Author
Vonnie Hughes sat down for an interview with us back in December. Today she’s returning to tell us about the glories of New Zealand and a bit
about their police system. Learn more about Vonnie and her books at her
website.
New Zealand is a small, green country
tucked away at the bottom of the world. Just as in Ireland, it rains a lot,
hence all that green. Make no mistake—we have travelled widely, and I can
truthfully say that New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries on the
planet. (And the hobbits like it.)
It is divided
into two main islands with the imaginative names of North Island and South
Island. The South Island takes the prize for grand, picture-book scenery. Still
lakes, jagged mountains and deep fjords abound.
But it’s the
people that make a country, and New Zealanders are friendly, phlegmatic, not
given to hyperbole, well educated, and surprisingly well travelled. You’d think
their isolation would hold them back, but no.
I set my suspense
novels in New Zealand since that is the policing system I know best. Theirs is
a British-based system i.e. the ordinary cops don’t generally carry weapons. At
the top is a Commissioner, beneath him there are two deputy commissioners (for
resource management and operations,) and below them are several assistant
commissioners who either manage a district or a particular division such as
counter-terrorism.
I write about the
specialist divisions such as the armed offenders’ squads (SWAT teams) and the
police negotiators (one is attached to each of the 17 AO squads.) The reason is
that policing is rarely the shoot ‘em up stuff we see on TV. It is a
painstaking, plodding, researching and negotiating process, and I see people
who do this work as true heroes, the ones who work under extreme stress every
day, trying to suit the solution to the target.
Lethal Refuge
An independent,
mistrusting woman witnesses the aftermath of a murder and is thrown into the
witness protection program. Once there, she is mentored by a police
psychologist who demands complete trust from all the relocatees so he can help
them adapt to their new lives. The stakes are raised when they are stalked by
the killer who seems to be connected to the relocation team.
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