Dollycas's Thoughts
Independent candidate for President and former Senator Dorothy Gibson comes home to rural Maine after being defeated and blamed for the surprising outcome of the election. She has decided to tell her story and has invited a ghostwriter into her home. The ghostwriter admires much about Dorothy and is anxious to get to work. Then a neighbor dies under questionable circumstances and Dorothy decides to sleuth out the killer with her ghostwriter by her side. Ghostwriters are pros at asking questions and coming up with stories so becoming an amateur sleuth isn't much of a stretch. Dorothy has undercovered her share of secrets and lies in her political career and people seem to open up to her so getting information and following clues is right in her wheelhouse. Together they should make a great team much to the aggravation of the local police and Dorothy's assistant.
But it could lead to the politician and the ghostwriter's demise if they aren't careful. That hunk of a bodyguard may not be around to save them when they need him.
I loved the unnamed ghostwriter theme. She calls herself Lady Cyrano among her friends who are really just acquaintances, associates, and colleagues. She is also estranged from her family. She likes living that way. This way she is free to pick up and go wherever her subject is, immerse herself into their lives, and âmanipulateâ their story for maximum engagement. But the story she is telling the readers is her story and she refuses to manipulate or strategize it. I enjoyed that the book was narrated from her point of view.
The Agatha Christie inspired mystery was well-plotted but did get bogged down in places. Dorothy Gibson is a strong woman who was a little lost after losing an election where she thought she had enough support to win. Investigating the death of her neighbor and inserting herself into their world seemed strange at first but her life had a drastic change. No more campaigns, meetings, briefings, and everything related to being a Senator. The death gave her something to focus on and puzzle out. The banter, heavy on sarcasm, between Dorothy and the ghostwriter was pretty humorous at times. I appreciated the closed-room style with an eclectic group of suspects but I did figure out whodunit before the Hercule Poirot style reveal.
The ending irked me. I have to be careful not to spoil it but the choice made by the main character and the way the situation was handled was cruel and fell flat for me. I also didn't appreciate the body-shaming done by the main character. At times, she came off more as a male character than a female in her actions and attitudes. I ended up liking Dorothy more than I liked the ghostwriter.
While The Busy Body didn't hit it out of the park for me, the unnamed ghostwriter theme has intrigued me enough to want to read the next book in the series, Loose Lips. I want to see how the ghostwriter evolves in what looks to be a challenging assignment. I am rounding my rating up to 4 stars.
Note: The story contains explicit language.
Independent candidate for President and former Senator Dorothy Gibson comes home to rural Maine after being defeated and blamed for the surprising outcome of the election. She has decided to tell her story and has invited a ghostwriter into her home. The ghostwriter admires much about Dorothy and is anxious to get to work. Then a neighbor dies under questionable circumstances and Dorothy decides to sleuth out the killer with her ghostwriter by her side. Ghostwriters are pros at asking questions and coming up with stories so becoming an amateur sleuth isn't much of a stretch. Dorothy has undercovered her share of secrets and lies in her political career and people seem to open up to her so getting information and following clues is right in her wheelhouse. Together they should make a great team much to the aggravation of the local police and Dorothy's assistant.
But it could lead to the politician and the ghostwriter's demise if they aren't careful. That hunk of a bodyguard may not be around to save them when they need him.
I loved the unnamed ghostwriter theme. She calls herself Lady Cyrano among her friends who are really just acquaintances, associates, and colleagues. She is also estranged from her family. She likes living that way. This way she is free to pick up and go wherever her subject is, immerse herself into their lives, and âmanipulateâ their story for maximum engagement. But the story she is telling the readers is her story and she refuses to manipulate or strategize it. I enjoyed that the book was narrated from her point of view.
The Agatha Christie inspired mystery was well-plotted but did get bogged down in places. Dorothy Gibson is a strong woman who was a little lost after losing an election where she thought she had enough support to win. Investigating the death of her neighbor and inserting herself into their world seemed strange at first but her life had a drastic change. No more campaigns, meetings, briefings, and everything related to being a Senator. The death gave her something to focus on and puzzle out. The banter, heavy on sarcasm, between Dorothy and the ghostwriter was pretty humorous at times. I appreciated the closed-room style with an eclectic group of suspects but I did figure out whodunit before the Hercule Poirot style reveal.
The ending irked me. I have to be careful not to spoil it but the choice made by the main character and the way the situation was handled was cruel and fell flat for me. I also didn't appreciate the body-shaming done by the main character. At times, she came off more as a male character than a female in her actions and attitudes. I ended up liking Dorothy more than I liked the ghostwriter.
While The Busy Body didn't hit it out of the park for me, the unnamed ghostwriter theme has intrigued me enough to want to read the next book in the series, Loose Lips. I want to see how the ghostwriter evolves in what looks to be a challenging assignment. I am rounding my rating up to 4 stars.
Note: The story contains explicit language.
I liked the narrative voice, the Maine setting, and the descriptions of the glass event space. I did not appreciate how much time was spent warning us that the characters might be lying. I enjoyed thinking about the relationship between a famous person and their security team in a way I never had before.
