Nova’s lifelong love of crime fiction and fascination with science have led her to write mystery stories often populated by scientists. Her debut novel, The Last Equation of Isaac Severy—a whodunit set among a family of mathematicians—was a Book of the Month selection, was named one of “25 Best Mystery Novels of the Past 25 Years” by The Wall Street Journal, and was nominated for a 2019 Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Her new novel, The Stars Turned Inside Out, imagines murder at the Swiss particle physics laboratory CERN.  It was a Best Mystery of 2024 in The Wall Street Journal and CrimeReads, and was nominated for a Golden Poppy Award by the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.

She has an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and is a recipient of a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeremy.