Four teenage boys invent a sex game based on the toss of a dice.

The police charge them with multiple sexual offences against three teenage girls.

Twelve jurors must work out what actually happened.

How does the jury find?

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.

Will the verdict deliver justice? Where does the truth lie?

Dice by
claire baylis

Debut novel out NOW

A compelling courtroom drama, Dice is an incredibly timely exploration of how sexual violence is viewed in our society.

'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

 ‘An extraordinary book” “It’s illuminating, it’s fascinating, and absolutely enraging, but brilliantly done - I do think it is going to be a very important New Zealand book and I hope it becomes essential reading for all training lawyers.’

Carole Beu, the Women's Bookshop

‘Dice hits upon the irresistible idea of turning the reader into a 13th member of the jury, privy to deliberations, and invited to form their own view of the case.’

Cameron Woodhead & Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald

'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 Remote Sympathy and The Axeman’s Carnival.

‘The book is urgent and powerful, and remained with me weeks after I'd turned the final page.’

Jemma Morrison, Ockham NZ Book Award Judge

‘Dice is one of the most assured debut novels I’ve read in some time. Baylis has clear control not only over her scenario, but is able to reply and mould her voice to fit her diverse crew of jurors - a 19-year old competitive swimmer, one

of the only Māori in the room, feels as authentically rendered as the older busybody who rules her bookclub with a crocheted iron fist. More impressively, it never feels lurid or manipulative, even as the details of the trial are assessed and reassessed, as both prosecution and defence advocate for their side.’

Sam Brooks, The Spin Off

‘An utterly compelling, nuanced and appropriately complex read that effortlessly depicts the unique combination of the sensational and the mundane, which often characterises the criminal trial.'

Professor Vanessa Munro, Warwick University

‘It's an engaging and thoughtful novel which deals with a difficult topic extremely well. I have no doubt that many lawyers - particularly those who practice in the field of criminal law - will find it not only enjoyable but also usefully instructive.

I am also confident that the many readers who enjoy the twists and turns of a mystery novel with a well-constructed plot and well-developed characters will greatly enjoy Dice."

Stuart Grieve KC, Newsroom

‘Dice is a book that I will, on the digital pages of the Spin Off book section, heartily recommend to everyone. It’s one of the best books I’ve read all year. There are feelings I had while reading this book that I’ll never forget; forget stomach churning, Baylis had a chokehold on my internal organs.’

Sam Brooks, The Spin Off

Claire Baylis

Claire is a fiction writer and law researcher based in Rotorua. Her short stories and novel extracts have been published in Sport, Landfall, Turbine | Kapohau andTakahē, on the Radio New Zealand National Programme and in regional newspapers. Claire was a senior law academic in the Victoria University of Wellington Law Faculty for 12 years. She was also the Deputy Director of the New Zealand Institute for Conflict Resolution. Her legal writing has appeared in NZ and overseas.

In 2004 she moved to Rotorua with her family, where she has written fiction, worked for the Victoria University of Wellington/Monash University Jury Research Project, become a swim coach, and co-founded the Making the Difference – Kia Tū Whakarerekē - Water Safety programme that works with local schools.

Claire grew up in the North East of England, before emigrating to New Zealand and completing an LLB(Hons) and an LLM at Victoria University of Wellington.

In 2021, alongside the the award of her PhD, she was included in the University's coveted Doctoral Dean's List: 'a formal record and public acknowledgement of those doctoral graduates whose theses have been judged by their examiners to be of exceptional quality and whose work makes an outstanding contribution to their field of research.'

Claire writes: 'One of the exciting things about the Jury Research Project is that it is so rare in any country for researchers to be allowed to speak to actual jurors about real cases. Being both a researcher and interviewer on the project, gave me a unique insight into the issues jurors face in their role in the criminal justice system, particularly in sexual violence cases. I was fascinated by jurors' differing perspectives and how they worked to reach their decisions.

