I enjoy atmospheric seaside mysteries and unconventional sleuths so I approached Murder on Line One with genuine curiosity. Jeremy Vine, best known to most as a broadcaster with a flair for public discourse, has already dipped his toes into fiction with The Diver and the Lover. But this, his first foray into crime, promised a new voice in the genre: a tale of murders shrouded in nostalgia and late-night radio fog. And in many ways, Murder on Line One delivers—just not quite in the way I’d hoped.

At the heart of the novel is Edward Temmis, a once-respected local radio presenter now stumbling through a haze of professional disgrace and personal grief. Vine shows how well he knows local radio and its audience. He uses his expertise here to great effect. Vine paints Edward with a deft touch: he’s melancholic, self-deprecating, and clings to the airwaves like a man to a lifebuoy. There’s a charming brittleness to him, and I found myself rooting for his redemption. He’s not a classic detective—more a reluctant knight errant, drawn into amateur sleuthing by a caller whose grandmother perished in a suspicious fire.

The character work here is, on the whole, a strength. Stevie, the grieving, dogged granddaughter, injects youthful momentum into the narrative, and Kim—Edward’s former flame turned unwilling accomplice—adds both heart and a sardonic edge. The trio form an unlikely investigative unit, and their dynamic is one of the novel’s pleasures. Vine has a knack for dialogue, and his background in radio serves him well in capturing the intimacy, eccentricity, and quiet loneliness of the late-night call-in show.

The setting, too, is evocative. Sidmouth’s coastal charm sits in eerie contrast with the unfolding horror, and Vine’s descriptions of the town and its faded grandeur lend the novel a certain wistful allure.

However, as much as I enjoyed the ambience and the characters, the plot ultimately left me wanting. I correctly guessed the killer far too early, which sapped the latter chapters of tension. The clues are laid with a heavy hand, and while I appreciate clarity in a mystery, part of the thrill lies in the chase. Here, I felt like I was led along a well-lit path with neon arrows pointing to the culprit. The resolution, though competently executed, lacked surprise.

More troubling, though, was one particular scene of brutality—far more graphic than the rest of the crimes. Without giving too much away, there’s an act of violence that feels not only out of step with the tone of the book but almost gratuitously inserted. Most of the crimes are subtle, quietly terrifying, and rooted in a chilling psychological logic. This moment, by contrast, veers into the grotesque and momentarily ruptures the world Vine has so carefully built.

That said, Vine’s writing is fluid, pacy, and never indulgent. He strikes a balance between character development and plot propulsion, and there’s a real affection here for the world he’s created. It’s clear he enjoys these characters, and that affection is infectious.

Verdict: Murder on Line One is a promising debut in the crime genre. Edward Temmis is a protagonist I’d happily follow again—flawed but sincere, emotionally resonant without veering into melodrama. When Vine returns to him in future outings, I hope the plots become a touch more intricate and the tone more consistent. This novel has charm, heart, and a unique premise—but it could use a tighter web of mystery and a more judicious approach to violence. Still, for fans of not-quite-cosy meets contemporary crime, with a radio twist, it’s well worth a listen. Vine himself, as you’d expect, is a fine narrator.

Edward is still reeling from the death of his son when he is sacked from the radio station, but life really starts to fall out of control when Stevie shows up, saying she thinks he had something to do with her nans death.
Edward and Stevie along with Kim start investigating what happened.
There are a lot of characters in this book who get a voice, and I think that was to it's detriment, it was hard to follow in places and took me out of the story. The mystery itself was intriguing, although I did guess quite early on who the culprit was.
It was a solid cosy crime, but not one that will stay with me.

I enjoyed the storyplot and the idea of the book, but it took me awhile to get into the book. I also enjoyed the author narrated his own book, which he knew the best how to present the book. The story began with Edward - the radio presenter, and it then started after he met Stevie. Stevie believed her grandma was murdered, and they had to find the truth together.

