RWR MCDONALD chats to Craig Sisterson about his new novel THE NANCYS AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING NECKLACE, tone, child narrator in adult story, fictionalising a small town in Otago, New Zealand, living in Melbourne, teaching creative writing, Faber academy.

THE NANCYS AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING NECKLACE: Meet the Nancys…Tippy Chan is eleven years old, and she lives in a small town in a very quiet part of New Zealand – the town her Uncle Pike escaped as a teenager, the moment he got a chance. Now Pike is back with his new boyfriend Devon to look after Tippy while her mum is on a Christmas cruise.
Tippy can’t get enough of her uncle's old Nancy Drew books. She wants to be Nancy and is desperate to solve a real mystery. So, when her teacher's body is found beside Riverstone's only traffic light, it looks like Tippy's moment has arrived. She and her minders form The Nancys, a secret detective club.
But what starts as a bonding and sightseeing adventure quickly morphs into something far more dangerous. A wrongful arrest, a close call with the murderer, and an intervention from Tippy's mum all conspire against The Nancys. But regardless of their own safety, and despite the constant distraction of questionable fashion choices in the town that style forgot, The Nancys know only they can stop the killer from striking again. Whatever the cost…

RWR MCDONALD (Rob) is an award-winning Kiwi author, living in Melbourne, Australia with his two daughters and one HarryCat. Author of the award-winning Nancys series, The Nancys and Nancy Business, Rob is also a creative writing tutor and host of QWS Podcast. Rob now writes picture books by day and whodunit mysteries by night — except all his characters seem to be completely out of control and pay no attention to him, or any rules.

Recommend: Katherine Kovacic, Vanda Symon, JP Pomare - 17 Years Later (The Clearing & Watching You on Tv/streaming), Hayley Scrivenor Dirt Town, Lyn Yeowart The Hollow Girl.

Craig Sisterson is a features writer and crime fiction expert from New Zealand who writes for newspapers and magazines in several countries. In recent years he's interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of the McIlvanney Prize and Ned Kelly Awards, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He lives in London with his daughter. He is the author of 

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