Return to Blood: Volume 2
Darkness lies close to home in this award-winning thriller from a standout voice in New Zealand crime fiction
Published on 25. April 2024
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-3985-1225-2 (ISBN)
Description
WINNER OF THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2025
Two murders. Two decades apart.
One chance to get justice.
Hana Westerman has left Auckland and her career as a detective behind her. Settled in a quiet coastal town, all she wants is a fresh start.
The discovery of a skeleton in the dunes near her house changes everything. The remains are those of a young Maori woman who went missing four years before, and Hana has a connection to the case. Twenty years ago, a schoolfriend of hers was found buried in the exact same spot. Her killer died in prison, but did the police get the wrong man? And if he was innocent, then why did he plead guilty?
No longer part of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Hana turns to her ex-husband Jaye, a high-flying Detective Inspector, for help. But when he cuts her out of the investigation, she realises that she will have to find the answers she needs on her own.
But in digging deeper, she sets herself on a potentially fatal collision course with a killer.
PRAISE FOR RETURN TO BLOOD:
'Another cracking, page-turning journey into another culture' VAL McDERMID
'The vivid picture of ethnic cultural life alone marks out the book as special, but it's Bennett's control of a tense narrative that is key' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Evocative' CRIME MONTHLY
'A confident, convincing work in a crowded genre' NZ LISTENER
'A powerful novel that stays in the mind long after it is finished' JEFF POPPLE
'His deep understanding of marginalised communities, family tensions and the travails of our justice system enrich the novel . . . Return to Blood shows a writer in full command of his material and which reaches deeper into our shared human experience. It also has a surprise ending few readers will be able to predict' GREG FLEMING
'Even better (if possible!) than his searing debut - Michael Bennett's latest, Return to Blood, had me moved to tears of empathy and rage within the first fifty pages. Richly evocative New Zealand detail, a take-no-prisoners female Maori detective and a riveting crime make for a sizzling and culturally important page-turner' ALEXANDRA SOKOLOFF
Two murders. Two decades apart.
One chance to get justice.
Hana Westerman has left Auckland and her career as a detective behind her. Settled in a quiet coastal town, all she wants is a fresh start.
The discovery of a skeleton in the dunes near her house changes everything. The remains are those of a young Maori woman who went missing four years before, and Hana has a connection to the case. Twenty years ago, a schoolfriend of hers was found buried in the exact same spot. Her killer died in prison, but did the police get the wrong man? And if he was innocent, then why did he plead guilty?
No longer part of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Hana turns to her ex-husband Jaye, a high-flying Detective Inspector, for help. But when he cuts her out of the investigation, she realises that she will have to find the answers she needs on her own.
But in digging deeper, she sets herself on a potentially fatal collision course with a killer.
PRAISE FOR RETURN TO BLOOD:
'Another cracking, page-turning journey into another culture' VAL McDERMID
'The vivid picture of ethnic cultural life alone marks out the book as special, but it's Bennett's control of a tense narrative that is key' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Evocative' CRIME MONTHLY
'A confident, convincing work in a crowded genre' NZ LISTENER
'A powerful novel that stays in the mind long after it is finished' JEFF POPPLE
'His deep understanding of marginalised communities, family tensions and the travails of our justice system enrich the novel . . . Return to Blood shows a writer in full command of his material and which reaches deeper into our shared human experience. It also has a surprise ending few readers will be able to predict' GREG FLEMING
'Even better (if possible!) than his searing debut - Michael Bennett's latest, Return to Blood, had me moved to tears of empathy and rage within the first fifty pages. Richly evocative New Zealand detail, a take-no-prisoners female Maori detective and a riveting crime make for a sizzling and culturally important page-turner' ALEXANDRA SOKOLOFF
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR MICHAEL BENNETT:'A cracking thriller; it also extends our sense of what crime fiction can do' Liam McIlvanney
'A tensely plotted, gritty crime novel that has the courage to force us all to rethink our relationship with the past' Vaseem Khan
'Stunning . . . a gripping mystery, complex and memorable characters, and timely social and cultural commentary. Don't miss it' David Heska Wanbli Weiden
'As page-turning as it is eye-opening' Ambrose Parry
'Opens a unique window onto a fascinating Antipodean society as only world-class crime fiction can' Deon Meyer
'A striking debut and a significant addition to Indigenous literature' Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
'[A] stellar series launch. Bennett is a writer to watch' Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'A remarkable new detective' Daily Mail
'[A] highly addictive read' My Weekly
'So chilling' Crime Monthly
ACCLAIM FOR BETTER THE BLOOD:
Winner of the Best First Novel Award at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards
Finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards
?Shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
Shortlisted for Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards
Shortlisted for Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards
Longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3985-1225-2 (9781398512252)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Michael Bennett
Return to Blood
Darkness lies close to home in this award-winning thriller from a standout voice in New Zealand crime fiction
E-Book
04/2024
Simon + Schuster LLC
€9.02
Available for download
Person
Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, director and author. His first book, a non-fiction work telling the true story of New Zealand's worst miscarriage of justice, In Dark Places, won Best Non-Fiction Book at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Michael's second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas, is a time-travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang.
Better the Blood, the first Hana Westerman thriller, was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction/Ockham New Zealand Book Award, as well as for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards and Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, where it won the award for Best First Novel. Return to Blood, the second novel in the acclaimed series, won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in 2025.
Michael's short and feature films have won awards internationally and have screened at numerous festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London and Melbourne. Michael is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Maori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the Maori filmmaking community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling.
He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand), with his partner Jane, and children Tihema, Mahina and Matariki.
Better the Blood, the first Hana Westerman thriller, was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction/Ockham New Zealand Book Award, as well as for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards and Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, where it won the award for Best First Novel. Return to Blood, the second novel in the acclaimed series, won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in 2025.
Michael's short and feature films have won awards internationally and have screened at numerous festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London and Melbourne. Michael is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Maori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the Maori filmmaking community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling.
He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand), with his partner Jane, and children Tihema, Mahina and Matariki.