The Fan Who Knew Too Much: The Kit Pelham Mysteries

The Kit Pelham Mysteries #1

by Nev Fountain, Imogen Church (narrator), W.F. Howes Ltd. (publisher)

Kit Pelham is a professional fan, interviewer, host of the podcast The First Cult is the Deepest, and occasional obituary writer. Except this time the obituary is for her friend, maverick podcaster Wolf Tyler, who is murdered in his shed during a live broadcast, moments before revealing a huge secret about the cult TV show Vixens from the Void.

Kit and her group of friends and fellow superfans soon realise Wolf had discovered something about the disappearance of Lily Sparkes, an extra on Vixens from the Void, back in 1986. And it was a secret worth killing for…

To find justice for their friend, and much more importantly, new trivia about their favourite TV show, the gang decide to put together a 'Then and Now' Blu-Ray documentary that will reunite the original cast and crew. Armed with only a shoestring budget, an occasionally soggy drone, action figures (in the original packaging) and encyclopaedic knowledge of 1980s sci-fi TV, they have just four days to discover Wolf's secret, and solve his murder.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Humor, Audiobook, Thriller

Audible Audio

Published December 5, 2024

About the author

Nev Fountain, born Steven John Fountain, is an English writer, best known for his comedy work with writing partner Tom Jamieson on the radio and television programme 'Dead Ringers'.

He is currently writing for Dead Ringers and the satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.

He has written three humorous murder-mystery novels, collectively called 'The Mervyn Stone Mysteries', and a serious thriller called 'Painkiller'.

His latest book, 'The Fan Who Knew Too Much' was released in July this year.

Nev was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire and now resides in Surrey.

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
This is a light, cute novel that is a loveletter to geek culture and its fans. I thought the premise was fun but personally I would have preferred a shorter version and this one felt drawn out.

This book goes hard into the references to iconic movies and other media. It was a little heavy handed for my tastes, but perhaps an unfair criticism for a book that promises to be novel for geeks.

I would recommend this one for readers who are looking for a book to geek out with.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Everett Parks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that this book has an interesting premise, but falls short on the author’s limitation of not knowing how to actually write the book he set out to make.

The steps of this mystery are laid out well, a formula that is copied by every author to ever have read Agatha Christie. The only thing one has to do is insert a unique twist, and in this case, it is the nerdy world of pop-culture podcasting.

I enjoy mysteries and nerdy podcasts, so I was ready to give this book 5 stars before I started it. But, like the great tipping scene in 3rd Rock from the Sun, I am taking away stars as I become less enthralled with it.

The first deduction comes from the cover art.

The second comes from the characters. This author really hates his characters, making them break the foundation of their convictions for a cheap laugh in an otherwise serious moment, or else having them be beacons for a non-typical community without having gone to the trouble of understanding what makes that person tick in the first place. It is poor form and the opposite of something that I, as a member of the geek community, appreciate.

The third deduction comes from the terrible pacing. This whole book reads like an outline. I kept thinking to myself that it reads like a script to some crappy pandering tv show, and then when I got to the end, I discovered it was written by a guy who writes crappy pandering tv shows. There is no sense of joy. The flow is clunky. Giant, grand scenes seem to take place just because it would provide a sense of suspense, but I never cared about the fate of the characters, since the author didn’t either. I knew who would survive by the end and why. None of those things are really too much of a problem, but it just felt like it was such a struggle to write and the author did not enjoy it one bit.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very british

[Genevieve Paquette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forking called it! I called it right from the character's introduction.
Spoilers, Lily's BFF killed her in a fit of jealousy. At first I thought, huh, ok, I guess she didn't do it, but then in the last couple of minutes/pages, nope, there it was, I called it. FYI, it ends with her and the protagonist in bed together, and there's serious foreshadowing that the villain is truly a villain, or at least totally unhinged and still blasé about murder and the protagonist is in trouble (she noticed a clue before falling asleep and had a strong suspicion but decided to ignore it.) I didn’t love the ending.
Wolf's killer was one of his BFFs, who happened to be Lily's secret son. He was on a mission a la Mama Mia to find his biological father, one of the men from the Vixens from the Void series. He ends up in jail, but we are left to wonder if the protagonist really could have prevented all of this from happening if she had acted on her suspicion about him very early on .


I was impressed by the author's ability to write characters who were so believably annoying, exhausting and realistically cringey. I think we all know folks like that, right down to the velvet statement hat. Unfortunately, there wasn't one principal character who wasn't to help, I don't know, cleanse the palate?
Basically, it was like spending the day with people who you really don't enjoy the company of, but you would feel guilty about ditching them because, for the most part, they're not bad people, they mean well, they're just completely insufferable and, as mentioned, exhausting.

I don't think I possess the necessary sense of humor for this one (it was very English in a way that I do not enjoy) except for a couple of the scenes with the German curator which made me laugh out loud.