The twist and turns were quite obvious. I would not say it was thriller/mystery, but still an enjoyable read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for my copy.

Heartfelt mystery that is thought provoking and entertaining…

I went into Jeremy Vine’s crime fiction debut completely blind and found myself reading a book that was so much deeper than I was expecting. I really liked protagonist Alfred Tennis, but was not expecting him to have such a deep and emotional backstory. Alfred’s son has been killed by a motorist whilst cycling with his father. The book opens with a really affecting scene that demonstrates how difficult Alfred has found facing this loss. I immediately found myself caring for Alfred and I spent the remainder of the novel completely rooting for him. The fall out of this tragedy has a profound effect on Alfred’s life, but sets into motion his meeting with Stevie. Her grandmother has been killed as a result of a house fire that had been deemed an accident. Stevie doesn’t believe this, particularly when she discovers her grandmother reached out to Alfred’s radio show before her death. Together they investigate exactly what has happened and take the reader along on a twisted and intriguing journey. Vine has written a mystery that feels incredible topical, which I personally found made it almost the more gripping. It’s woven with empathy, heart, and a strong sense of justice. I had great fun trying to piece together the different strands of the narrative and work out what the truth was. It’s accomplished plot that is complex, but remains clear and refrains from becoming convoluted. At its very core though, this book is equally about Alfred’s road to healing. I was as much invested in his emotional journey as I was the unravelling of the central mystery.

I was also fortunate enough to receive early access to the audiobook, which is narrated by Vine himself. From previous experience, audiobooks narrated by the author are not always as enjoyable as when they are read by a narrator. However, here, Vine’s narration is fantastic! He breathes life into his characters, intoning all of the raw emotion, but also delivering the humour in the words perfectly. It was a really enjoyable listen and I felt the connection to Alfred (and Stevie) even more when listening.

I wouldn’t necessarily call this cosy crime, but it’s probably the sub genre it most logically fits into. What I will say is that if you enjoy your crime novels character lead and with a heart, you will probably enjoy this one!

I think the marketing on this book should be changed as it is perhaps leaning away from it's target audience. This is less a podcast murder style book and much more about a pensioner learning about the hardships of life - loss, new relationships, the power of community and the vulnerabilities of being "old" especially when targeted by callous scammers. A wonderfully sad but life affirming novel.

Everything was so obvious that it shouldn’t be called a mystery.
The writing isn’t awful but it’s not engaging enough in my opinion. As I said I can’t even comment on the mystery because it was way too obvious!! The plot twist at the end was lukewarm at best. I’m not rating this one star because I finished it (on 2.5 but still).

This book hooked me immediately with its heartbreaking and emotional opening.

From there, it was gripping and suspenseful right up to the end.

I like how character driven this book is and I love the unlikely threesome who became amateur sleuths.

For me, this book was well-thought out, making it brilliant! Everything tied up so perfectly at the end and it left me feeling happy, knowing everything was resolved.

I am a huge for of audiobooks and enjoy when authors narrate their own books. In my opinion, who better to give life and a voice to the characters other than the author? I thoroughly enjoyed Jeremy Vine’s narration!

I highly recommend this 5 star read. It’s the first I’ve listened to by this author and I wait in anticipation, with fingers crossed, that the author will write another phenomenal mystery soon!

Thank you NetGalley, Jeremy Vine, and HarperCollins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to this delightfully suspenseful audiobook ahead of the proposed April 24th release date.

Murder on Line One brings the cosy crime murder mystery to a new locale; a local radio station. I enjoyed listening to Jeremy Vibe read this book ,a good story .Set in Sidmouth Devon, Edward is a local radio presenter until tragedy happens, and his son dies in a hit and run, and because of his grief, he was let go.

He meets Stevie, whose Grandma dies suspiciously, and the mystery begins when they start piecing all the facts together.

It's a simple read, offering moments of levity, even if it does take a while to get going. Characters where relatable helps you to keep reading to see if they get justice.

