3.75 stars

An intelligent and thoughtful mystery, featuring Dr. Eve Brook, an academic writer who has been hired to finish a manuscript by a recently deceased writer. But nothing is simple in this plot. As it turns out, no one knows where the manuscript is, or if it even exists. And the dead author was a controversial figure, an uber conservative anti woke zealot who may or may not have died of natural causes.

Eve is intrigued. She is a bit of a loner and likes to have things neatly finished up. So she begins investigating, supposedly to find the manuscript, but along the way she talks to the victim's wife, son, long lost daughter, colleagues and doctor. More and more questions arise. Who would have wanted him dead?

Eve is a quirky character who mostly keeps to herself but somehow is pretty skilled at drawing information out in interviews. There lots of surprises and Eve's original task shifts into something altogether different as she follows the trail to the end. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

We meet Eve on a train platform, which is just where she likes to be. She's thinking about how she'd rather be catching a train in a different location where it's not the tail end of winter, but maybe this journey will help her get there. She's on her way to meet a publisher so she can embark on a new project. Eve is a ghostwriter of sorts--her current project is all about pork. That is, she trying to make readable an autobiography of a rich guy who made his money from pork. This new project promises to be more interesting and perhaps lucrative enough to pay for a train trip in a sunny, warm location. She's been asked to do finish up a book by an infamous guy, recently deceased, who made his name by spewing his racist, misogynist ideas all over the place. His book--a diatribe against 'woke'-- is nearing the publication date. There's a problem though. The publisher and the literary executor don't actually have the manuscript. They want Eve to find it, polish it up, and get it back to them. Things get weird pretty quickly, though, and nothing is as straightforward as she thought it would be. Where is the manuscript? And did this guy really die of natural causes? Eve won't stop until she gets the answers she's looking for.

When I saw the description of this book, I was intrigued. When I read the book, I was delighted. It's a wonderful, unique, kind of quirky, cozy mystery. Eve is a woman who loves trains, travel, notebooks, and words. She's smart, compassionate, and self-aware. She's a vegetarian who bicycles, walks, and uses public transport instead of owning a car. She's built a life for herself on her own terms. I quite enjoyed spending time with her. The mystery aspect of the book was well done and unusual in the cozy genre in the sense that the primary mystery is about the book and the deceased person and how he met his end is somewhat secondary to that. I enjoyed the literary aspect of the plot and how the various people Eve meets in the course of her investigation fit into into the web of relationships around this odious individual. The setting has a bit of a traditional mystery vibe, but it captures the current moment exceptionally well. I'm so glad I discovered this book. The description mentions that Eve is embarking on her first mystery, so I hope that means there will be a second mystery at some point. If there is, I'll snap it up.

The first in what seems to be maybe a new cozy series follows Eve as she is hired to complete the book of a controversial Oxford writer. It seems like many people might have wanted him dead.

I wanted to like this as I love cozies so much! But it felt overly written for a cozy - like it was trying to be more serious fiction almost? I'm not sure and maybe it was just me. But the writing style didn't really match the desired audience.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. as it's well plotted, the mystery is full of surprises and twists, and gripping. .
I liked the good storytelling and the fleshed out characters
Highly Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this digital copy, all opinions are mine

A quirky mystery series in the academic halls of Kxford. I found the plot ro be original wirh characters that were well developed.

I loved this book! It had everything after cozy mystery should include. The characters were well thought out and the mystery keeps you guessing!

An interesting concept and a very specific atmosphere, but it didn’t fully pull me in. I appreciated the themes around identity and power, and the writing itself is solid, but emotionally it stayed a bit distant for me.

Not a bad book by any means — just one that I admired more than I actually felt.

Atmospheric, clever, and rich with intrigue 🇬🇧🔎. Death of an Englishman is a gripping historical mystery with sharp prose, layered characters, and plenty of twists. Anna Beer blends period detail with a compelling plot, creating a page-turner full of secrets and unexpected reveals. I adored the dark, immersive setting and the satisfying mystery. A must-read for fans of intelligent, character-driven crime fiction.

