Erin Dunn’s He’s to Die For is one of those books I could tell I was going to love from the very first page. It’s a superb combination of mystery and romance in which the author – in her first published novel, no less – does a terrific job of balancing the various elements of the story so that neither the romance nor the murder mystery feels short-changed. The characters are engaging, the mystery is clever and the humor is on point; it’s the strangest mix of fluffy and gritty – and yet it works splendidly.

Detective Rav Trivedi is something of an anomaly within the NYPD. Not only is he, at twenty-nine, the youngest detective on the force, he’s the Oxford-educated son of an English life-peer (of Indian descent) and a supermodel, and was brought up in the UK. He’s openly gay, classy, posh and has a penchant for the finest designer suits and accessories, all things which put him out of step in his white, male-dominated workplace, but Rav is unapologetically who he is, and while there are certainly some… undercurrents to the snarky comments sometimes directed his way at work, for the most part he has a decent relationship with his colleagues, and his impressive solve-rate generally keeps anyone minded to grumble about his being a ‘diversity hire’ grumbling to themselves.

When his Captain offers him the chance to take the lead on a really high-profile case, Rav jumps at it – it’s the chance he’s waited for to prove, once and for all, that he really belongs there and has earned his place like everybody else. Music executive Richard Vanderford has been found dead, killed execution style by two shots, one to the head, one to the chest, and the man’s connection to one of the biggest rock bands on the planet means Rav and his partner, Will, are going to be under intense media pressure to find out who did it. It turns out that Vanderford wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular in the business or with music fans, and even less so with the members of the New Knickerbockers, who have been engaged in a legal dispute with him since he bought the master recordings of their first two albums when their original record company went under, and has been licensing their songs for use to whoever would pay for them, concerned only about making as much money as he can without considering the damage he’s going to their brand and reputation. Lead singer and songwriter Jack Vale is known to have had a massive row with Vanderford a couple of days earlier – a real barn-burner, apparently. Security called and everything – so it looks as though Rav and Will have their first suspect.

Rav isn’t into the music scene, so has no idea of just how big the New Knickerbockers are, or of the level of fame Jack Vale enjoys (or not – maybe that should be ‘endures’), but celebrities don’t faze him – he grew up in that world, after all. He quite expects Jack Vale to be one of that ilk; spoiled, arrogant and self-absorbed, so finding out he’s the exact opposite – quiet, thoughtful and unassuming – comes as something of a surprise. Jack is also jaw-droppingly gorgeous, possessed of a kind of effortless sexiness that, for some indefinable reason, Rav finds annoying. But then a look passes between them, a faint smile curves Jack’s lips… and Rav feels electicity crackle through him for just a second, before he remembers he has a job to do. And that getting a crush on the prime suspect in a murder investigation is a really bad idea.

Okay, so yes, it’s a familiar trope, but the author puts a wonderfully fresh, modern spin on it here. As the investigation progresses as it becomes apparent that Jack isn’t the only one with a grudge against Vanderford, and a link emerges between the murder and a recent incident at a New Knickerbocker’s concert in which a man with a gun – a known conspiracy theorist who has been stalking Jack for ages – tried to force his way backstage. The mystery becomes more complicated as the suspect pool widens, and whoever is responsible is revealed to be clever, cunning and absolutely determined to avoid discovery no matter the cost. Kudos to Ms. Dunn for not making it easy to guess the identity of the culprit – I didn’t figure it out until shortly before Rav does – and the twists, turns and red-herrings will keep readers on their toes at the same time as the tender, swoony romance between Rav and Jack will charm and delight them.

And the romance is lovely. I was pleased that nothing physical happens, other than some longing looks and flirty conversations, until Rav’s part in the investigation ends, but after that, they’re free to explore the attraction that’s been growing between them since their first meeting. The story is told entirely from Rav’s perspective, but the author does a good job of showing us that the attraction is mutual, and while the chemistry between the pair is evident from the start, the romance doesn’t smack of instalove. Jack’s in the middle of a tour, so he and Rav spend time getting to know each other through the light-hearted, flirty conversations and messages they exchange while he’s away. They’re both young – in their twenties (Jack is a few years younger than Rav) – but there’s a maturity to them because of who they are and what they do, and they’re easy to root for as a couple and to like individually. Jack is hugely talented, generous and protective of the people he cares about, but he’s prone to panic attacks and isstill struggling to process his grief over the death of his best friend and bandmate in an accident a few years earlier, and Rav, while an excellent detective and rising star, has had little time for anything else in his life, and his determination to get results hasn’t made him many friends in the department. He’s warm, funny and keenly intelligent; he’s a wonderfully engaging narrator and I liked him a lot.

There’s a strongly-written secondary cast here, including Rav’s down-to-earth partner, Will, and Jack’s no-nonsense bodyguard, Matteo, who all feel well fleshed-out, and I appreciated the frank acknowledgement that Jack’s megastar status doesn’t come without a lot of strings attached; the intrusion of social media, the abundance of gossip sites and the increasing use of deepfake images and videos are part of celebrity culture nowadays.

One thing I wasn’t the biggest fan of is the third person present tense narrative – I’d just finished reading a book also written in third person present tense that reminded me that I really dislike it – but the story and characters quickly won me over here so that in the end, I didn’t really notice it. The ending is perhaps a bit rushed and unrealistic, and some parts of the narrative feel a bit clunky, plus I’d have liked to have known a little more about Rav’s background and couldn’t help wondering how someone like him ended up in the NYPD. In the end, though, I enjoyed the story enough for those things not to have spoiled my enjoyment of it. He’s to Die For is a thoroughly entertaining début novel, and I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for whatever Erin Dunn comes up with next.