David McGill is a New Zealand social historian and fiction writer who has published 61 books. Born in Auckland, educated in the Bay of Plenty and at a Christchurch seminary, he trained as a teacher and did a BA at Victoria University of Wellington. He worked as a feature writer for The Listener, Sydney’s The Bulletin, London’s TVTimes, wrote columns for the Evening Post in Wellington and edited a local lifestyle magazine before becoming a full-time writer in 1984. His book subjects include Ghost Towns of New Zealand and the country’s first bushranger, local and national heritage buildings, Kiwi prisoners of war, the history of the NZ Customs Department, a biography of a criminal lawyer, a personal history of rock music, a rail journey around the country, historical and comic novels, six collections of Kiwi slang and recently seven Dan Delaney thrillers based on real-life events which, wrote Australian crime reviewer Karen Chisholm, ‘is a series that’s been getting better and better.’ He has published in 2025 The Kotuku Creek Chronicles, subtitled ‘Comic Kiwi Rural Crime with a Political Twist, a revised and heavily re-edited version of three comic novels set in a fictitious coastal village not unlike his childhood home, which NZ Listener reviewer found ‘a veritable Milkwoodful of characters, and ‘a bit of a dag’. He collects owl figurines and reads thrillers.
Contact author at macdcat@live.com. My Dan Delaney Mysteries are all available as ebooks here.
Latest Book Launch
The new book that sums up all the other books
David McGill has shaped 63 books out of a lifetime of notetaking. His 64th book is about licking his notes into shape. From Little Oneroa to John o’Groats and challenging spots between, this ex-seminarian innocent abroad, a sort of modern-day Candide, provides answers for why
Peter O’Toole threw whisky in his face; his wife Sian Phillips gave him a ride in her chocolate brown Rolls Royce; Joan Collins said yes or no 32 times; Alec Guinness threatened with a killer dog; Jimi Hendrix played his last gig to a very few including him; the Methodist minister said it is nothing as the plane lost power over Israel; the Irish policewoman said keep walking; the Scottish policewoman said run like hell; The Niš Police dismisseth him with money; Kim Hill proposed on National Radio; Prime Minister Muldoon said ‘Whadya want?’; Roger Hall and he played hall soccer.
‘A master of compression.’
Review of Ghost Towns of New Zealand in the NZ Listener by its editor Monte Holcroft.
Contact David at macdcat@live.com/0274570293 or www.davidmcgill.co.nz
$30 plus 7.50 postage.
The Kotuku Creek Chronicles
Comic Kiwi Rural Crime with a Political Twist
New Editions Revised and Re-edited
These three comic novels revolve around a gold strike in the local creek, the sudden appearance of a geyser and the theft of a valuable stamp, threatening damnation and salvation for the sleepy New Zealand coastal community of Kotuku.
In the first novel the 1980s government restructuring has closed the post office, the petrol pumps and the railway station. Ex-postmaster Jack Cavanagh and struggling storekeeper Ron Atkinson are trying to unify the villagers and the retirement home snobs to save the last vestige of village life, the bowling club, target of property developer and drug pusher Bob Rogers. The gold-seekers overwhelming the village offer Bob further potential, but he goes too far when he tries to ransom Jack’s daughter. A generation later an earthquake creates a massive geyser that inspires a tourist invasion and exploitation by Bob Rogers and government agencies, opposed by local Maori protecting their land. Jack Cavanagh just wants to find his missing grandson Jason and friend the ex-stationmaster Rangi Rangihau. A mistreated, pie-pilfering Great Dane is Jack’s best chance, if he can entice it out of hiding. The final novel set in 1949 has a swarm of fortune hunters looking for a missing and very valuable Kotuku stamp, including the young Bob Rogers and other unscrupulous criminals employing arson, intimidation and the kidnapping of Jack Cavanagh’s son in pursuit of the stamp.
The chronicles depict villagers defending their peaceful lifestyle against threats from outside exploiters, a parable perhaps for the resilience of ordinary Kiwi blokes and fiery females.
The Listener identified ‘a veritable Milkwoodful of characters’, in ‘a shaggy sheep tale’ that is ‘a bit of a dag’. Daily Telegraph: ‘Colourful characters and dialogue add plenty of indigenous flavour to this cleverly crafted tale.’ Marlborough Express: ‘Smart pace … many twists and turns.’
Gold in the Creek, the first chronicle of the declining coastal village of Kotuku, has ex-postmaster Jack Cavanagh at the bowling club AGM fighting to stop its sale when word comes of a gold strike in the local creek. Everybody rushes to the creek, including the posh retirement folk and local clergy. The good news for drug entrepreneur Bob Rogers is the increased traffic, the bad news is his cash crop is nearby. Storekeeper Ron Atkinson sells out of digging implements, his wife cranks up the pie-making, pub owner Ruby Brough instructs husband Bert to order more beer while she dives into the creek. Gold-seeking riffraff swarm in and create mayhem. Bob Rogers does brisk business while protecting his assets with arson and dynamite. He goes too far, trying to ransom Cavanagh’s daughter. Jack is now fighting for her life.
