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 It’s controversial, spooky and most of the time utterly heartbreaking – Sensing Murder is one of the country’s most popular TV programmes.
Although this year’s season has already come to an end, the hype around the show and it’s three key (and now well known) psychics hasn’t!
 A new book Sensing Murder (Hodder Moa, RRP $34.99) has been released which covers 10 of the most intriguing Sensing Murder cases in depth, going further than what we see on the telly, and going behind-the-scenes.
Anyone who has ever watched Sensing Murder is bound to have walked away with more than a few questions buzzing through their heads, which is why we asked Sensing Murder author Nicola McCloy to give us some answers…
What was the need for this book? The book gives viewers a chance to have peek behind the scenes to see how the show is put together. It also includes updates on what's happened in some of the cases since they were screened. It also gives the production team a chance to answer some of the questions that they are asked most often. How did you get involved with this project? I was doing some other work for the publishers and someone asked me if I watched the show. I said that I did but that I would never watch it on my own! (I'm a bit of a wuss...). A while later they asked me if I'd like to be involved in writing the Sensing Murder book and I jumped at the chance. Thankfully, it didn't take me long to get over my fear of watching it by myself! Why do you think the series is so popular? I think fans of the show are intrigued by how the psychics do what they do and they also really care about the cases that are shown. The combination of the known - the documentary material - and the unknown - the information brought forward by the psychics - fascinates a lot of people too.  What was the process of writing this book like?It was great. I spent two weeks in Wellington with the production team and they gave me access to any information I needed. I also got to see exactly how the show was put together as they were working on the most recent series while I was there. Then I spent several weeks piecing all the information together, asking more questions and doing some research myself. It was a completely different process to any of the other books I've worked on but I really enjoyed it. The book mentions the rules that are followed in the filming of Sensing Murder – are they really all followed? The team that make the show all come from a background of documentary making. They are really careful to make sure that all the rules are followed as it is their reputations as television makers that is on the line if any of the rules are broken. Everything that I read and saw reinforced this. What are the psychics really like? I met Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson. They were both really lovely. Very generous with their time and only too happy to talk about what they do, why they do it and how they do it.  Which case do you find the spookiest?Surprisingly, I didn't really find any of the cases spooky. Though of all the cases, the one that has really stuck with me and that I find myself thinking about quite often is that of Alexa Cullen. She was a bright, bubbly young woman who happened to be deaf. She lived a very tough life and then one day, she disappeared. There was no massive media coverage, there was no countrywide appeals. She just disappeared. I often think of Alexa and hope that one day her body will be brought home. Which case do you find the most mysterious? The case that mystified me the most was the murder of Aaron Hopa on a ship off Dubai. The thing I just can't get my head around is that there were two people on that ship murdered and the other 28 have not been questioned and no one has been arrested. The Hopa family have appealed to the New Zealand government for help in dealing with the authorities in Dubai and have got absolutely nowhere. It's unbelievable that what should have been a reasonably straightforward case has become an unsolved murder. Do you believe in the psychics – has writing the book changed your views? I've always thought that there's more in the universe than any one person can know or understand. I still think that! Photos copyright Hachette Livre NZ
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