For acclaimed author James McNeish, 2011 has begun in a most outstanding, and surprising, way. James admitted to being very surprised, to the point of thinking himself the victim of a hoax, when he recieved the letter informing him that he was to be made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The letter proved genuine and James, whose work has been widely recognised across five decades, has been knighted for services to literature.

The latest recognition comes at the end of a year that saw James publish his latest novel, the psychological mystery The Crime of Huey Dunstan, and receive a NZ Prime Minister’s Award for literary achievement.

Congratulations, Sir James.