HBRW 2024 - Causes of Death

Our endless fascination with true crime is often more about how they dunnit than who. Our own queen of crime, Charity Norman, talks to Scott Bainbridge about the until-now untold story of a serial poisoner in his book The Trials of Nurse Kerr, and to pathologist, Cynric Temple-Camp about obscure cases of death, disease and murder in his latest eye-opener, The Final Diagnosis.

Warning: not for the squeamish.

Dr Cynric Temple-Camp:

Originally from South Africa, pathologist Dr Temple-Camp spent the early part of his career in war-torn Rhodesia examining the dead and dying. He came to New Zealand in the 1970s and has since worked on over 2000 cases. He is the author of two other books, The Cause of Death and The Quick and the Dead - both bestsellers.

Scott Bainbridge:

Scott Bainbridge is one of New Zealand’s foremost investigative and True Crime authors. His first two books; Without Trace and Still Missing about missing persons, led to several cold-cases being re-opened, and inspired the acclaimed TVNZ series, The Missing. In his third book; Shot in the Dark, Bainbridge accessed old murder files to examine unsolved NZ murders of the 1920s and 30s, dispelling decades-old myths and uncovering hidden truths.
Scott Bainbridge is regarded as the New Zealand expert on missing persons and is often asked to comment on cases by the media.

Chair: Charity Norman

Charity Norman was born in Uganda and brought up in successive draughty vicarages in Yorkshire and Birmingham. After several years' travel she became a barrister, specialising in crime and family law in the northeast of England. Also a mediator and telephone crisis line listener, she's passionate about the power of communication to slice through the knots. In 2002, realising that her three children had barely met her, she took a break from the law and moved with her family to Aotearoa New Zealand. Her first novel, Freeing Grace, was published in 2010. Second Chances (After the Fall) was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice and World Book Night title. See You in September (2017) was shortlisted for Best Crime Novel in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards for Crime Fiction. The Secrets of Strangers is her sixth book and has been shortlisted for Best International Crime Fiction at the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards and shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2021 Ngaio Awards. In 2023, her seventh novel Remember Me was awarded the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

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