I think this book has a lot of potential, but also it seems a bit clumsy. The main character write mystery novels for a living, but doesn't seem to know how to actually investigate things and can't remember what the different is between motive and intent. The premise is good and a number of the characters are likeable, but it just falls flat through the dialogue. With the number of characters to keep track of, it starts to plod on a bit unlike most mysteries which are a faster pace.

I enjoyed this book greatly. While the story initially appeared fairly simple, the story kept unfolding new layers of information that stacked up over time to give you a very interesting view of this world and the cast of characters it contained. The overlapping relationships, motives (both obvious and hidden), and the compressed timeline kept me engaged from beginning to end.

My only complaint is that there are a lot of characters to keep straight, and it would be helpful to have a character guide at the front to reference. Some characters do not appear for several chapters in a row, and it can take a second to remember what their role is in the story.

I unfortunately DNFed this one about 20% into the book! I wanted to like it so much, but it just felt discombobulated in a way that was not drawing me in. The actual setting of the book festival was not quite what I was hoping for, and none of the characters felt specifically interesting to me. I believe the story would improve, but I just didn't have the pull to continue at this time.

This book made me laugh, smile, and gave me such a heart warming feeling…🥹

This follows an awkward MC who recently lost her Mom and is trying to make her place in this world. This book follows her find herself and a new set of friends while solving a murder at a book festival.

This has the bookish themes, found family, lies, betrayal, hilarious scenes, heartbreak, courageous action, and a thrilling ending! All the ingredients for a perfect cozy mystery 🥰 Definitely would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

TW: some language, animal death

A Novel Murder by E.C. Nevin is a mystery of a death during a murder mystery writers conference. The Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival is a yearly festival bringing together authors, publishing people and fans. There are various panels and chances to promote novels. A quirky novel with multiple characters.

Jane Hepburn is a writer and is determined to get her name and books recognized. She is awkward, shy and retiring, but determined. I would consider her as the main character.

Jane finds the body of Carrie Marks, a literary agent dead in the tent with all the books. She decides to solve the murder. She ends up with two cohorts Natasha and Daniel to help. Between the three of them, they begin to establish who could have and would have killed her. Slowly a couple of more people begin to help them and with the local inspector checking in, they are asking questions and finally setting up a scene where all the suspects are invited.

A Novel Murder by E.C. Nevin is a quirky novel with some very interesting characters. Jane is certainly alone and very shy. However, with the addition of friends, her character becomes stronger and more interesting. While told from multiple viewpoints which add other perspectives, I was mostly interested in Jane.

The book was not a fast read and several times I felt overwhelmed by the number of characters within the novel. I felt that caused the book to be cumbersome at times. I did complete the book and was pleased to find out who the killer was, but I think I was more pleased about Jane and her growth as a person.

A Novel Murder by E.C. Nevin comes out June 17th.

My thanks to Net Galley, Knop, Vintage, and Anchor, for this arc.

I liked the premise of this book and the cozy vibe. Jane Hepburn, an author attend a mystery writer s convention and finds her literary agent murdered. I didn't hate this but the beginning was dragging. I was underwhelmed and not wowed. There was nothing really memorable about the characters. Things picked up a bit but things fell flat.

2.5 rounding up~

So, I picked this one up because I love stories about writers and the publishing world. There’s always something juicy and eye-opening about how cutthroat that industry can be. “A Novel Murder” seemed like it had all the right ingredients: a cozy crime setup, a behind-the-scenes look at publishing, and a bit of humor thrown in. It started off promising, but unfortunately, it just didn’t quite hold my attention the way I hoped it would.

I appreciated the cozy mystery vibe, but it just didn’t fully hold my attention. It’s probably a better fit for readers who love British humor and don’t mind a mystery that meanders a bit. The actual mystery to be solved kinda fell apart, but it wasn’t completely awful. Sorry, this review is a little scattered, but the book isn’t “bad,” it just wasn’t super great either.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

When Jane Hepburn attends the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival in Great Britain, she doesn't know that she will become involved in a real life murder mystery ... but she does. When a widely dislikes literary agent is murdered, Jane works to solve the mystery.