Also, someone else pointed out that it seemed like the author hated their characters, and thinking about it, I agree. They were believable, yes, but one note and unsympathetic. The hugely fat super fan who stole a transwoman's excised penis and blackmailed her with it, dealt in human trafficking of famous sexual predators and was generally a huge, whiney sleaze comes to mind. Combing that with the protagonist's restrictive eating and obsessive calorie counting, I wondered if the author's personal views were coming through?

[Christopher M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lively "cosy" whodunnit that, for convoluted reasons, is happening backstage at the filming of blu ray extras for the re-release of a cheesy 80s sci fi TV show. The affectionate satire of old Who and Blake's 7 casts, crews and episodes is fun if you're in the know, although does distract from the case in the middle act, and the solution is clever if a little obvious. Generally though, an entertaining read.

[Angie Boyter]

I suspect that the right reader will get a lot of enjoyment from this book, but I am the wrong reader. I love reading mysteries and science fiction. Note I said "read". I am not big on either TV or movies. There are references to one or both of these on practically every page, and I gave up after the first two chapters. Worse, since I recognized practically none of the references (except the BBQ apron labeled "May the Fork be with You"), for most of the references I could not distinguish whether they were from a real-life show or book or if they were part of the author's fiction.
The setup of the book sounds like a fun mystery could develop, so if someone is into TV, movies, SF, and mysteries, you might want to give it a try!
I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher.

[S S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superfans doing what superfans do! (By which I mean "know too much, bordering on nearly everything," and needing an outlet for all that information, not committing murder/crime.)

This one borders, just slightly, on possibly being a bit too long - as we get introduced to multiple subplot mysteries that jigsaw in around our main plot mystery (or mysteries, I guess?), some of which seem a bit much/unnecessary beyond just showing us someone may not be guilty (the entire thing on the ship, for example) or given our main character someone else to at least vaguely trust (as much as you can trust someone when investigating multiple mysteries at once). But beyond that, it's a pretty fun romp through the attempts of a group of superfans to put together a special feature about a show that they love - and, just possibly, solve a crime (or three?) in the process (okay, fine - solving the crime is the main focus; the special feature is just a way to do that with everyone in one place, Blanc- or Poirot-style).

Our protagonist, Kit, is one of multiple superfans of an older TV show called Vixens From the Void. When one of these superfans, a seeming asshole-type podcaster or vlogger (I don't remember) is murdered during a live show (in my defense, it is right at the beginning of the story, and whenever we hear about him after that, most of the focus is on how he wasn't exactly a beacon of excellence), word comes that he might've been about to break a big story on the death (possible murder?) of one of the extras from the original series of this show. And so, to get to the bottom of this murder (and of whatever the big story was), the rest of the superfans come together to try and solve the case in the only way superfans know how: invite all the stars from that series back and film an "on-site" special feature.

After all, the murder would've had to have been committed by one of them, and maybe they'll admit it in this setting? Their flaw, of course, is not realizing that inviting a murderer back to the spot and digging up the old graves (not literally, cuz no body was ever found) has a tendency to lead to more murders.

Despite the length, and the number of mysteries that seem to keep popping up, our main cast list doesn't ever really become too broad or confusing. I mean, there are occasional side characters that pop in and out, but the mysteries generally remain within the main cast of characters - so nothing really feels like a cheap, gimmicky "gotcha!" when truths spill out. There's plenty of red herrings to keep you entertained and questioning - especially when other mysteries pop up and just confound the matter - but I do think it is possible to sort of figure out at least bits of what is going on and who is guilty (at least initially, the 'who' is much easier to figure out than the 'why'). Even the final, final reveal on the very last pages isn't completely unsurprising - it feels like a lot of movies, especially lately, have played out with this sort of twist ending (also, completely unrelated, am I missing something or is the age difference at least 20 years - which is fine, if they're okay with it, but like, I feel like it is that but it isn't ever touched on?; also, not sure it adds much to the plot, especially since "love at first sight" almost immediately turns into "fuck you, we're not talking" and just a whole lot of 'I should talk to her' followed by not talking to her).

It really does seem like a huge shout-out to the idea of superfans and nerd/geek culture and a sort-of "fan service" (a la Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example), even if many of the references are to a fake show (there are, however, references aplenty to Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc.). And I absolutely love that genre of stuff that has been coming out recently (again: Spider-Man; also, Deadpool & Wolverine), and am absolutely here for that level of fan-service. I'm not this level of superfan about any such show, but mad respect for those who are - and those who go through the effort of something like this (well, except for the ones - like on of the characters here) who totally destroy the fun or (as in at least 1 real life instance that I've read about) don't mind absolutely ruining everything if it doesn't go exactly their way.

