Ronald Hugh Morrieson Knihy

The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut. Fourteen-year-old Neddy Poindexter and his mate Les take swift revenge on the chook-rustling Lynch Gang, but things turn sinister when vulture-like Hubert Salter stalks into Klynham. There’s a sex killer on the loose, and Neddy is in deep fear for the safety of his sister. In this lost masterpiece, first published in 1963, forgotten New Zealand writer Morrieson combines Boys’ Own adventure, psychological thriller, small-town saga and family farce to produce a brilliant, hallucinatory mixture distinctively his own.

Youthful Cedric, bored and waiting for something to change his life in the direction of his fantasies and dreams, meets Mervyn and his unusual friend. He is caught up in plots and events that both excite him and alarm him. Harmless pranks become serious crimes and while Cedric battles his conscience he yet yearns to punish some of those around him. This wondrous New Zealand tale delights with the richness of its language and the storytelling skill of the writer, offering a potent mix of psychological insight, tension and comic twist.