In My Father's Den

When Celia Inverarity, aged seventeen, is found brutally murdered in a secluded West Auckland park one Sunday afternoon, Paul Prior, her English teacher and mentor, is suspected of being her murderer. Celia's death and the violence which follows send Prior back to examine the past—a past that is as secret as his father's den in the old poison shed. Eventually, the murderer is exposed, but not before a family has been split apart and old wounds revealed.

This murder mystery is as close to vintage Maurice Gee as you can get. In My Father's Den is Maurice Gee's third novel and was first published by Faber in 1972. The reason for republishing it now is that a New Zealand feature film based on the book will be filmed late this year and released in 2004.

In My Father's Den is produced by Trevor Haysom, directed by Brad McGann, and stars Matthew Macfadyen, Miranda Otto, and Emily Barclay. The film is jointly funded by the British Film Council and the NZ Film Commission. This new edition of the novel will carry a film tie-in cover.