Final thoughts: again, probably a bit long, and there's quite a few mysteries that pop up - some of which seem very 'out there'. I guess the one thing that really bugs me is the twist we get on the last pages - which seems just arbitrarily thrown in and, while definitely very twisty (and exactly the type of twist I expected to come from this plot), just further goes to make you wonder about that entire subplot of the story (not the mystery part of it; just the inclusion of that at all). However, overall this is funny and pretty fun right from go, generally keeps itself going at a decent pace, and it does wrap up all the mysteries it throws at us (even if a couple of things are maybe a bit unsettling or otherwise less than ideal). Work aside, I couldn't put this down, and the idea of extreme fan-service, even for a fictional show, is absolutely wonderful to me. It is time, after all, that the idiots in charge realize that the fandoms are real.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Fan Who Knew Too Much is a madcap nerdy sci-fi mystery series opener by Nev Fountain. Released 23rd July by Titan Books, it's 504 (!!) pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a nerdy, action driven murder mystery absolutely packed full of silly puns, SF fandom sendups, trivia, and cultural in-jokes. It's very funny in places, and honestly tries a bit too hard in some places. For fans of Dr. Who (and you better bring your series 1 knowledge to the table), STTOS + NG + STV +++, Blake's 7, and others, you will feel right at home here. Fair warning, there's very little hand holding to get you up to speed. If you've never quoted whole scenes from Red Dwarf and didn't know Logan's Run had a short (blessedly short) run as a TV show, then you're going to have to bring a significant amount of patience to the read, -and- be prepared to miss a lot of context, -and- potentially be willing to phone-a-genuine-nerd for help.

For those of us who have been to more cons that we can remember, who possibly spent 45 minutes stuck in an elevator with James Doohan at worldcon a million years ago (he was a perfect gentleman and wonderfully funny), who know what filking is and can sing a few without breaking a sweat, this book is a treat.

There's a LOT of poking fun at the stereotypes. If it were written by someone who doesn't get it, it would be over the top mean, but as it is, Mr. Fountain seems to be one of us.

Four stars. Genuinely funny, a bit frenetic in places, and with an outlandish mystery plot resolution. Worth a look for the nostalgia and in-jokes.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new mystery from Nev Fountain, set in the same world as his (excellent) Mervyn Stone books. Again the story revolves around the fictional camp SF series Vixens From The Void, but as the title suggests, our protagonist this time is a fan.

The Mervyn Stone books had different ways into the world of cult television, such as a sci-fi convention and a DVD commentary recording, and we’ve got another authentic one here with a documentary that reunites old cast members on location. This is a ruse to investigate a number of murders - that number is uncertain for much of the book - but not everyone on the documentary crew (all of them fans) is aware.

Kit Pelham is an interesting hero, being a “professional fan” (frequently recruited to interview cult actors) and obviously beset with social anxieties. She is not a parody of fan mentality, although there are some quite specific parodies of this not far away. She is a compelling mix of someone who struggles to cope and someone who, perhaps in part because of that, is able to focus on things like secret murder investigations to a degree that would make others uncomfortable.

The book is almost equal parts mystery and fandom exercise - perhaps a smidge more the latter - and when it all draws together it’s very satisfying, if rather melancholy as a whole. I didn’t guess where it was going although the behaviour of certain characters helped to narrow down the suspect list.

It’s sharply funny, occasionally veering into quite bad taste but not in an entirely mean-spirited way. I think the only thing I really didn’t like was the ending, which no doubt must have been irresistible to write but definitely soured the experience for me a bit.

3.5

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
I'm a bit torn on my feelings about this one. It's sort of a love letter to classic sci-fi TV (Doctor Who, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, etc.) mixed with an attempt at a whimsical whodunnit. The story was mainly light, though not quite as funny as I think the author intended, and has very nerdy characters full of nerdy references (a bit overdone at times). The premise of a group of nerds getting the cast of an 80s TV show together to create a documentary for Blu-ray, and at the same time solving the murder of one of their friends and possibly a decades old disappearance related to the show was a unique take. The story has some surprising twists to keep you guessing, though it also has a bit too much overdone, such as the main protagonist instantly falling head=over-heels in love with a much older woman she just met, which felt forced and inorganic to the story for a lot of the book. And the truths behind the mysteries were a bit too over-the-top, though I guess much of the story was kind of over-the-top. I mostly enjoyed it, I just found too many sticking points. 3.5/5*

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you can tell from the rating, I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, the characters were well fleshed out and for anyone who loves a bit of murder mystery will love this. And if you love geek culture, tv shows, conventions and fans you will really love this. There is a lot to unpack in this book. A murder of a podcaster just when he was about to reveal the murderer live on air of an actress who played a bit part in a 1980's sci-fi show who everyone believed committed suicide in the mid 80's in Brighton where the show was filmed. So, what better way to investigate who killed the podcaster for a group of fans than investigating the death of Lily Sparkes , than by making a documentary for the new Blu-ray and invite all the original cast (suspects) to Brighton for interviews and reenactments of key scenes.
What ensues is funny and the story twists and turns in ways you would not imagine.
A really fun read. I hope we get more like this from the writer.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3

