Publication: 19th June 2025 – Zaffre Books
In the quaint town of Hoslewit, the biggest names in crime writing have congregated to celebrate all things bookish and murderous. With a programme packed with seminars and signings, egos and alcohol, it’s sure to be a thrilling weekend.
Author Jane Hepburn is determined this is going to be her year. She’s not quite reached the heady heights of best-sellerdom yet, but is convinced that if she can just make the right connections at the festival, it could be the start of a whole new chapter for her and her books.
Then her literary agent is killed, and Jane’s plans are derailed. But if she can solve the murder, perhaps it will provide the boost her writing career needs? If she lives to tell the tale, that is.
Set in the world of books, and for fans of Richard Osman and Richard Coles, Janice Hallett and Nita Prose, A Novel Murder is the book you’ll be dying to read.
Although I had a bit of a slow start, A Novel Murder turned out to be a fun and engrossing read. Set during a literary crime convention, it features murder, secrets, and an insightful look into the world of publishing.
The protagonist of the novel is Jane Hepburn, a struggling writer whose crime series hasn’t achieved the success she (and her agent and editor) hoped for. Awkward and not very good at socialising, Jane hopes that the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival in Hoslewit, in Cumbria, will give her a chance to make her books known to the people who matter in publishing, so, on the second day of the festival, she sneaks into one of the tents to put her books on display only to find the body of her own agent, stabbed with a dagger. Channeling the protagonist of her own book series, detective Sandra Baker, Jane starts investigating, first as a way to promote her books and then to find justice for a woman who very few people seemed to like.
Most of the story is told from the point of view of Jane, but we also get the perspectives of the secondary characters, from the two new friends Jane makes who help her investigate the murder to the various suspects who may have wanted to kill the victim. Jane is an interesting character. Socially anxious, eager to make new friends, but always doubting herself, we learn more about her life and her past throughout the novel, and we also see her develop into a more confident and determined character by the end of the story.
The murder mystery is well-developed and full of surprises. Like Jane, I felt everyone could be a suspect and I enjoyed trying to solve the case with her. Well-written, witty, and compelling, A Novel Murder is a fantastic debut and I was excited to learn that there is going to be a sequel!
A huge thank you to Zaffre Books and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this novel.
E C Nevin is the pen name for Eve Hall, who is a fiction editor as well as a writer. Despite what A Novel Murder may imply, she really does like her book industry colleagues. Most of them anyway.
Eve lives in Bristol with her partner and two dogs.
Book After Book 