Return to Blood

About the book

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