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The ceasefire has begun in 1995 between the Republicans and the Loyalists. Dan Delaney and his family are in Ireland seeking ancestral roots but are drawn into helter-skelter pursuit of and by IRA terrorists and Protestant and Catholic policemen from County Cork to Dublin, Belfast, and Derry. As Gerry Adams and the Reverend Paisley look for a better deal, the Delaney family fight to survive the sectarian violence their ancestors escaped. Ex-policeman and ex-national security operative Dan Delaney is 79, his bones are protesting, his hearing aids are not always reliable and the progressive lens are a work in progress. He regrets bending to family pressure to travel around Ireland to track down ancestors. Instead of finding his grandfather’s origins in County Cork, he finds his own troubles with car theft and a clumsy horse but likes the Clonakilty black pudding and an IRA song about Derry. The trouble ramps up in Dublin, where his daughter is almost killed in a grenade attack outside the Abbey Theatre. In Belfast he is caught up in violent clashes between Protestants and Catholics. His mother’s wrong-side-of-the-blanket relations in Derry have left him disinheritance hassle and an old foe aims to make them terminal. Unlike the song, Dan did not wish he was back home in Derry, or anywhere else in this turbulent island of his ancestors. Can the trip trigger change all his long life he has resisted? After six Dan Delaney mysteries following a Kiwi family through the 20th century, the story comes full circle. In the final outing for Dan Delaney, Republican and Loyalist enmities are the historical backdrop, but it is the ad hoc Kiwi approach to problem solving which helped Dan and his [...]

Late January 1985 Dame Kiri is launching Vukovich Sauvignon Blanc on the Sydney Opera House steps with major shareholders the Delaney family present. The American nuclear warship the Buchanan is in harbour for ANZUS exercises and protesters are out in force, among them Ali Delaney and her American boyfriend. Detective Sergeant Maria Pikowai, née Delaney, is in town as protection detail for New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange secretly meeting his Australian counterpart Bob Hawke in the Sydney Hilton hotel. DS Pikowai joins Australian and American security forces confronting plots to sink the warship, kidnap Lange and destroy the ANZUS accord. Then there are the Delaney family problems damned and potentially redeemed by the convict stain. 'An intense part of New Zealand and Australian history, remodelled with the Paekakariki wordsmith's magic.' David Haxton, Kapiti News and NZ Herald 'You never feel short-changed in a McGill mystery.' David Hill, NZ Listener My first encounter with McGill’s Delaney family makes me want to read more about them and their exploits. A rollicking tale made especially interesting through its links to recent historical events. Black humour reminiscent of Janet Evanovich. 4 stars. Rob Crozier crime fiction aficionado 30 8 21   David McGill's latest novel in the Dan Delaney thriller series is a very interesting take on the convict history of Australia, and not surprisingly it is a very Irish story. Even the villain, a bullish American CIA-type, is a Malone. The novel contains a wonderful scene in a Catholic Convent where the nuns subvert the Americans. Another thing I really enjoyed is McGill's use of Sydney as a character. This is a great use of place as personality in the vein of Graham Greene. 5 stars [...]

1975: Former detective and spy-catcher Dan Delaney and his West Auckland family are on a visit to the Holy Land which goes horribly wrong from the moment they land at Ben-Gurion Airport. A plot is underway to desecrate the most sacred sites and incite conflict between the three great religions whose worship centres on a small area of inner Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities are determined at any cost to prevent another terrorist outrage such as that at Ben-Gurion Airport concourse a few years before, or worse, the recent surprise Yom Kippur attack that threatened the nation’s survival. Old enemies have put Delaney’s family in the crosshairs of their planned outrages. This is the fifth Dan Delaney mystery.  Roger Hall: ‘Cracking yarn.’ Fiona Kidman: ‘A vivid inside view of Israel as well as rattling along with a fast-paced crime story.’ Graeme Lay: ‘The tautly structured plot of this thriller grips the reader from the first to the final page. Set in the so-called Holy Land, the novel’s characters and themes are as meaningful today as they were during the 1970s setting. Jerusalem – spiritual home to Jews, Moslems and Christians – is vividly evoked and forms a vibrant backdrop to the conflicts and tribulations of the Delaney family.’ Paperback NZ$29.95 from publisher or bookshops. The e-book is available from Books 2 Read.

