The first book in the Diane Rowe series, SURRENDER is part of a two book series (MY BROTHER'S KEEPER is out now), set in Wellington, New Zealand, featuring a private investigator scenario that makes a huge amount of sense.

Diane Rowe is an ex-cop and now missing person's expert. Her marriage to still serving cop Sean fell apart as she struggled to cope with the murder of her younger sister Niki (all of which happened before this book), and now Sean now finds himself investigating the murder of the man everyone believes is Niki's killer. Which investigation Rowe cannot help but interfere with - even though she's warned off by everyone.

Told from Rowe's point of view, the action is fast moving and the style is witty, pointed and nicely nuanced. Rowe's a strong character who will be the sort of wise-cracking, self-doubting, frequently daft but undeniably brave, and dedicated female character that reader's are either going to get, or hate. But she does work really well - holds the central viewpoint strongly, is believable and understandable. There's a strong sense of humour built into Rowe - even when she's grieving her sister, even when she's just got herself into a tricky situation. Her relationship with her now ex-husband is really well done, as are the trials and tribulations of someone you love moving on, and what Rowe is going to do about her own personal life.

It doesn't hurt that she's an animal lover and now owner of an ex-police dog who is a character in these books in his own right. It also doesn't hurt that the central investigaion is balanced against the discovery of a long dead body, deep in the New Zealand bush, who Rowe is called upon to identify.

As happens all too frequently around here, I read the second book first, which really made me want to go back to the start of the series and get Rowe's backstory from the outset. The missing person expert angle is an elegant way of getting Rowe into all sorts of situations, and the style with it's lighter touch, and slightly wacky female protoganist is increasingly common in the mystery world. Which means that fans of this sort of book have lots to choose from, particularly with a more local flavour.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-surrender-donna-malane ( )

Diane Rowe finds people for a living. Whether it be for family members, PI firms, lawyers looking for witnesses, insurance companies, television shows or the cops Diane’s job is to find people who have gone missing. In the case that threads through SURRENDER some decades-old remains are found in a remote part of the Rimutakas, a mountain range on New Zealand’s North Island, and Diane is tasked with discovering who the person was.

But Diane has something else on her mind as the book opens. Her ex-husband Sean, a Wellington policeman, arrives at her house with the news that a fresh body has been found. It is the body of a lowlife called Snow, the man everyone thinks (but can’t prove) responsible for the murder of Diane’s younger sister Niki a year ago. As Snow has been murdered in the same way that Niki was it seems likely there is a connection but Diane seems unwilling, unable even, to allow the police investigation to take its course without getting involved herself.

Both stories open strongly and though they remain unconnected except by Diane’s involvement for the length of the book, Malane manages to switch back and forth between threads with ease; combining them into a snappily paced book with much to offer readers. The missing persons case proves to have several false starts and though the methods used to start narrowing down the possibilities are a little more mundane than depicted in TV shows like Without a Trace I found this aspect of the book fascinating. Diane’s dabbling in the investigation of Snow’s death, or to be more precise Snow’s life as it pertained to her sister, is equally absorbing. Again there are several points at which it seems things are resolved only to find that there is yet another twist in this satisfyingly complex tale.

Another strong element of the book is the character of Diane who narrates her story with an attractive mixture of humour, self-deprecation and introspection. She’s quite straight forward in taking responsibility for her marriage breakup, fully admitting that she was impossible to live with in the aftermath of her sister’s death, and this frankness lulls the reader into thinking that Diane is as self-aware as she will ever be. But as the book progresses and she learns more about her sister’s life Diane also learns more about herself and the ways in which her own behaviour might have failed her sister. The reflection that we often don’t know people as well as we think we do, even those closest to us, is a tough lesson but one most of us have to grapple with at some stage. Malane teased this aspect of the story out sensitively but without straying into maudlin territory and it’s all the more compelling for the restraint shown.

I always worry when I mention that a book has humour that people will think the whole thing a barrel of laughs so I’ll be clear and say this book has dark moments too. I don’t want to give spoilers but I can say that at one point Diane is personally endangered and attacked. The way she deals with the aftermath of this, though perhaps surprising for a procedural-y kind of story, had an air of authenticity and helped make the book a memorable one for me.

SURRENDER was the winner of the inaugural NZ Society of Authors award for best unpublished manuscript in 2010 and (for once!) I can see exactly what the judges were thinking in bestowing the prize. This is a very assured piece of writing that offers intelligence, humour and suspense in equal measure and there’s a strong sense of physical place, a hint of romance and a wonderful canine character. I look forward to more of all of this from Donna Malane. ( )

I bought this in Wellington NZ to wile away the journey back to Sydney. It came recommended by the bookstore attendant ('my mother is a novelist') as a taste of something NZ. It is hard to take Wellington seriously as a noir setting - there is just too much brilliant sun and shoreline and forest to take in, but this does pretty well. The plot focuses on ex-policewoman Diane Rowe, who is determined to track down her little sister's murderer. The search takes her to the remote forest of the surrounding hills. My favourite character is the possum baiter and ranger who uncovers a body in the course of duty. Gnarly and monosyllabic with scrawny legs appearing like stilts from beneath his parka, Rowe breathes a silent prayer that he is wearing something underneath. This is hard core detective fiction with a soft core. There is a romance, and Rowe finally gets her man. Well written but with a tendency to pull its punches when more grit might have been better.