Photo: Murray/Fairfax Media via Getty Images (1960)
Sample of authors
Marsh, Ngaio
The New Zealand author Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was born in Merivale, Christchurch. Her father was an immigrant English bank manager and her mother was born in New Zealand, although her family too originally came from England. Ngaio is the Maori word for "reflection on water". A somewhat eccentric and confused man, Marsh's father did not report his daughter's birth to the authorities until 1900,...
Literary figures
Francis Pettigrew
Gender: Male
As a young lawyer he was seen as a rising star, but bad luck and unexpected problems led to Francis Pettigrew never becoming more than a bitter, mediocre barrister. After solving several murder cases, sometimes together with Detective Inspector Mallett, and marrying Eleanor Brown (who was half his age), his fortune changes and he can grow old in satisfaction, reports Cyril Hare (pseudonym for...