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Her books aren’t yet even close to the bestseller list but struggling murder mystery author Jane Hepburn hopes that her weekend at a tip-top crime fiction festival in Cumbria will turn the page on her much longed-for literary career.
What shrinking violet Jane didn’t expect was to be caught up in a dastardly real-life murder in the book tent… a high stakes killing that that could well offer her a stab at the crime-writing big time.
Book lovers on the hunt for a perfectly honed murder mystery to galvanise their spring reading need look no further than the witty and wonderful A Novel Murder from E. C. Nevin, pen name for fiction editor and writer Eve Hall whose insider knowledge of the book world brings vibrant life to a mystery sparkling with refreshing originality and darkly satirical authenticity.
Peopled by characters from all strata of the publishing industry – from authors and agents to editors, publicists and interns – Nevin’s delightful debut brings us cosy crime with an enthralling and entertaining literary twist, and a gloriously memorable celebration all those who flock to the perennially favourite crime festivals.
Leading the charge is downtrodden but still determined author Jane, a shy, awkward and aspirational 42-year-old writer who is finally spreading her wings and seeking more self-confidence after living very much in the shadow of her recently deceased mother, only to suddenly find herself sleuthing at the centre of a baffling and increasingly menacing murder mystery.
So welcome to the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival in the quaint Cumbrian village of Hoslewit… it’s the place where the biggest names in crime writing gather to celebrate all things bookish and meet their adoring fans.
Jane has arrived with the uplifting feeling that year’s festival is going to be ‘the making’ of her and is determined to make her time there worthwhile, even if she hasn’t quite reached the heady heights of the bestseller lists yet and her editor isn’t returning her calls.
After a lonely life, and the death of her mother, Jane is here to ‘network her socks off,’ start connecting, and make her fictional detective, the savvy and sophisticated PI Sandra Baker, a household name. And if she has to resort to sneaking into the book tent at 5am to surreptitiously remove some of her books from a high shelf to the front and centre of the attractive table in the middle of the book tent, then so be it.
But this year the murders aren’t just on the page and when Jane finds the body of renowned, reviled and, incidentally, her own literary agent Carrie Marks on the floor with a dagger through her heart, 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 and (hopefully) boost her writing career.
But the list of suspects is seemingly everyone at the festival, all with a motive to kill Carrie, and the more Jane and her new friends investigate, the closer they come to a dangerous truth… one that is stranger than fiction.
Readers cannot help but fall for the socially inept Jane whose often embarrassing experiences amongst the literati make her an eminently relatable and likeable amateur sleuth, and paint an exhilarating and eviscerating portrait of the highly lucrative and ruthless publishing industry and its array of colourful and egotistical acolytes.
But A Novel Murder is not just a tongue-in-cheek romp through the crime writing world – it is also very much Nevin’s incisive contemplation of the highs and lows, rejections and successes, the vulnerabilities and the victories, of clawing a way to the ultimate crown of authorial recognition and stardom.
And there is no doubt that one of the joys of this twisting, turning mystery is watching Jane casting off her self-doubt as she seizes the chance to put her own detective skills to the test, and subsequently finds herself on a genuine quest to seek both the killer and justice.
With a list of suspects as long as the queue for the drinks tent, an eclectic cast of characters which includes a social media star who writes vampire romance and a book reviewer on a secret project, plus a suitably dramatic final act, it’s pleasing to report that excellent crime writing like this DOES pay because Nevin (and Jane!) are set for a welcome return with their next adventure, A Killer Plot, waiting in the wings.
(Zaffre, paperback, £9.99)
