Paul Cleave
New Zealand writer
Paul Cleave (born 10 December 1974) is a crime fiction author from New Zealand.
Life
Paul Cleave is an internationally bestselling author who is currently dividing his time between his home city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where all of his novels are set, and Europe. His work has been translated into 18 languages. He has won the Ngaio Marsh Award for best crime novel in New Zealand three times, he won the Saint-Maur book festival's crime novel of the year in France, has been shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Barry Award in the US, and shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award in Australia.
Writing
His first published novel, The Cleaner, was released by Random House in 2006 and was listed as the top-selling crime/thriller title for 2007 on Amazon in Germany. It was also shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing. The Cleaner was subsequently adapted into a television series called Dark City: The Cleaner by producers John Barnett and Chloe Smith. Cohen Holloway and Chelsie Florence starred as the two main leads. The series was funded by Lionsgate, the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air, Sky Television and ChristchurchNZ's Screen CanterburyNZ fund. Filming for the series took place in Christchurch in 2023.
The public source identifies “Paul Cleave” as new Zealand writer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Paul, Cleave and Zealand.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Paul Cleave”, the useful work is to connect “new Zealand writer” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q351317. VIAF identifies the subject as 79565160. The Library of Congress control number is no2006009036. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1974, 2006, 2007 and 2023.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Paul Cleave”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Paul Cleave primary sources, Paul Cleave archive and Paul research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paul Cleave”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Paul Cleave” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.