I wanted to read this book because I love mysteries. The British setting and the Crime Fiction Festival were appealing.

This was an engaging mystery! It was well paced with a smart amateur detective. I did enjoy the book festival and the supporting characters. I recommend A Novel Murder for other mystery fans!

Okay, I enjoyed this one. It was a tad bit of a slog and was somehow simultaneously predictable while also unpredictable? I took some additional time to write this review because I wanted to collect my thoughts, but I don't think the time helped. I pushed myself to finish this one, but the ending was good. Essentially, I'm still not sure how I feel about this read so I'll give it a middle-of-the-road rating.

Thank you to Netgalley, Knopf, and E.C. Nevin for this advanced copy! This is my honest, unbiased review in exchange.

I’m still sorting through my thoughts on this one—A Novel Murder left me feeling a bit conflicted, and I’ve been debating where to land on my final rating. So, let’s unpack it.

🔪 What didn’t work for me:
The biggest struggle I had was with the main character. Her constant self-loathing—especially about her appearance and weight—felt heavy-handed and repetitive. It wasn’t just part of her internal dialogue; it dominated it. After a while, it started to feel less like honest vulnerability and more like fishing for pity. It added nothing to the plot and honestly pulled me out of the story.

The pacing was another challenge. The story moved very slowly, and I had to push myself to keep going. It lacked urgency, and I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the central mystery. I considered DNFing it multiple times, which is rare for me. Even when the killer was finally revealed, it didn’t pack much of a punch—I was too checked out by that point to be surprised or impressed, even though I hadn’t guessed it.

📚 What I did enjoy:
The setting—a true crime fiction festival—was a super fun and clever backdrop. I loved the concept of amateur sleuths coming together to solve a murder in real life. The ensemble cast had quirky charm and offered moments of levity, even if they couldn’t quite carry the weight of the story’s slower moments.

⭐️ Final thoughts:
If I had to choose right now, I’d probably land at a 2 or 2.5 star rating. There were things to enjoy here, but overall, it felt like a slog. I wanted to love the premise so badly, but the execution just didn’t deliver for me.

Jane Hepburn, author of detective novels, is at the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival to promote her series, even though she dreads these types of events. Being an introvert and having no real friends, she happens to be the one who finds the body of her literary agent. Jane is now befriended by a first time author, Natasha and an intern at the Marks Agency, Daniel. Since Jane is the older one in the group, it is decided that she put on her Detective Baker persona to work and they begin to investigate by going about questioning the ones who they think might be responsible . They soon realize that there are plenty of suspects, from would be novelist to assistants, all who had reasons to what her dead.
A delightful cozy mystery set in the book world of publishing and promotions., with someone, who is now beginning to realize that becoming involved and making friends, gives them the courage needed to move forward in life.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read this e-galley of "A Novel Murder".

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut cozy mystery from EC Nevin. Jane is a moderately successful mystery writer with a serious self-esteem problem. In an attempt to shake herself out the rut that has plagued her since a failed romance and the death of her mother, she decides to attend the Killer Lines literary festival. Jane's world is quickly tilted and expanded, when she stumbles upon the body of her agent. Teaming up with a hapless intern and a spunky debut author (their group chat is titled "meddling kids"), Jane uses her knowledge of the mystery genre coupled with her late mother's aphorisms to untangle a web of intrigue, infighting, and hidden romance to unmask the killer. I sincerely hope this proves to be the first of a Jane Hepburn series.