Easter 1965: the fiery start to protests against New Zealand troops in Vietnam Ru Patterson, the country’s leading broadcaster, is organizing protests against President Johnson’s envoy Henry Cabot Lodge, in Wellington to pressure New Zealand to send troops to Vietnam. Dan Delaney is first on the scene of a young naked woman dead in a hot tub and Ru unconscious beside her. Dan interferes with evidence to protect his friend. The NZ Security Intelligence Service continues the deceased agent’s attempts to sideline Patterson and infiltrate students threatening violence, including an anarchist attracted to arson. Delaney is dragooned into helping the authorities, threatening his personal relationships with Ru and his daughter Hinemoa, Dan’s goddaughter. Hine is a headstrong young drama student mixed up in marijuana trafficking and in mad, crazy love with an older student who treats her no better than the parts they play, Hamlet and Ophelia. With Ru sidelined, Dan is well aware of his duty of care. Delaney is caught up in gang and police threats against Hine, a police raid on a suspected marijuana dealer, an SIS interrogation, the planting of an incendiary device in a student theatre, an unexpected encounter with Prime Minister Keith Holyoake, student confrontation at Lodge’s airport arrival and an incendiary incident at Parliament, with Special Task Force marksmen surrounding the building. The stability of the ANZUS alliance and Dan’s family life depend on the outcome. DEATH OF AN AGENT is the fourth “kiwi spy story” featuring ex-detective / spycatcher Dan Delaney. Historical crime fiction, based on real-life events this is a series that’s been getting better and better, with this outing pleasingly comical in some places, as well as a rip-roaring yarn into the bargain. [...]

Eighth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal Matt Delaney and his mate Ante Vukovich steal a precious religious vessel and in the course of the burglary a man is killed, setting in motion personal and political mayhem. It is 1955 and they just want to be milk-bar cowboys against the squares and their suffocating rules banning unmarried sex and excessive speed and anything worth doing. Matt’s uncle Dan Delaney is out of the police and in a dead-end job when Matt’s alcoholic mother begs Dan to sort out a charge of murder against her son. They live in what is called West Auckland’s Dallie Valley, Ante is Dalmatian and his Croatian relation has arrived to reclaim the religious icon that could unite his homeland challenge to Yugoslav communist rule. Dan Delaney’s only ally against corrupt and brutal police is an ex-Commissioner of Police assisting the National Government clean up the police and establish a separate security intelligence service. This is the third outing for former detective and spy catcher Dan Delaney. In The Death Ray Debacle Delaney thwarts a 1935 plot to kidnap a New Zealand scientist who invented what we now call radar and lasers. ‘A fast-paced action spy story … builds to a great climactic finish. If this is ever made into a film the director will need not look any further for an accurate chronicle.’ Tim Gruar, Booksellers NZ In The Plot to Kill Peter Fraser Delaney thwarts a 1945 assassination plot to kill the prime minister. ‘The plot unfolds with twists, turns and lots of action … What I really loved about this book is the way it presents New Zealand plonk in the middle of international political history.’ Alyson Baker, Crime Watch ‘McGill’s [...]

‘Dangerous Nazi Ex-Internees Roaming New Zealand.’ NZ Truth Peter Fraser was our greatest prime minister on the international stage. He proved it as World War Two was ending and he played a major part in shaping the United Nations. In the process he made enemies. He is back in New Zealand, where a plot is under way to kill him. If it is successful, New Zealand’s influence on the international stage ends and the country descends into chaos, a divided country ripe for international manipulation. Former detective Dan Delaney returns from sitting out the war in Italian and German prison camps. All he wants is a peaceful life with his refugee bride, but his old boss Inspector Biggart needs his help, his staff disbanded by Fraser and Nazi internees released from Somes Island. The hunt for would-be Nazi assassins takes them into Wellington’s black market underworld, a defensive Italian fishing village and an upmarket yachting haven. Prodded by the Commissioner of Police, Dan reluctantly involves his wife in a dodgy cabaret scene, as Nazis are killed and British and Soviet spies Dan has previously clashed with arrive to assist a suspected American undercover operation. Dan and his wife risk their lives as they race to identify the threat before a prime minister refusing security is struck down.  Both a whodunnit and a who’lldoit, this Kiwi intrigue features Detective Delaney a decade after The Death Ray Debacle, which Tim Gruar described in the Booksellers NZ Blog as a ‘fast-paced action spy story’. 'It's a rollicking read. It's got all the great elements of a  spy novel, including a nice little twist at the end.' Grant Robertson, Wellington Central MP, speaking [...]

