A Novel Murder
A Mystery
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Welcome to the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival, the place for star writers of the genre to meet their adoring fans. But be careful—this year the murders aren’t just on the page.
"Funny, sharply observed and fiendishly clever" —Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
In the quaint English town of Hoslewit, the biggest names in crime writing have congregated to celebrate all things bookish and murderous. Author Jane Hepburn is determined to make her time at the Killer Lines festival worthwhile. This is her chance to change her fortunes and make her fictional Private Detective Baker a household name. And if she has to resort to sneaking into the book tent after hours to rearrange some books so hers are front and center, so be it.
But when Jane encounters the dead body of renowned (and reviled) literary agent Carrie Marks, the festival takes on a decidedly different tone. Joined by Carrie's newest client, debut novelist Natasha Martez, and the agency's hapless intern, Daniel Thurston, Jane decides to put her fictional sleuthing skills to use in the real world—she's going to solve the murder. But the list of suspects is long: seemingly everyone at the festival has a motive to kill Carrie, and the more Jane and her new friends investigate, the closer they come to a dangerous truth—one that’s stranger than fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nevin (a pseudonym for former Hodder and Stoughton editorial director Eve Hall) debuts with an entertaining whodunit centered on 40-something mystery author Jane Hepburn. Jane has avoided the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival in the English village of Hoslewit for as long as she can remember, scared to mix with her professional peers. This year, though, she's decided to attend in support of her underperforming PI Sandra Baker series. When she sneaks into the book tent in the wee hours with plans to rearrange the display and place her own books front and center, Jane discovers the dead body of hard-charging literary agent Carrie Marks. With the assistance of Carrie's new star client, the unassuming but hugely popular Natasha Martez, and Carrie's struggling intern, Daniel, Jane takes it upon herself to figure out who hated Carrie enough to kill her. The only problem? Plenty of people did. Nevin's premise, while clever, trods familiar ground, but she elevates it with a well-rounded list of suspects and her lovably flawed heroine. Cozy fans will hope this is the start of a new series.
