On her first day back from maternity leave, Detective Sam Shephard is thrown straight into a cold-case investigation – the unsolved murder of a highly respected Anglican Priest in Dunedin.
The case has been a thorn in the side of the Police hierarchy, and for her boss it' s...Read more
A brutal home invasion shocks the nation. A man is murdered, his wife bound, gagged and left to watch.
But when Detective Sam Shephard scratches the surface, the victim, a successful businessman, is not all he seems to be. And when the evidence points to two of Dunedin's most...Read more
A killer targeting pregnant women.
A detective expecting her first baby…
The shocking murder of a heavily pregnant woman throws the New Zealand city of Dunedin into a tailspin, and the devastating crime feels uncomfortably close to home for Detective Sam Shephard...Read more
Detective Constable Sam Shepard knows first-hand the desperation of the scavengers- she's got the scars to prove it. Plus a skull in the sand. And a body pulled from the ocean. The undercurrents from one morning's madness are far-reaching. Who else will be caught in the backwash? Can Sam...Read more
I realise this is ridiculously, embarrassingly late, but better late than never right. The longlists were announced ages ago, as were the winners so a summary:
Ritual of Fire, DV Bishop (WINNER)...Read more
CONTAINMENT is the third in the Sam Shephard series from New Zealand writer Vanda Symon. It's rapidly stepped up to be one of my all time favourite series for a whole bunch of reasons.
Firstly these are truly humorous books. Subtly, ever so slightly tongue in cheek, the...Read more
Detective Sam Shephard is back, promoted (no longer a Detective Constable), working in the same squad as boyfriend Paul and still in head on confrontation with the boss, and slightly off centre confrontation with her mother. Which is particularly difficult as in BOUND Sam's much loved...Read more
The 5th novel in the Sam Shepherd series set in Dunedin, New Zealand, EXPECTANT is the latest work from Vanda Symon, the author Val McDermid refers to as "New Zealand's modern Queen of Crime" (fiction one hastens to add).
Sam Shepherd is an experienced, tough, up for anything...Read more