Edward Temmis is a late night radio talk show host. He loves his job, however the death of his son turns his world upside down, & he is let go from the radio station. He gets a new role in a garden centre, which is where he is found by Stevie, the granddaughter of one of his avid listeners. She has an interesting story to tell regarding her late grandmother; such is her passion & conviction that Edward agrees to help her.

Told over the following months & in a very easy writing style, at times I was reminded of the TV series Shoestring starring Trevor Eve (who remembers Radio West?). Despite working out who did it (I blame the amount of crime fiction I devour), this was an enjoyable & satisfying read.

Murder on Line One offers a unique premise for a cozy-ish mystery, drawing on his broadcasting background to tell the story of Edward Temmis, a sacked late-night radio host. When a former listener dies under suspicious circumstances, Edward, aided by a spirited young woman named Stevie and an old flame, Kim, delves into a scam targeting his elderly audience. While some find it a slow burn with occasional repetition, the novel is praised for its authentic portrayal of radio, its well-developed characters, and its blend of humor with sensitive themes like grief and financial scams. Fans of Richard Osman and character-driven whodunits will likely enjoy this debut entry into a new series.

Really struggled to get into this one and ended up not finishing it but it did seem like something I would enjoy if I had more patience so I may come back and try again. 3* because what I did read just didn’t grip me enough!

Workaday cosy-ish mystery
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With any mystery, and especially so with cosy, you want the world you’re in to be charming and lovely in some way, but not in this book. Edward Temmis is a radio presenter without a show, a father without a son, a husband without a wife. And his house is a nightmare that never ends. So far, not so cosy. Anyway, as clues start to pile up and point to his former radio show as the only thing that connects a financial scam and possible murders, Edward has to gather his own Scooby Gang to find out who has been using his previous popularity to target the lovelorn and the openhearted.

So not so cosy but is the mystery any cop? It’s all right, but there’s so many missed opportunities here, not least because Vine is not good at the romance thing. It could have really lightened up the whole book by giving him and his paramour (keeping it schtum so that you have something to look forward to) moments where they might be discovered and the possibilities were endless given her job. Anyway, this was a workaday cosy-ish novel, probably selling on Vine’s name alone.

A very unusual murder mystery, with some very unexpected, shocking moments from Mr Vine, I was gripped all the way through. Interesting, quirky characters, a strangely believable story, and good descriptions made it a real treat.
And the female characters are so well written, I keep forgetting it’s a man who’s the author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review.

3.5 stars

I found this to be quite slow in parts, potentially trying to do too much with multiple characters with multiple traumatic experiences and then how they all connect.

I think the concept of story was really interesting especially from the perspective of an author who knows the radio industry.

I did enjoy the setting, but I am biased being from Devon. The house on the edge of an eroding cliff was a lovely touch that added atmosphere but also reflected on the main character's inner turmoil.

I did think some of the side characters played into some more negative stereotyping that I am not sure were helpful nor necessary to the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the debut crime novel from this well known radio and television presenter. Having written previously this his foray into a new genre. I am not sure it has worked.

Drawing on his experiences of local as well as national radio, the plot features late night radio host Edward Temmis is let go from his job. The locals are up in arms about it, but the corporation needs to move in a different way.

Completely Lost, Edward is introduced to Stevie, whose grandmother was a devout fan and has died is suspicious circumstances. Along with Kim, a former lover of Edward and Sophie they start to look into what is happening. What they discover there are other listeners who have also died. Surely Edward cannot be the thing that connects these deaths?

This was rather a long and drawn out book for me, which had pockets of greatness but also dragged in places. Edward was a depressing characters, no doubt because of his circumstances but still it did not make this book move along at a pace. It lacked something and whilst I did finish it, because I did want to know how all the strands came together, I am not sure if I would pick up the next.

Edward Temmis is a radio presenter and has loyal listeners particularly in the older age bracket .
Edward is divorced and co parents with his ex wife , unfortunately his son his killed in a terrible hit and run and Edward is never the same again .
He is off the air for a while and eventually sacked.
Edward begins work in a garden centre to earn some money and also take is mind of the loss of his son.
One day a customer speaks to him about her grandmother who was an avid listener of his show , and he appears to have committed suicide .
Although Stevie her granddaughter doesn’t believe it , and wants Edwards help to get to the bottom of it .
This is the beginning of a great story there are plenty of twists and the investigation and the death of Edward’s son merge together nicely .
A story that kept my interest throughout and also kept me guessing until the end .
A different read a bit of a slow start but gathered pace .
Enjoyed it!
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction.