Geyser in the Creek, the second chronicle a generation later, opens with an earthquake creating a massive geyser in the creek. This inspires a tourist invasion and exploitation by Bob Rogers and government agencies, opposed by local Maori protecting their land, but Jack Cavanagh just wants to find his missing grandson Jason and friend the ex-stationmaster Rangi Rangihau. A mistreated, pie-pilfering Great Dane is Jack’s best hope, if he can entice it out of hiding.
Stamp in the Creek, the final chronicle set in 1949, has fortune hunters looking for a missing and very valuable Kotuku stamp, including the young Bob Rogers and other unscrupulous criminals employing dynamite, arson, intimidation and the kidnapping of postmaster Jack Cavanagh’s son in pursuit of the stamp.
All novels are available as e-books on Amazon and 17 other publishers such as Apple and Kobo, each novel US$3.99 and the bundle of three $9.99, print copies available US$11 to 13.99, bundle $36.99. Print copies available direct from my website www.davidmcgill.co.nz, price dependent on US dollar
Books Available for Purchase. Click on a title below for more details.
Click here to download “The Death Ray Debacle” e-book for FREE!
(View David’s full list of published works at the bottom of this page).
A complete list of books by David McGill:
Cityscapes, Methuen, 1977
Tales of the Terrace, St Andrew’s Church, 1979.
In Praise of Older Buildings, Methuen, 1980
Ghost Towns of New Zealand, Reed, 1980 and 1997
The Other New Zealanders, Mallinson Rendel, 1982; No 1 NZ bestseller.
The Pioneers of Port Nicholson, Reed, 1984
Harbourscapes, Growl Press, 1984
The G’Day Country, Platform Publishing, 1985
My Brilliant Suburb, Platform Publishing, 1985
POW: The Untold Stories of New Zealanders as Prisoners of War, Mills, 1987
The Kid from Matata, Grantham House, 1987
A Dictionary of Kiwi Slang, Mills, 1988; No 1 NZ bestseller.
The Dinkum Kiwi Dictionary, Mills, 1989
I Had a Squashed Banana, Mills, 1989
Kiwi Babyboomers, Mills, 1989
The Lion and the Wolfhound, Grantham House, 1990
The Guardians at the Gate, Silver Owl Press, 1991
The Adventures of Horace-Thomas the Magic Horse, Silver Owl, 1991
Lower Hutt: The First Garden City, Hutt City Council, 1991
No Right to Strike, Silver Owl/NZ Police Service Organisations 1992
Whakaari, Silver Owl, 1995
Gold in the Creek, Silver Owl, 1995
McGill’s Dictionary of Kiwi Slang, Catchphrases, Characters and Kiwiosities, Silver Owl, 1995
I Almost Tackled Kel Tremain, Silver Owl, 1996
Landmarks, Godwit, 1997 and Phantom House, 2005
David McGill’s Complete Kiwi Slang Dictionary, Reed, 1998
Full Circle: The History of the St James Theatre, Phantom House, 1998
From N to Z, Reed, 1998
The Dolly Lolly Diaries, Silver Owl, 1998
David McGill’s Rude New Zealand Limericks, Grantham House, 1999
Good Old Kiwi Identities, Grantham, 2000
Island of Secrets, History of Matiu/Somes Island, Steele Roberts/Silver Owl, 2001; No 1 bestseller
Wellington — A Capital Century, Transpress, 2003
The Monstrance, Silver Owl, 2003
The Reed Book of New Zealand Quotations, Reed, 2003
In Xtremis, Silver Owl, 2004.
Stacey: The Life, Style and Trials of a Great New Zealand Criminal Lawyer, Silver Owl, 2005.
The Girning of Government House, Silver Owl, 2005.
The First New Zealand Bushranger, Silver Owl, 2006.
From My Cold, Dead Hands, Silver Owl, 2007.
The Treadmill Tapes: Confessions of a Compulsive Pop Picker, Silver Owl, 2007.
The Mock Funeral: A Novel of the Irish Riots on the Goldfields of New Zealand, Silver Owl 2008
The Communion of the Easter Bun-Rabbit: The Food Lives of a Kiwi Here and There, Silver Owl 2008
The G’Day Country Redux: A Rail Journey Back into New Zealand, Silver Owl 2009
Shaking 1960, Silver Owl 2010
A Dictionary of Noughties Kiwi Slang, Silver Owl 2011
Geyser in the Creek, Silver Owl 2011
The Compleat Cityscapes, Silver Owl 2012
The Promised Land, Silver Owl Press 2012
The Slightly Mysterious Little Drummer Boy Who Became Mayor of Auckland, Silver Owl Press 2013
Stamp in the Creek, Silver Owl Press 2014
Kingfisher, Kingfisher, Take My Luck, Silver Owl Press 2014
The Death Ray Debacle, Silver Owl Press 2015
The Plot To Kill Peter Fraser, Silver Owl Press 2016
On a Bodgie Bike, Silver Owl Press 2018
Death of an Agent, Silver Owl Press 2019
The Manger, The Mikdash and the Mosque, Silver Owl Press 2020
The Convict Stain, Silver Owl Press, 2021
Back Home in Derry, Silver Owl Press, 2022
The Kotuku Creek Chronicles, Silver Owl Press, 2025