Mystery in the Library 2025: Author Panel

Cat is a prolific, internationally published crime thriller author from Upper Hutt.

Her debut Killerbyte, the first in her long-running series starring FBI Agent Ellie Conway, was a finalist for the 2010 EPIC awards. The gripping sixth title in the series, Databyte, was longlisted for the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

She is a member of the US-based organisation International Thriller Writers (ITW) and has published more than 30 books. Her new series stars reformed spy turned private eye Veronica 'Ronnie' Tracey.

Benedict is a 1News political journalist working in the press gallery in Wellington.

He has a strong interest in stories relating to illicit drugs and enforcement, from punitive drug-testing applied to beneficiaries, to the battle to legalise pill-testing at festivals, and the cannabis referendum.

He helped expose a meth-testing scandal that saw government, landlords, and homeowners wasting hundreds of millions of dollars. His first book is Mad on Meth: How New Zealand Got Hooked on P.

Trish is a Wellington archivist and former journalist who grew up in Franz Josef and has a passion for the great outdoors.

Her Philippa Barnes crime novels, including past Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel longlistee Cold Hard Murder, are set in South Island national parks. She also edited Jack's Journey, a book based on the letters of a great uncle killed in the First World War.

Her latest novel, Girl of the Mountains, is inspired by the rich history of women mountaineers in Aotearoa.

PD (Pat) is an Eastbourne leadership consultant who has woven his past experiences alongside, and exposure to, military and intelligence sectors into his debut espionage thriller, The Minerva Agenda.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Pat trained with British paratroopers, had experiences in Russia, Scandinavia, South East Asia, and Nevada.

More recently, he spent time in North Africa. He is currently working on further thrillers set in Iran and Ireland.