It's perfect for fans of Reverend Richard Cole or those looking for something not too taxing to sit back, read, and enjoy.

Thanks to @netgalley , the author and publishers for the ARC.

The reason I chose this book was down to the author. Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of Jeremy Vine, I was "swept up" in the current climate of "celebs writing fiction" culture!
That aside, I did have high hopes for this book, but sadly, I just couldn't quite get into it, and if it hadn't been an ARC, I probably would've DNF'd it, as I was getting frustrated with not being able to read more than a fee pages at a time. That being said, the premis of the story is quite good, and the main character is very similar to the author himself. It does tend to get rather waffley, too.

I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading this book but I would've preferred to have physically read the book rather than the audiobook which is how it was sent by #netgalley simply because I find the authors voice quite monotonous (even though when I listen to autobiographies I prefer the author to narrate).

I gave this a 3*/5 on @goodreads
I think this is quite generous of me considering I didn't like it, but that's not to say I don't recognise the effort gone into writing it.

I enjoy audiobooks, but did not enjoy this narration. Not a big fan of this unfortunately. I would hate to bring down the score of the reviews, but I wanted to be truthful.

*Murder on Line One* is an engaging mystery that combines suspense with human connection. The story revolves around a late-night radio host investigating a string of suspicious listener deaths while dealing with personal loss. As he delves deeper into the mystery, secrets emerge that challenge his perceptions of justice and danger. The novel features vivid descriptions, emotional depth, and a well-paced narrative that keeps readers intrigued. It explores themes of grief, redemption, and the strength found in community bonds, making it a thoughtful and captivating read for fans of mysteries and character-driven stories.

Riding the wave of broadcaster-turned-author comes Jeremy Vine’s entry into the cosy thriller genre. I had access to the arc of both the ebook and the audio version and would recommend reading rather than listening. Presenting and acting are very different skill sets and I am getting frustrated by the number of writers who are doing a terrible job of reading the audio version of their own books.

The novel’s central character, Edward Temmis, felt like self-indulgent wish-fulfilment, with the lionisation of a local radio host by his adoring fans. The plot’s twists seemed fairly obvious to me from quite early on, despite also feeling far-fetched. Overall it was okay-ish but I wouldn’t particularly recommend it or want to read another book about the same characters. Once was definitely enough.

With thanks to NetGalley, the piano the author for an arc of this book.

This is a book that has a lot going on, but it works. It took a while for the mystery to kick in, so there was time to get to know the characters and become interested in them. I found the characters likeable, and I was invested in their stories and their relationships.

There’s a little humour and quite a lot of heart to this book. There are also a few crazy moments that felt a little over the top, and some that felt too drawn out, but I went with it and overall I enjoyed the book.

I’d definitely classify this as a cosy mystery, with its Devon setting and a protagonist who worked as a local radio DJ. It was certainly a lot gentler than the mysteries and detective novels I usually read, but may be slightly grittier than I imagine many cosy mysteries to be.

I was attracted to the audiobook because I enjoy Jeremy Vine’s voice, and I always think it’s interesting to hear how an author brings their characters to life. I did find that with this, the narration had pauses in strange places and didn’t flow quite as I expected.

3.75 stars, rounded up.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

Radio host Edward Temmis has been off work since tragedy struck his family. When the granddaughter of one of his listeners approaches him asking for his help in investigating her grandmother's death Edward finds it difficult to refuse, leading to shocking findings.

The opening chapter of Murder On Line One by Jeremy Vine is an intriguing one with Edward Temmis, a local radio talk show host approaching a boy's football match and cheering on his son. Mystery surrounds why he is avoiding all of the other parents - and then the chapter ends with a sucker punch.

We learn that Edward has been off work for almost a year and in that time new management has made a clean sweep of all the older presenters, with Edward quickly following. While at his new job in the local garden centre Edward is approached by a young woman asking him to help her look into her grandmother's death. Stevie is convinced that her grandmother was murdered and it is connected to Edward's radio show. Edward doesn't see how the death and his show can be linked but agrees to help.

