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Better the Blood

The past never truly stays buried. Welcome to the dark side of paradise.

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Better the Blood

By: Michael Bennett, Richard Te Are
Narrated by: Miriama McDowell
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'A compelling, atmospheric page turner with an authentic insight into Māori culture' Val McDermid

A DETECTIVE IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH.
A KILLER IN SEARCH OF RETRIBUTION.
A CLASH BETWEEN CULTURE AND DUTY.
THE PAST NEVER TRULY STAYS BURIED.
WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF PARADISE.

Detective Senior Sergeant Hana Westerman is a tenacious Māori detective juggling single motherhood and the pressures of her career in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch. When she’s led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man hanging in a hidden room. With little to go on, Hana knows one thing: the killer is sending her a message.

As a Māori officer, there has always been a clash between duty and culture for Hana, but it is something that she’s found a way to live with. Until now. When more murders follow, Hana realises that her heritage and past are the keys to finding the perpetrator.

Especially when the killer's agenda of revenge may include Hana – and her family . . .


‘As page-turning as it is eye-opening’ Ambrose Parry

‘A remarkable new detective’ Daily Mail

‘[A] highly addictive read’ My Weekly

‘So chilling’ Crime Monthly

‘Opens a unique window onto a fascinating Antipodean society as only world-class crime fiction can’ Deon Meyer

Winner of the Best First Novel Award at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards
Finalist forBest Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards
​Shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
Longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger
Shortlisted for Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards Crime Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Revenge Suspense
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Critic reviews

‘Stunning. Better the Blood is a tremendous debut, and Hana Westerman, the Maori detective at the center of the story, instantly becomes one of the great characters in crime fiction on any continent. This novel has it all: a gripping mystery, complex and memorable characters, and timely social and cultural commentary. Don’t miss it’ (David Heska Wanbli Weiden, author of Winter Counts)
All stars
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Great to see te reo and Aotearoa getting some airtime. Plenty of clever observation, too. The story was a mixed bag: I liked Addison and PlusOne, Hana I found too blessed by lucky breaks and intuition (not to mention motherly patience) to be true. At a certain point it felt as if genuine character development had taken a back seat to The Message and from then on it all played out as expected.

Engaging and preachy

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This is probably a 3.5 star book to be fair and is not only the first in the Hannah Westerman series by the first by Bennett that I have read. Senior Sergeant Westerman receives videos that lead her to brutal murders in the city of Aukland. The only thing linking the crimes is spiral pattern left by the killer. As the case develops it becomes clear that the motive is rooted in the deep past of Colonialism and the posing of a photograph by members of the British Army alongside the still hanging body of a local Maori tribal chief. Seeking to reclaim tribal and familiar honour the killer is targeting the living descendants of the soldiers in the photograph. Whilst the author note at the end states that the actual event and tribal group from the photograph are fictitious, the events portrayed are symptomatic of the Colonial period.
I can only presume that the author set out to make this an uncomfortable read with it's sharp focus on mistreatment of the years of Marori people and the confiscation of much of the traditional lands. If he did I can only say that he succeeded as the reader is left with an unusual dichotomy of feelings. You are almost never expected to root for the killer, but whilst he is going about it in the wrong way one can't help but be sympathetic to his cause and plight of these (and many other first nation peoples from around the from Colonial countries).

Good, if somewhat uncomfortable listen

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