A Novel Way to Die

Verity Long #1.5

by Lynda Wilcox

“Fancy a weekend in the country? I can offer you murder, mayhem, poison, and possibly a little sex.”

Clearly not an opportunity to be missed. So, when Verity Long's boss invites her to attend a crime writers' workshop, she looks forward to a relaxing stay at a country house hotel, doing nothing more challenging than exploring the Elizabethan manor and changing the slides of a PowerPoint presentation.

But the body in the library is no fiction. And there are plenty of clever writers around, all with motive, all capable of plotting the perfect murder. Soon Verity must call on all her sleuthing skills to solve the case before the police step in and arrest the wrong person.

A Novel Way To Die is a 30,000 word novella in the Verity Long series of comedy whodunits/cozy mysteries.

Genres: Novella, Mystery

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2013

About the author

Lynda Wilcox's first piece of published writing was a poem in the school magazine. In her twenties she wrote Pantomime scripts for Amateur Dramatic groups and was a founder member of The Facts of Life, a foursome who wrote and performed comedy sketches for radio. Now she concocts fantasy stories for older children (10-13) and writes funny whodunits for adults.
Lynda lives in a small town in England, in an untidy house with four ageing computers and her (equally ageing but very supportive) husband. She enjoys pottering in the garden where she grow brambles, bindweed and nettles along with roses and lilies. Oh! And slugs! Slugs that feed well on everything but the brambles and weeds.
Most of all, she loves to write — it gets her out of doing the housework. She also reads a lot and enjoys good food and wine.

Reviews

[David Gilchrist · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Agatha Christie type book is not my normal read. A locked room murder, very compelling and I am likely to read more from this author.

[Rosen Trevithick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Novel Way to Die is a light-hearted whodunit narrated by Lynda Wilcox's recurring protagonist, Verity Long. It's a novella, so shorter than others in the series (e.g. Organized Murder and Strictly Murder), making it an ideal starting point for anybody wishing to dip into Lynda's work for the first time.

Verity accompanies her boss, an author she calls KD, to a writers' conference at an Elizabethan manor. One by one we meet other characters at the event and you can tell the author has a good grasp of the variety and flavour of people in the book publishing profession. There are one or two `in jokes' that people who move in publishing circles will certainly appreciate, but they're subtle and by no means make the book inaccessible to others.

Then, just as I hoped, one of the attendees got bumped off in a sinister and parodical fashion. Verity's overbearing boss orders her to investigate.

It's a 'locked room' murder and the author teases the reader by continually eluding to how obvious the solution is, without giving it away until the very end.

One of my favourite aspects of the book was the references to crime drama clichés and the way these were used to parody the genre.

I've been meaning to read one of Lynda Wilcox's books for many months now, having heard great things about them. When I heard that there was one about authors, I accelerated it to the top of my ever-expanding to-be-read list, and I'm very glad that I did.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable cosy crime read featuring an interesting cast of crime authors and one overworked pa, I very much enjoyed this and will read others

[Chris Longmuir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novella. It was a refreshing change from the dark crime I usually read and I was soon involved with the characters. I found Verity a delight and followed her investigation with pleasure, her nosiness and curiosity felt like a younger version of Miss Marple. And the locked room mystery was intriguing I kept wanting her to explain how it was done but she kept that information close to her chest until the final chapters of the book.

If you're looking for a light cosy crime read then you cant do better than read A Novel Way to Die.

[Jonathan Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Lynda Wilcox, although I believe it is the third in the series of Verity Long books. It is a stand-alone story and I was entertained throughout this light-hearted murder mystery.

Verity Long is a researcher for her boss, KD, an established crime author, and it is fun to see Verity show her true colours as an amateur sleuth. The scenes with Verity and her boss are often comic and they make up an amusing double act. A weekend away in a grand stately home full of fellow authors turns into a whodunit as a body is found in a locked room. Verity exercises her sleuthing muscles as she works her way through the entire cast of characters.

