I was excited by the premise of this book, but it ended up being a little disappointing. It was a valiant effort by a relatively unknown author, but I found myself not really caring about the characters or the mystery.

This was such a fun read, combining fandom and murder and mystery all together to make something that is delightfully curious and ironic, but still suspenseful enough that you can't help but keep turning the page to get to the big reveal. It feels like a geek and fandom culture will never die and in fact, maybe you as the fan might die kind of cautionary, funny tale, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

I received an advance copy of The Fan Who Knew Too Much from NetGalley and Titan Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Fan Who Knew Too Much by Nev Fountain is a delightful blend of geek culture, classic sci-fi nostalgia, and mystery, making it a unique treat for fans of both amateur sleuth stories and cult TV shows like Doctor Who and Star Trek. The book follows Kit Pelham, a podcaster and superfan of the fictional 1980s sci-fi show Vixens from the Void, who suddenly finds herself investigating the murder of her friend and fellow podcaster, Wolf Tyler, while also unraveling a decades-old disappearance connected to their favorite TV show.

The story's tone is lighthearted, filled with humor, and full of references to classic sci-fi culture, which should appeal to fans who enjoy inside jokes and trivia from this realm. Fountain strikes a fun balance between poking fun at and celebrating fan culture, with plenty of nods to conventions, memorabilia, and the passionate nature of fandoms.

One of the book's highlights is the cleverness of the mystery, which kept me guessing with its unexpected twists and turns. Kit and her quirky group of fellow superfans take on the challenge of producing a Blu-Ray documentary while simultaneously investigating Wolf's murder, giving the plot a lively and fast-paced energy. The humor is sharp, though at times a bit over-the-top, especially with the heavy doses of sci-fi references, which might leave non-genre fans a bit lost.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgic and nerdy elements, the book could feel drawn out in places, particularly with the overly detailed descriptions of fandom minutiae. However, for those who revel in all things geeky, this will be a feature rather than a bug. The characters are charming, and their love for Vixens from the Void is infectious, making the book's tone playful and engaging.

Overall, The Fan Who Knew Too Much is an entertaining and clever whodunnit that sci-fi and mystery fans alike will enjoy. With its sharp wit, intriguing plot, and deep dive into cult TV fandom, it's a promising start to a new series. Highly recommended for those who love a mix of crime-solving and sci-fi trivia!

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.

When I read the synopsis of this one it sounded like it was one I was going love being a bit of a nerd myself and loving murder mysteries however I sadly ended up dnf-ing this one.

I really struggled with the characters in this book and the over use of pop culture references. Normally I'm okay with references but this just seemed like a lot and it found myself just struggling with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One for the sci-fi nerds - a murder mystery/whodunnit that doesn't shy away from it's geekiness. A fun read.

I wanted to love this strange whodunit that had such a dark mystery, but I just didn't. It bordered on trying too hard; cramming as much 'nerd' in as possible instead of focusing on the goldmine plot it had. It wasn't terrible. There were funny parts, interesting parts, some even downright intriguing, but not enough to make me love it.

Brighton is famous for many things, but in the 1980s it was the home of cult sci-fi programme Vixens of the Void. When podcaster Wolf Tyler is beaten to death on a live broadcast where he promised to reveal a long-held secret, his friends in the fan community bring together all the stars of the show for one final retrospective - one which they hope will reveal who killed Wolf Tyler, and what it has to do with a suicide that occurred during the filming of the show.

As a huge fan of Nev Fountain's work on Dead Ringers, I was very excited to be able to read this book and it did not disappoint! 5*.

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*