1/5 stars: This is Nevin's British Cozy-ish Mystery stand-alone that's set in England and features a struggling British mystery author as she teams up with a crime writer and a hapless intern to sleuth out who killed a renowned (and reviled) literary agent stabbed to death after finding her body inside the book tent at a book festival. Written in multiple POV, Nevin's writing and character work are well done. Unfortunately, this just wasn't a book for me; leading me to DNF it at 13%.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

This was a good, fun, cozy murder mystery. It takes place at a Crime Fiction Festival in a quaint little town. Jane is our FMC who wants to make a name for herself as an author when one of the most famous book agents at the festival is murdered. She decides to take her sleuthing from pen to real life. Along the way she meets and befriends some fun characters to make a Scooby gang of sorts to solve the murder.

I will say, the plot is a bit much (in the over the top funny kind of way) and you’re going to question every move and suspect along the way. Overall it was a light fun read and if you get the clues, you catch the killer (people reading was not Jane’s strong suit lol).

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor Publishing for allowing me access to the eARC of the novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

#ANovelMurder #NetGalley

I liked that the setting was a literary festival. I liked Jane, the main character. The ending was very satisfying, especially the show-down scene with the murderer. One thing I had trouble with was the large number of characters and all their different jobs. It was hard to keep track of whether a character was an agent, author, critic, editor, publicist, or publisher. I would probably read another book by this author and/or about Jane.

A Novel Murder-A Mystery by E.C. Nevin

Jane Hepburn, author, shows up at the yearly Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival in Hoslewit, England with no credentials. Her agent Carrie Marks must have forgotten she was coming. Jane sees herself as a wallflower anyway, so it’s to be expected. Well, wallflower Jane becomes a full bouquet in bloom by the end of this story; Crime solver extraordinaire with lots of friends to boot.

Carrie Marks is found dead, by none other than Jane. There is also an attempted murder. This cannot be left up to the police to solve, so Jane takes the lead. The dialog flows, and the characters are written so you can just picture them.

My favorite part came at the end of the story where all in the crime solving group start accusing different festival participants of being the killer. You buy into one being guilty and just as quick there’s another possibility. It was just pure fun, though I don’t think many will guess the killer. Five stars from me for a super well paced story with likable characters all readers will enjoy.

A little cozy crime, a literary festival, authors who become the detective! A classic whodunit with a modern twist—there’s a touch of Agatha Christie, a quirky cast of fellow writers, tongue-in-cheek insider publishing references sprinkled throughout and a whole lot of bookish fun!

How intriguing to set a mystery at a mystery festival! When Jane discovers a dead body she and the people she meets decide to solve the murder. Of course, at a festival, there's no lack of suspects! I don't particularly like cozy mysteries so this one started off slowly for me, but picked up during the investigation. Overall, a fun book to read

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of "A Novel Murder" by E.C. Nevin. All opinions are my own.

If you like cozy mysteries you will love this!! I absolutely loved the setting of this book, taking place at a mystery book festival. This was great all around.

By the end of this fun little murder mystery, I had a big ol' hankering for a cuppa and a biscuit, or at least a flat white, and a nice long chat with Jane, Natasha and Daniel.

This absolutely charming little whodunit was a delight. Yes, it's a slow start. We get a bit too much of Jane's innermost thoughts in the beginning, and Jane can be pretty depressing to listen to sometimes. We meet all the suspects, Jane makes new best friends out of Natasha and Daniel, and the sleuthing begins in earnest around the halfway mark. Everyone has a motive, even our heroine Jane, and it is so delightful listening in to Daniel and Natasha bouncing ideas off of Jane. Everyone is quite likeable, once they are cleared of suspicion. But all good things must come to an end, and the ending is here is a wowser. I briefly suspected Natasha, and Daniel at one point, but the final reveal of the actual murderer actually caught me by surprise.

I do so hope we haven't heard the last of Jane, Natasha and Daniel. And maybe the hunky Edward will pop back into their lives again, too. In the meantime, while I wait for the next installment of their adventures in sleuthing, can someone bring me piece of Victoria Sponge cake to go with my tea?