'My critical thesis drew on real jurors' voices to investigate the use of the story model of jury decision-making, heuristic processing and the influence of rape mythology in sexual violence cases. The novel is narrated from the jurors' perspectives in a fictional case, which raises issues of consent, "date-rape", the use of social media and the Legal System's response. By writing from a variety of perspectives the novel also examines concepts of truth, bias and subjectivity.'

You can read some of Claire’s fiction online here:

Novel Extract: 'Stumbling' Turbine Kapohau 2016

Short Story: 'Learning Chess' Sport 31 2003

Short Story: 'Time lapse' Sport 22 1999

You can hear one of Claire’s stories read on Radio NZ here:

'The Right Thing' RNZ Audio August 2016

Other Stories read on RNZ:

Radio NZ – ‘Letting Go’ - 2 part novel Extract Broadcast 21 and 22 November 2011

Radio NZ – ‘The Fishing Net’ - Short Story, Broadcast 2009, 2013, 2015

Radio NZ – ‘Washing Lettuce’ - Short Story, Broadcast 2010, 2013, 2014

More of Claire’s Fiction:

Short Story – ‘Fly’ [2019] Horizons 4.

Novel Extract ‘The Boy Next Door’ [2017] Landfall 233, 81-88.

Short Story ‘One Day’  [2017] Sport 45, 189-198.

Short Story 'Again’  [2012] Rotorua Daily Post. Winner of the Rotorua Library Short Story Competition judged by Dame Fiona Kidman

 Short Story – ‘Washing Lettuce’ [2009] Takahē 66, 60-61. Bay of Plenty Times [2007] Winner Tauranga Writers’ National Short Story Competition judged by Dame Fiona Kidman

Short Story – ‘The Net that became Entangled’ [2008] Takahē 64, 25-27, Bay of Plenty Times [2007] 3rd place Tauranga Writers’ National Short Story Competition judged by Dame Fiona Kidman

Academic law articles:

Professor Yvette Tinsley, Dr Claire Baylis and Dr Warren Young, ‘I think she’s learnt her lesson’: Juror use of Cultural Misconceptions in Sexual Violence Trials [2021] 52/2 VUWLR.  

 "Reviewing Statutory Models of Mediation/Conciliation in New Zealand: Three Conclusions" [1999] 30/1 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 279 -295 

 The Appropriateness of Conciliation/Mediation for Sexual Harassment Complaints in New Zealand [1997] 27/4 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 585-620.

Claire Baylis and Robyn Carroll "The Nature and Importance of Mechanisms for Addressing Power Differences in Mediation" [2002] 14/2 Bond Law Review 285-31

Fiction Awards

PhD in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington 2017 - 2021 Awarded Dean’s List inclusion as being of the ‘highest academic excellence’ ‘in every aspect of the candidate’s work including the originality, significance of research and scholarship.’ Doctoral thesis comprised – Dice (A Novel) and Shaping Juror Narratives in Sexual Violence Cases: The Influence of Rape Myths and Misconceptions (Critical Component) Supervised by Professor Damien Wilkins (IIML) and Professor Yvette Tinsely (Law Faculty).

2022 Michael King Centre Emerging Writer Residency.

2020 Person B Shortlisted in Sargeson Short Story Competition.

2019 Commended in NZSA/ Page & Blackmore National Short Story Competition.

2018 GWNZ Postgraduate Fellowship for PhD

2018 Spin Off Surrey Hotel Residency Award

2012 Awarded NZSA Manuscript Assessment

Contact Us

Dice is available at all good bookshops in New Zealand and Australia and as an ebook and audiobook narrated by Ruby Hansen.

Media Enquiries

In Australia contact:
Bella Breden 
bellab@allenandunwin.com

In New Zealand contact:
Abba Renshaw 
AbbaR@allenandunwin.com

To contact the author:
claire@clairebaylis.co.nz

Publisher
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Ph: +61 (2) 8425 0100

 Allen&Unwin NZ  (Reading notes)

Allen&Unwin Australia (Reading Notes)

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