Product Description

A young ghostwriter must track down a deadly arsonist in the first of an exciting new mystery series. Writer Lee Bartholomew spends more time dwelling on the terrifying possibility of her own grisly murder than on solving anyone elses. Yet she insists upon living alone in a gigantic London house, banishing her boyfriend Tommywho is eager to marry herwhile she quakes in terror at the thought of the rampant crime erupting just at the other side of her front door. The situation gets worse when someone begins setting fire to houses in Lees Notting Hill neighborhood. As Lee embarks on a new job to ghostwrite the autobiography of soap star Selma Walker, she finds herself catapulted into the center of the arson investigationand into the arms of a dangerous new lover. Now, she must discover who is setting these mysterious fires, learn the truth about Selmaand give Tommy an answer to his marriage proposalbefore she can return to her quiet life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1091777 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In the pseudonymous McIntyre's sprightly debut, ghostwriter Lee Bartholomew has a lovely life in London's fashionable Notting Hill. Lee's career is humming along, an American soap opera diva having recently asked Lee to ghost her autobiography. Lee's only problem is one most heroines of Brit chick-lit would kill for: Tommy, her beau of eight years, is pressing Lee to marry, and Lee's not sure she's ready. Then Lee's neighbor, a star of children's TV, dies in a ghastly house fire, and the police begin whispering about arson and murder. Soon, tragedies and tribulations pile up, and Lee's once-simple life grows ever more complicated—and dangerous. Lee's garden shed, which she's been renting out to a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, goes up in flames. Her father leaves her mum for a French mistress. Too much to keep straight? Perhaps the unnecessary appearance of Lee's estranged childhood best friend as the local cop's new girlfriend is, shall we say, overkill. But all in all, McIntyre delivers a page-turner with a socially redeeming message.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Its flippant title aside, this sparkling debut is a winner all the way. It stars Londoner Lee Bartholomew, one of the most engaging protagonists to come along in ages. As clueless about love as Bridget Jones and as filled with neuroses as Inspector Morse, Lee barely survives each day without some new calamity threatening to destroy her world. Her vulnerabilities make her all the more lovable, both to readers and to the two very different men in her life: dependable long-term boyfriend Tommy and the dashing and dangerous Buzz Kempinski. In this adventure, Lee, who works as a ghostwriter, agrees to work with soap-star Selma Walker on a tell-all book, but she is distracted by a series of mysterious fires in her colorful Notting Hill neighborhood. Meanwhile, Lee can't seem to put out the fire between her and Buzz, Selma's manager. Colorful characters populate the book, from Lee's zany mother to her saucy young boarder. The pseudonymous McIntyre knows exactly how to temper the wacky parts of her story with more serious bits, balancing the whole stew perfectly. Both hilarious and heart wrenching, this beguiling mix of chick lit and hip thriller--Helen Fielding meets Janet Evanovich--is the must-read of the crime-fiction fall season. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

An Intriguing and Unusual Amateur Sleuth Novel
For those who want a dead body to appear early in a mystery novel, Hope McIntyre's How to Seduce a Ghost comes through just fine - in a terrific opening line, in fact. The victim, Astrid McKenzie, was killed by an arsonist who set fire to her home. But since protagonist, Lee Bartholomew, is a professional ghost writer who hadn't really known the victim living in her neighbourhood, she has no reason to investigate the crime, so she doesn't. And this is what makes this novel so different from other amateur sleuth novels. The opening chapters of this book are more about Lee's complex emotional life than murder. We learn a lot about Lee's up-and-down relationship with her boyfriend, her feelings about her mother and her former best friend. So much detail is given that I began to wonder how the author would pull the reader back into the mystery.

This happens subtly at first, when soap opera star, Selma Walker, hires Lee to write her autobiography, against Selma's husband's wishes. The couple live just around the corner from Lee, which adds a complication to the murder mystery and Lee's personal life. Also, the former boyfriend of Lee's new tenant dies in a fire inside the summer house in Lee's backyard. When the tenant disappears, Lee decides to ask a few questions.

As the story unfolds, the reason for pages of detailed personal revelation about Lee become clear. To understand Lee's actions; actions that might seem selfish, egotistical, hurtful, or insensitive, you have to understand important things about Lee. To learn what these things are, read the book. Intriguing characters and a great plot make How to Seduce a Ghost an entertaining read.