The Brokenwood Mysteries

When the wife of a local tourist trap business owner is discovered dead, the other local tourism operators are not particularly sad about her demise. Her cause of death is revealed to be from New Zealand's only native venomous spider— the Katipo. But how could one spider administer ten times the lethal dose?

Brokenwood is in mourning after a beloved local poet, Declan O'Grady, passes away from cancer. But the town is in for a surprise when the coffin accidentally falls from the hearse revealing that the corpse inside is not Declan but a young woman identifiable only by a scarlet tattoo.

On the morning of Brokenwood's annual classic-car show, the Chairman of the Classic Car Restoration Society is found dead next to his beloved El Dorado with a lungful of gasoline. Shepherd and Sims try to find out if it was petrol siphoning accident or something more deliberate.

It's Christmas in Brokenwood, but not all is merry and bright. When the mayor is found dead in his home dressed as Santa after the annual holiday parade, Shepherd, Sims, and Breen question those locals vying for the mayoral position. But when more bodies turn up, the detectives believe there's a darker motive.