Leslie Tarr

Family Traditions Leslie Tarr

Dr Charlie Manson has travelled to New Zealand to participate in a Summer School in Criminology at Auckland University, while also taking the opportunity to visit his sister Debbie and her family. During his visit he is asked to consult on a recent series of vandalisms and animal attacks. Charlie works with detectives Pinkie Lumo and Kelly Browning to solve the mystery of the seemingly meaningless crimes to discover a strange shadowy group. During the case, he is aided by two retired officers from Aberdeen. He also meets Queenie, Lumo's grandmother and elder of the community, who uses her connections and psychic ability to help Charlie and the others resolve the case. Family Traditions is the first in a trilogy of short stories of Charlie in Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, which means the land of the long white cloud. Other stories to follow in the series are Bitter Water and The Prodigal.