In June 1935 Takapuna inventor Victor Penny was attacked by foreign agents seeking what the newspapers dubbed a ‘death ray’. The government secretly shifted him to Somes Island in Wellington harbour to develop the weapon. The novel of this true story is told by Temporary Acting Detective Dan Delaney, seconded to Special Branch, forerunner of the Security Intelligence Service. Special Branch is monitoring the German Club in Auckland, an increasingly shrill supporter of the Nazi regime. The unconventional Auckland theatrical scene has made sensational headlines with the alleged murder of his wife by impresario Eric Mareo, his accuser the bisexual dancer Freda Stark, lover of his deceased partner. A mysterious German/Jewish refugee has been involved in both the German Club and this Bohemian scene, making her a person of interest to the young detective and a recently arrived German diplomat. The detective and a helpful Scotland Yard adviser pursue and are pursued by spies determined to steal Penny’s blueprint. Round-the-clock protection is provided for Penny by armed soldiers on the supposedly secure Somes Island government facility, used to imprison enemy aliens in the Great War. Corruption on the island is uncovered by the detectives as they face lethal force to acquire an invention all major countries are actively chasing. 'Dan is a delightful protagonist.' Crime reviewer Alyson Baker.'Mixing history and fiction into a good old yarn.' Jim Sullivan, Sounds Historical, Radio NZ'New Zealand's first spy story.' The Wellingtonian.'He creates the period very well with the clothing and the language and the police force … Clever denouement quite unexpected … a curious story well told.' Harry Broad, Radio NZ'A fast-paced action spy story … builds to a great climactic finish. If this is ever [...]

These book memoirs record half a century writing and sometimes publishing 51 Kiwi social histories, some fictional, some best-sellers, some footnotes, reviews from savage to sublime, and strong reactions: Muldoon threatens prison Helen Clark sends warm congratulations Mike Hosking asks who is the clown in the kilt Kim Hill supposes marriage Carmen says thanks and Kiri no thanks Jason Gunn enjoys a joke, John Clarke an imaginary quote All Blacks duck for cover ‘I was so arrested by what is really a history of the author's writing and publishing life that I couldn't put it down and read it in one long sitting yesterday.’ Graham Beattie, Beattie’s Book Blog, 7 November 2014 Available from this website at $36-95, including postage and packaging. Buy Now  

A week after the infamous 1949 April Fool’s Day radio hoax reported a swarm of wasps descending on Auckland, there is news of the second ever invert New Zealand stamp found in the small Bay of Plenty village of Kotuku. The source is the village postmaster Jack Cavanagh, who has already alarmed the authorities with his penchant for attracting publicity. Not only did he propose the new White Island stamp, he is claiming an inverted misprint is among the contents of his Post Office safe stolen and blown up. It is election year and the fallout from the April Fool prank has the Police and Post Office hierarchy in a tailspin about this latest potential public relations disaster. This is the final in the comic Cavanagh family Up the Creek trilogy. In Gold in the Creek the village fought restructuring. Geyser in the Creek offered tourist salvation. Stamp in the Creek has the youthful postmaster facing departmental disapproval and the disappearance of his son after witnessing the theft of the safe. The stationmaster, the grocer and his baker wife, the village projectionist, the priest newly arrived from Ireland and other local stalwarts help Jack in his search for his son, while unscrupulous outsiders stop at nothing in their pursuit of the missing stamp, including kidnap, arson, blackmail, stand-over tactics and car conversion. The police are diverted but the press home in, the story going national in Truth, fulfilling the worst fears of a public service scandal. Gold in the Creek reviews: ‘A veritable Milkwood of characters. A bit of a dag.’ NZ Listener ‘Colourful characters and dialogue add plenty of indigenous flavour to this cleverly-crafted tale.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Smart pace … many twists [...]

This is a social biography of the life and times of 1880s Auckland mayor William Richard Waddel, written by his great-grandson. It is a pioneering story of how a drummer boy in Ireland emigrated at age 16 to Auckland. Despite losing his father his first year here, he became in seven years the leading baker in Auckland, rose to the rank of captain in its Volunteer Force and joined every civic organisation there was. On becoming mayor he beautified Albert Park, introduced trams to the city, built the first bridge over Grafton Gully, the magnificent public library and art gallery and the first fresh-water baths. As chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board he opened the Calliope Dock at Devonport. He was the first New Zealand mayor to sire a child in office. Half of Auckland attended the funeral of this hugely popular politician who presided over both the best and worst of times, expanding civic facilities and cutting back when depression hit, always with good humour and wit that endeared him to all citizens, never more so than when he replied in a Shakespearean pastiche to the civic gift on the birth of his boy. Growing up in Auckland and drawing on the memories and memorabilia of relations, the author contrasts the mayor’s Auckland with its present-day status, including photographs of then and now in both public and private capacities. This lavishly illustrated volume in extra large paperback, postage free, $37-95. Buy Now