A Novel Murder gave me strong Richard Osman vibes, but it didn't have quite the same level of wit of Osman's books. Not quite a cozy mystery, but not a hard-core mystery either.

I love that this one takes place at a book festival, Killer Lines. A literary agent is found dead, and our main character, who is also her client, finds her. She forms a real motley crew on her way to solving this the murder of her agent.

The main character, Jane Hepburn, is an author of a series of detective novels. She hasn't had much success and appears at risk of being dropped by her agent, and her editor is avoiding her. Jane is in her early 40's, she has an administrative assistant job. She's definitely an introvert and feels terribly overlooked and lonely. I loved Jane's character development throughout this story. Jane channels the main character of her novels to get out of her comfort zone, and even though it is brought about by a tragic death, she starts to make friends, gain confidence, and see herself through other people's eyes, which is much more complimentary than she sees herself.

The secondary characters add so much to the story. Especially Jane's investigative partners, Daniel and Natasha. There were lots of plausible suspects that left me guessing at who the perpetrator was until the characters were also figuring it out.

The book was well written and kept me hooked. I would say I was going to put the book down at the end of the next chapter, but each chapter left me on a little cliffhanger, and I would have to start the next chapter.

This was just overall an enjoyable read with an interesting mystery.

Every year the publishing industry and the fans come to the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival. Author Jane Hepburn is determined to make her mark, However, when a well-known literary agent is found dead, Jane is determined to find out what happened.

,I'm all for a cozy mystery that takes place at a Crime Fiction Festival! It did take me a bit to get into it, but once I was, I didn't want to put the book down. I loved the look into the literary world with quirky and interesting characters whom I became invested in. I found the MC Jane Hepburn relatable and enjoyed seeing her growth through out the book. The mystery also kept me guessing till the end. If this becomes a series, I will definitely read the next book!

Thanks to NetGalley, Haper Collins Canada and Killer Crime Club for this ARC

A Novel Murder is a charming cozy mystery set against the delightful backdrop of the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival. The story follows Jane Hepburn, a struggling author whose world is turned upside down when she discovers the body of her literary agent, Carrie, dead in the book tent. Soon, Jane teams up with two new friends—Natasha and Daniel—and together they take it upon themselves to solve the murder.

The setting of the book festival adds a fun and bookish atmosphere, and I really enjoyed how the trio of amateur sleuths bonded over the mystery. While the story wasn’t a page-turner in the traditional sense, it had a comforting rhythm that made me look forward to picking it up each day. The characters were likable, and the mystery unfolded at a satisfying pace with plenty of red herrings and light-hearted moments.

Overall, A Novel Murder is a sweet and enjoyable read—perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and literary-themed whodunits.

*** Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own,

Thank you Netgalley, Killer Crime Club and Harper Collins Canada for the Kindle copy of this book.

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 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 centre, 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—by solving the murder. But the list of suspects is long: seemingly everyone at the festival had 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.

This book was quirky, a little goofy, but fun to read. Reminiscent of many books I've read before, but unique as well. Cute summer read. 3.75 out of 5 ⭐️

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley, Killer Crime Club, HarperCollins Canada and HarperCollins Publisher.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

It is not a real countryside crime festival without a crime. Author is looking to put her main character in the spotlight. She is willing to rearrange books to get a prime spot for her own book. But things go astray when she finds a dead body of a renowned literary agent. The author finds herself using her detective knowledge to solve the case. It is a charming new read.

I want to say thank you to the author, the publisher, Netgalley and the Killer Crime club for allowing me the privilege of being able to read this book!

I honestly don't know where to begin, I really loved this book. It is cozy, quirky, a little cheesy but by gosh it's got depth. I haven't read mystery/ thriller in the adult genre that hooked me quite like this in a long while. I've also never had a book remind me of so many others, which is funny because that's a repeated mentioned theme in this book, however well it reminds of them, it usurpers a lot of them in so many ways.

The writing style, and story remind me a lot of 'The Maid' series by Nita Prose, however there's something off for me with those books. It gets under my skin and doesn't feel quite right and not in a good way. This story flows better, the characters are way more likeable, and real (again alluded to in the book). This I could picture, the maid not so much, and in those the killer is glaringly obvious, this not so much. The multiple-pov leads a little towards what I read in 'Fifty-Fifty' by Steve Cavanaugh, where he drops little thoughts into your head to try and skew your thinking. However it still misses the mark because for some reason you still just know who the killer actually is. This book, you don't, it's done really really well.

Which is why this book reminds me of 'Sometimes I Lie' (and a few others by her) by Alice Feeney. She has a way of making her writing flow so well, you get trapped in her story, there you know with flashback povs who the killer is, but you still don't actually know until the end. It wraps up and you sit there like whoa, yah, it works so well everytime. Well the "killer" is caught, I'm still curious if this amazing author actually pulled 'A Mysterious Affair at Styles' by Agatha Christie on me. The last line on page 29 and the very last line of the book, will sit with you. I want to know if it was a missed opportunity and that is exactly the complete truth to what happened, or we've somehow got an almost mimic to Agatha Christie's book but without the Poirot to see the truth finally through. I really need to know, because if it is, this already blows so much out of the water, but this would trump all in its storytelling, and pure real twists!

Whether it was intentional or not, this book seems to take so much, from so many places, uses it and makes a masterpiece like it should have been done. This story like it's said, is like so many others before it, but it kills it (pun intended) on being it's own complete thing. Everything mentioned about books, and their worlds are shown through here, bringing to light a lot that I've said, and a lot of us think. But it reminds you of why you love books too. That truthfully in the end books all bring us together, no matter or walks of life.

This book was magic, thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart again for allowing me to read this incredible book, I loved it! And ps. I would love to know whether or not this is a nod to Agatha Christie's novel, this will forever stay in my head as need to know! I loved it!