Picked this up as read and heard other works from the author and generally liked them all.
This started strongly I thought and had an interesting cast of well drawn characters.
The mystery was okay whilst the idea to solve it using the filming of Blu-ray extras for a box set as cover had promise.
Overall though I feel vaguely disappointed with the novel, nothing that really stands out as a major problem but still …. It feels slightly too long as if some pruning was expected to happen but the editor didn’t bother. Not wanting to insult either writer or editor.
For me this was at least 50 pages too long, I think it could have been a lot tighter and streamlined and then I would have probably loved the novel instead of merely liking it.
Saying that will probably seek out the next book from the author though.

[Susan Reck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to like this book but it just was chock full of character “types” - the neurodivergent lesbian, the trans woman (who ironically gives a whole speech about not wanted to be defined as trans and then the book proceeded to treat her as THE TRANS WOMAN for the rest of the book), and so on. It was set in a world of fandom that it wanted to give respectability to and ended up making it a farce. It wanted to make a statement about the Me Too movement but it just got preachy…and that’s before you got into the convoluted mystery plot that twisted and turned to no satisfying conclusion.

Ironically, by the end, I was like “well…in the end it was better than I…” and before I could finish the thought one more stupid “twist” got thrown in for no reason I could ascertain and bleah…

[Robin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. What a fabulous breath of fresh air it brings to crime fiction but it transcends other genres too and is an hilarious romp through classic cult TV of the 1980s.
Anyone who has ever been to a sci-fi convention or just dreamed of doing so will understand the obsessive nature of fans and have a good laugh at all the shenanigans going on here.
The characters really could have stepped right out of a classic TV sitcom or be found on the pages of vintage copies of the Radio Times.
Kit Pelham is no ordinary investigator and I can't wait to see what she does next.
This is a crime novel - just! - that is seasoned with nostalgia and spiced up with many outrageous moments of comedy mayhem.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

I got almost halfway through and still wasn’t enjoying it at all. The only slightly likable character is our protagonist, but even she becomes irritating. And her geeky friends are all jerks, and all the tv actors are even bigger jerks. There’s not a likable character in the entire book. And the pace is sloooowwwww!! It took half the book just to finally get all the suspects together.

This book simply did not spark joy. Quite regrettable for a book that’s supposed to be a “love letter to the geek community”. And I’m definitely the target audience! Not even wanting to know “who done it” could keep me reading. So disappointed.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun ... quirky...podcaster..brilliant read for nerds who loves conventions ..I like do ..love this book to beginning to the end had me gripped as a potterhead myself loved it ...I would describe it as nerds doing a murder mystery weekend....can't wait to get the paperback book so I can read again thank Nev Fountain you have done again 😊 looking forward to some more 😊 .....

[Jonathan Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny and very clever. Extremely well-plotted, at no point did I know where it was going, I was wrong-footed constantly. Great characters, a couple of whom were familiar faces. Buy it, read it, you'll love it, and hopefully Nev will write some more.

[Lisa Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cult fandom at its best and worst! Kit Pelham is a "professional fan" with a podcast and press credentials who knows everything (EVERYTHING) about 1980s sci fi TV. Very LGBTQ+ friendly. This was just plain fun with a solid mystery and terrific characters.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much of a cliche as it is the book was a rollercoaster from start to finish. The last twist in particular has left me a wreak

Ok in all seriousness it’s a fun geeky mystery book that has some good twists and turns

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author has attempted to turn every line into a funny punchline, but in reality the book is disappointingly unfunny due to its vicious misogyny and frankly absurd portrayal of autism. This is why I avoid detective novels written by men.

[lauren brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

pretty good characters, nice emotional arcs, but way too long and trying to shove way too much into it. the self-referential asides could have been halved and we've still gotten the drift.

[Georgette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. They keep sending me these ARC's that have no ratings yet....intriguing.....Anyway, this was a lot of fun. Podcaster, fan conventions, quirky all over the place. A fun, fun read!

[Skye (Skye's Scribblings)]

6/24 Tried the first few chapters, but way too much crude content, strong language, and minute setting description for my reading tastes.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not to my taste

[Thistledown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable load of nonsense.

[Simon Burdus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun little murder mystery. Great characters and twists.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to keep reading mysteries. I enjoy them so much. The ending I fucking knew it

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great murder mystery. Hoopy froods who like murder mysteries will love this.

[Taveri · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn't care for the characters and storyline was not interesting. After page 222 i did what i've only done once before and went to the ending (and read the last five chapters).

[Andy Lugar · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is truly a great mystery! Can't wait for the next Kit Pelham book.