#MurderOnLineOne #NetGalley This book took a while to get into and at first I found it a bit rambling and repetitious and slow going. It did perk up a bit in the second half and I found that much more enjoyable although I did guess the culprit very early on.

Jeremy Vine is a radio favourite presenter and I was excited to read this, his first foray into crime fiction. Sadly I did find it disappointing. Whilst the setting of Sidmouth was a location well described and atmospheric, It took a while to gel with the story and characters and consequently it wasn't a book that I rushed to pick up. I liked Edward as a character and his emotions and circumstances were sympathetically drawn but in my view it took far too long to get to the point of the story and by then I had lost interest. I persevered rather than DNF'ing but if this is the first in a series I'm not sure I care enough about the characters or the writing to read further instalments. A positive was the glimpse behind the scenes of a radio show which I was interested in but overall I thought the story was too long and drawn out and I had guessed the perpetrator from early on so it didn't really come as a surprise.

This was a great whodunnit and this book will keep you guessing till the end. Author’s writing is compelling. Edward is night show host. When an unsolved murder comes to light and Stevie says that she knows something about the grandmother’s death. They investigate the unsolved murder to get to the bottom of it. While Kim does her own investigation. But the mystery is so deep and unsettling. It’s all tangled and truth is twisted. This book is written well. I loved that the book has been narrated by the author.

Thanks to the Publisher

This book is about Edward Temmis, a local radio presenter whose young son passes away after a hit and run. Edward is off work for a year then gets let go because of an incident. Edward starts working in a Garden Centre and meets an unusual young lady called Stevie. Stevie asks Edward to help her look into the suspicious death of her Granny. With the help of Kim, Edwards estate agent and love interest, the three of them start investigating.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the character of Edward, he was so well rounded and you could feel his grief. I hope there is more books featuring Edward, Stevie and Kim.

I did work out who was the hit and run driver and who had committed the murder but it didn't spoil the book for me. I will definitely be recommending this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Edward Temmis is a radio presenter who has suffered an unimaginable tragedy. In this whodunnit he gets involved in solving a mystery death. These two parts to the plot did not gel well for me unfortunately and I found the slow pace plodding. Edwards’s personal story interested me more.

I got so excited when I got accepted to read this book so thank you NetGalley & the publisher. I didn’t know what to expect when I first picked this book up, I was intrigued as soon as I started to hear about it and I did enjoy it, I just found it was difficult to get into and took some time to get to the point of the story.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this novel initially. But I was surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy

While this a good read I really liked the concept it doesn't stand up to the authors name it's lacks the style and plotting to make it anymore than three stars am interested to see where the characters go if this becomes a series good effort it will do well as sure given whom the author is but without that big name it doesn't stand for me

I wasn’t sure about this book when I first started reading but I really enjoyed it .Edward Temmis is a dj who has suffered a tragedy and life has been terrible for him and things are going to get worse for him until he meets a young woman who needs his help so with the help of a friend Kim they uncover something shocking. Likeable characters and an interesting plotline

I did enjoy this well plotted mystery. A great cast of characters, with some tragic backstories, lovely relationships and interactions and some cracking twists and turns. Definitely worth a read.

Edward Temmis has just lost his job presenting on at a local radio station. He's still recovering from a tragedy in his personal life and this leaves him somewhat adrift. Then the granddaughter of one of his former listeners asks for his help investigate the death of her grandmother. But as they investigate, he discovers that more than one of his listeners may have been targeted.

This is the first murder mystery from radio and TV presenter Jeremy Vine. And given that I used to work in a local radio station this was totally intriguing to me. But perhaps the fact that I used to work in local radio was the reason that I didn't quite click with this - because this is the best staffed commercial radio station that I've ever come across (and yet with no mention of sales staff!) and it just kept lifting me out of the story and making it harder to get lost in the story. Add to that I found quite a lot of the characters quite hard to like and that I had the culprit figured out pretty early on and it just didn't work for me as well as I had hoped. But that's fine and it may well work better for other people who don't have the background that I do - or who don't read as many murder mysteries as I do!

I enjoyed this slow burn, character driven cosy crime story.

The story begins with Edward, who is taking a break from his radio talk show following the death of his young son. When Edward meets Stevie, whose elderly mother died under suspicious circumstances Edward starts to investigate.
They soon discover Stevie's mother wasn't the only one of Edward's listeners who was targeted. Who else amongst Edward's listeners has been targeted and why?

The characters in this story were so well written and quite quirky. I enjoyed getting to know them all!
The mystery element really picks up pace towards the second half of the book. Whilst I did guess the main perpetrator I was still invested in the characters and wanted to see how the story would resolve.
Overall I found this an entertaining read which I would recommend to fans of cosy crime.