The author sets the tone of the book just right. It is a light and fun read, despite the involvement of a murder! This is a world away from the gritty thriller but, as a comic whodunit, it succeeds. It's a cosy piece of escapism that also gently pokes fun at traditional crime stories. Midsomer Murders springs to mind, but this entertaining novella has the advantage of not being peppered with advert breaks.

[Kath Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book featuring Verity Long, the sort of young, sassy, intelligent and feisty gal I still am – in my head! It’s the first I’ve read though, and it’s a novella rather than a full length novel, as the others are. There’s a crime writers’ conference and authors, researchers, agents and publishers are gathered there. The murder victim is the sort of creep who has you cheering the murderer! There are crime writing clichés (it’s a locked room mystery) and lots of wry humour. I love mysteries and thrillers, and often read the hard, dark and gritty kind, but this is light, frothy and a total delight!

I loved the writing style. There was some really good description of the gardens in the early morning, for example, which delighted me. It wasn’t self-conscious; it was part of the scene setting but was so good. Naturally, most of the characters were two-dimensional – there were plenty of them and the work isn’t long enough to go any deeper – but they were all individual – no mixing up characters who are too many and too similar. I found this an easy read and a well-balanced story. I enjoyed it very much.

[Madeline Meixner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED my first dip into Lynda Wilcox' writings. Everything about this novella appeals to me:

I adore a locked-door mystery (I pride myself in figuring them out before the bungling police constable even if a bit after the book's resident sleuth and I would NEVER have figured out how the killer did this one - this is why I read while others write).

I love the fact that the "Miss Marple" in this book (Verity Long) is an administrative assistant/researcher - one of my careers in a previous life.

And, finally, I loved the little window into what the writing and publishing world used to be ... back in the day.

I am already deep into another book in the same series. This is the sort of book that you can read when you want to get away from your everyday world and dip into a modern day Agatha. I just like *being* with these people.

Lynda Wilcox has a new fan!

[Louise Warman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crime writers' workshop in a country house hotel, attended by larger than life characters, some with vaguely familiar names, is the setting for a gruesome murder in a locked room. Not an original idea, yet the author cleverly plays with this classic device, one of the joys of the book.

Verity Long is the researcher for one of the writers and sets out to resolve the mystery; she teases the reader by almost revealing the means by which the deed was done on a number of occasions before the final denouement.

A good blend of likeable and objectionable characters, and atmospheric setting, fine wine and good humour make this a worthwhile and entertaining read. The novel is the third of a series although it can be quite easily read as a stand alone novel, indeed I seem to have skipped the second, an error I shall be rectifying very soon.

[✿Claire✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic novella from the Verity Long series. This time, Verity finds herself at a crime writer's convention at the behest of her boss, KD. The relatively relaxing weekend away takes a turn for the worse when one of them is found dead in a way reminiscent of many of his own mysteries.
As always, Verity can't help getting involved and quickly finds herself immersed in identifying the killer. This time, she's in a race against the police to clear her boss' name.
Verity is as quick witted as always and it was nice to learn a little more about KD as she featured strongly in this story.

[Cheryl (Super Slump) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel by this author that I have read, and what a delightful breath of fresh air it is.
Novella length, so an exceptionally quick read, it's a light hearted whodunit somewhat in the style of Agatha Christie.
Verity Long & her author boss K.D. are the stars of the show with Verity playing the amateur slueth at K.D.'s behest.
I really enjoy these lighter reads and sandwich them between my harder going crime novels to rest the overloaded brain cells.
I'll definitely be reading more in this series. :)

[David Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this. It was light, funny, entertaining and very easy to read. The characters, were all well thought out and although we didn’t meet them for long, I felt they were well rounded.
The mystery itself reminded me of a Jonathan Creek episode and when I watch him I always try and work it out. This story got me in the same way.
Enjoyable and entertaining.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light easy to read story. I found this entertaining and fun.

[Sherry Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and fun

This was another great book in the Verity Series. Not my favorite book still extremely good. I was able to figure out who did it in this one. Definitely 4.5stars