Te Awamutu-born writer to talk crime writing and gangsters

Te Awamutu-born investigative and crime writer, Scott Bainbridge, will give a talk in Te Awamutu next week.

Te Awamutu-born author Scott Bainbridge is the first of several authors lined up to give public talks during Waipā District Libraries’ Author Month.

Scott will talk about his books and some of his upcoming projects at a public talk at Te Awamutu Library from 6.30pm on Wednesday, March 10.  He presented a similar talk to an enthusiastic audience late last year at Cambridge Library.

Born and raised in Te Awamutu, Scott has become one of New Zealand’s premier true crime writers.   He investigates unsolved mysteries, tells the stories of some of society’s murkier characters, and talks about strange UFO sightings, crop circles near Ngātea and an apparent race of giant people who were once thought to have lived in New Zealand.

His first book, ‘Without a Trace: On the Trail of New Zealand Missing Persons’, came out in 2005, with ‘Still Missing: More Unsolved Missing Person Cases in New Zealand’ following in 2008.

A television series on his missing cases ran about a decade ago.  Scott’s third book in 2010, ‘Shot in the Dark: Unsolved New Zealand Murders from the 1920s and ‘30s’, centred on his interest in old-time gangsters, crooks and scallywags.   His more recent works include ‘New Zealand Mysteries’ and ‘The Missing Files’.

Scott works closely with the police when researching a book. Included among his future projects are more of the same, plus podcasts and perhaps more television series.

His talk next Wednesday is the first in ‘Author Month’ being run by Waipā District Libraries.

Similar talks being held at Te Awamutu Library will focus on a Te Reo Singalong Show with Sharon Holt at 11am on March 17; and a talk entitled “I have a novel in me’ with Julie Thomas at 6.30pm on March 19.

Those coming to Cambridge Library include a talk on ‘A Writer’s Journey’ with Graeme Woodfield at 10am on March 11; one on ‘Self-publishing for beginners’ with Trudi Caffell at 10am on March 20; and the talk entitled ‘I have a novel in me’ with Julie Thomas at 6.30pm on March 26.

Julie Thomas’ and Trudi Caffell’s workshops are also part of the Cambridge Autumn Festival.

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