''Overkill'' is the first

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by the New Zealand writer

Vanda Symon Vanda Symon (born 1969) is a crime writer and radio host from Dunedin, New Zealand, and the Chair of the Otago Southland Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. Three of her novels have been shortlisted for New Zealand's annual Ngaio Ma ...

. It was first published in March 2007 in New Zealand, by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

Plot

When the body of a young mother is found washed up on the banks of the

Mataura River The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long. Description The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, New ...

, a small rural community is rocked by her tragic

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. But all is not what it seems. Sam Shephard, sole-charge police constable in Mataura soon discovers the death was no suicide, and has to face the realisation that there is a killer in town. To complicate things the murdered woman was the wife of her former lover. When Sam finds herself on the list of suspects and suspended from duties she must cast aside her personal feelings and take matters into her own hands to find the murderer and clear her own name.Official website
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References

External links

Official Vanda Symon site

''Overkill'' - Thoughts from the mind of a serial crime writer - Official Vanda Symon blog
Detective novels 21st-century New Zealand novels Novels set in New Zealand Southland Region 2007 debut novels {{2000s-crime-novel-stub