Novel about father, Eric - someone in a routine (8,2,5)
I believe the answer is:
creature of habit
'someone in a routine' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'novel about father eric' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates an anagram (letters in a new or novel order).
'about'+'father'+'eric'='aboutfathereric'
'aboutfathereric' anagrammed gives 'CREATURE OF HABIT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for creature of habit that I've seen is " one who's predictable?".)