as they arrive, Harper becomes aware someone is watching them. As the detectives begin to sift through the evidence and zero in on a suspect, strange things start to occur. Chasing down a lead late one night Harper glimpses a shadowy figure lurking in the fog and after a frantic search all he hears is an eerie laugh trailing off into the mist. The next morning Harper wakes to find his tires slashed and then Gardella is called back to the city leaving Harper alone and exposed. When someone scrawls a mysterious set of numbers on the wall of Harper’s hotel room, it sends the case in a whole new direction and threatens to destroy his career before it’s even truly begun.
the dylan harper series
DEAD GROUND, THE LEWIS PASS, and The Night Belongs To Her are out now. To get copies
A night of crime!
The Ngaio Marsh Awards are back. Meet some of the authors. Rangiora Library, Friday, May 26, 7 pm.
Excerpt from THE NIGHT BELONGS TO HER
“The strange happenings went away after that night. No more uninvited visitors or disappearing phones or doors opening by themselves or music playing of its own accord. Aurora was free. I hoped she was happy. I hoped she was … somewhere. Not here. Not caught in this place. Somewhere she could find peace. But from time to time I would wake thinking I had heard something. Of course, there was never anything there. Only my mind playing tricks on me. But occasionally, especially after dark, I still thought of her. Because while the day is for the living. The night belongs to her.”