A murder mystery with historical links and a feminist lead
Eve Brook is a literary investigator who’s drawn into the hunt for a manuscript following the death of it’s author
Found the story was mainly focusing on Eve trying to track down the manuscript and was a bit unclear of the plot - didn’t read like a cosy crime and was a bit too much on the feminism and Oxford college politics, but keep with it better in the second half
Thanks @anna_beer_author @thebookguild & @netgalley for the debut novel

A good book, a good mystery and with quirky characters and a story that keeps you guessing in this unique and quirky story. I really enjoyed the characters and the mystery behind the manuscript. There are some historical links, some secrets, some intrigue and overall was a good read but I must say it lacked some depth and form and wasn't one of my favourites

Thank you NetGalley and The Book Guild for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and BookGuild Publishing for the ARC!

Death of an Englishman is a murder mystery, and Beer’s debut novel. I wanted to love this book, as a feminist murder mystery seemed right up my alley. The murder seemed rushed, as the first half of the book focused solely on a missing manuscript. The book also had a large theme of both feminism and anti-wokeness, but a lot of it felt thrown in rather than worked in naturally. It often took me out of the story whenever these two themes came up. I think another round of edits on the book to help that flow naturally, and also introduce the murder earlier would have helped the book immensely.

Literary Sleuth Investigates..
Literary sleuth tackles first mystery in this enjoyable and well written whodunnit set against the backdrop of Oxford colleges. When Oxford don, David Morrow, is discovered dead, Eve Brook is employed to complete his latest manuscript. Eve soon discovers that the manuscript is missing and that there are many people who wanted Morrow dead. So begins the investigation. A traditional mystery given a contemporary and unique edge with a well crafted cast of characters populating a steady and immersive plot.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

What a fun debut novel to read! This book was a neat twist on a cozy mystery, with the literary concept at Oxford working well in it. I did feel a little bored at times while reading, mostly because I tend to read books with a lot of dialogue more easily. I enjoyed the ending wrap up and look forward to reading another book by this author. Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheDeathOfAnEnglishman.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This started put well for me: I like an Oxford setting, and I thought the character of the protagonist Eve was well-drawn and fully rounded. She had actual friends, an interesting job, a relationship with her daughter, feminist principles, and persevered in taking public transport wherever she went. But... then, instead of doing her job (which had initially been to finish off and get ready for publication a book by a sort of Jordan Peterson type, the recently dead David Morrow, and which then morphed into discovering if he had indeed written a word of the book before his death) she decides there is something off about Morrow's death and that it is her responsibility to get to the bottom of things. To this end she travels all around England and to France, stirring things up with all Morrow's family and contacts, keeping secrets and spilling secrets and suspecting everyone of nebulous things.

Even setting aside the strangeness of what she is doing, at about the 50% mark the narrative got really bogged down. Eve would go on a journey and thrash things out in her own mind and then she would do it again, and then again and so on. The ending was an anticlimax and also the sort of ending of which I disapprove. A pity, as I liked the writing and I liked Eve.

I was really drawn in at the start—I love a good Oxford setting, and Eve felt like a refreshingly real character. She’s smart, principled, and independent, and I was curious to see where her assignment would lead. But the story started to lose momentum around the halfway point, with Eve retracing the same steps and inner thoughts a bit too often. The mystery had potential, but the ending didn’t quite land for me. Still, I liked the writing and would read more by this author.

I thought there was a lot of potential for this book but it fell short for me. I loved the idea of the MC, a scholar who has chosen to live a bit off the social grid, but found her at times to be so unaware of the world it felt unrealistic. As she tries to find the lost manuscript of a universally disliked colleague, I found myself simply not caring at some points.

I did like many of the secondary characters and wish there was a bit more of them in the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

This was a fun mystery novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

David Morrow, a white man that no one liked, has died at Oxford. He’s supposed to have left behind a manuscript that no one really wants to read. Eve Brook is asked to find the manuscript. As she looks deeper into finding it, and why no one really wants it, including herself, she begins to think his death has a lot of unanswered questions.
Eve is a singular woman, very disconnected from people. Through her investigations she finds she likes making connections and must try to dig her head out of ancient historical thoughts in order to make her investigation make sense.
It was an interesting book with some really good parts, but sometimes I lost the thread.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Guild for this DRC.
#DeathofanEnglishman #NetGalley