The investigation surrounding the death takes Edward down a number of different avenues, some of which are dead ends. Not only does he come across some red herrings but there is also someone actively conspiring against him discovering answers. I thoroughly enjoyed the direction the story took once it was clear what crime had taken place.

When the villain is finally uncovered the author takes the opportunity to add another layer, or two, to the story, making the conclusion even more unexpected and exciting. Overall, what started out as a slow burner turned into a gripping thriller once it got into its stride. It's also difficult to categorise this, my initial thoughts had it down as cosy crime but some of the elements are a bit grisly.

Sorry I couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters, I’m sure the story is fine but I think it should have been read by a professional narrator rather than Jeremy Vine as it just didn’t work.

I can only sum this up by saying great concept but poor execution. This was way too much of a slow burn for me as well as the dialogue and character development were both clumsy and boring in my opinion. I honestly think this one was just too quirky for me and the narrators voice was distracting

Edward Temmis has not been on air since his son’s death. A trauma he finds it difficult to cope with. Stevie comes to him after her Nan dies. She was one of his listeners and the investigations will commence. More listeners are found to have been conned out of thousands of pounds but who is responsible?

A murder mystery written and narrated by Jeremy Vine (I listened to the audiobook). Good characters in a radio presenter mystery. Who caused the death of Edward’s son and how did Stevie’s Nan die? Read to find out.

Late night talk show host Edward finds himself without a job, when he struggles to cope with the death of his son. Feeling like a washed-up has-been, he is keen to get stuck in to solving a mystery when he is approached by the granddaughter of one of his listeners, who died in a house fire, with the granddaughter believing there may be more to it than an accident.

I am a big Jeremy Vine fan so I was keen to listen to this, especially as Jeremy is also the audiobook narrator. It's a great story, a little too cozy crime for my usual taste and the plot was quite slow and drawn out, but there was a lot more to it than I had expected and lots of twists and unexpected revelations.

The character development was excellent and I felt immersed in Edward's life, as well as the other characters involved in the story. The relationships between them all are portrayed with just the right level of emotion and the setting of Sidmouth was gorgeously described.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Jeremy Vine and Harper Collins for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately this story was overshadowed by the narrator. Just because he is good on the radio (I love him on the radio) I was excited by this book, it sounded really good. Sadly I was very distracted by his voice and consequently could not concentrate on the story. I will be picking up a paper copy but the audiobook is not for me.

Murder on Line One follows Edward, a radio host with a devoted audience as he tries to solve the mystery of who is targeting them. When we first meet Edward, he’s at a low point in his life and trying to figure out what he can do next. Initially unaware of anything nefarious, he’s approached by Stevie who is looking for answers around her grandmother’s recent death. Why Edward? Well, her grandmother was one of his doting audience. This kicks off what is a large-scale operation targeting the pensioners of Sidmouth.

On paper this book has everything that should captivate me, mystery, conspiracy, and murder all set up around a radio station. However, I found it extremely hard to engage with the story. For me it came down to the following things: Dialogue, character, and conclusion.

The dialogue at times was very heavy handed, to the point where it took me out of the story. An example being a character who had a loved one die in a horrific manner being explained in detail how that death happened, quickly followed by a half-hearted apology and then no reaction from the character being spoken to. The purpose felt only to inform the reader what happened (despite already knowing all the details) and not to build characters further.

On the characters it felt as if each was loaded with traumatic backstory, as if this would give them depth. For me this left many of them feeling very flat and hard to connect to. This was a pity as there so much potential to explore for each of them.

The twist at the conclusion was not a surprise for me. About halfway through I had figured out who was behind everything. As for their motives though, it felt entirely based on stereotypes, rather than something more genuine.

Overall, while the writing wasn’t bad and I did really enjoy the premise, I struggled to connect with the characters and spent the second half of the book frustrated while it slowly got to the reveal. With that I can’t say I would recommend the book to others.