Dice

WINNER OF THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST FIRST CRIME NOVEL

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION

'Dice has a forensic depth that is compelling, that challenges and deeply moves the reader. But what sets this novel apart is the precision and power of the writing. This is fiction that doesn't want to be journalism, it affirms the truth and nuance and possibility of imagination.' Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap

Four teenage boys invent a sex game based on the toss of a dice, resulting in them being charged with multiple sexual offences against three girls. But what actually happened?

Dice is a stunning courtroom drama told from the perspective of a diverse group of ordinary people - the jury. How will twelve women and men of different ages, backgrounds and beliefs decide whether consent was given or crimes were committed?

In this dazzlingly accomplished and gripping debut novel, the story is told through the eyes of each juror as the trial unfolds and evidence is presented, withheld, fragmented and retold by different witnesses.

Where does the truth lie? How does the jury find?

'Dice achieves what the best fiction achieves: it draws us into the story on a deeply personal level, coaxing us to consider what we would do in the same situation ... the moving and powerful final moment delivers a sense of narrative completion while also reminding us of the flawed nature of the justice system.' Catherine Chidgey, award-winning author of The Axeman's Carnival and Pet

'Completely engrossing and fiercely eloquent . . . I don't think there's ever been fiction which takes us so close to the jury experience.'
Damien Wilkins, author of Delirious and Max Gate

Winner of Ned Kelly Awards 2024 (Australia) Short-listed for Best International Crime Fiction 2024 (Australia) Short-listed for Best First Novel 2024 (Australia)

Claire Baylis was born in England and emigrated to New Zealand at sixteen. Her fiction has appeared in Landfall, Sport, Takahē, Turbine/Kapohau, anthologised in Horizons 4 and has been read on Radio New Zealand. Dice is her first novel to be published. It was written as part of a PhD in creative writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington/Te Herenga Waka and was included on the Dean's List for being of the highest academic excellence. Claire studied law and then lectured in it for twelve years at Victoria University of Wellington/Te Herenga Waka before moving to Rotorua with her family. There she wrote, brought up her three children, worked as an interviewer and researcher for the Trans-Tasman Jury Study and set up a water safety programme targeting low-decile schools.

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