Set during the winter in Maine, an unnamed narrator is hired to ghost write the memoir of a recent presidential character and stumbles into investigating a murder.

Having the narrator write the book and observing the mystery is a very interesting choice. The fact she is never given a name, however we do learn a lot about her throughout the book is a bold choice. The true star of the book is Dorthy. Having just lost out in the latest political election, Dorthy gets wrapped up in a mystery when a neighbor poses with her for a photo and then ends up mysteriously dead. Since her name is being associated with the dead woman, she asks her ghost writer to join her in solving what truly happened. While the investigation personally was slow at times, the reveal makes up for it. There are delightful characters that are encountered along the way from a dramatic southern sister to an ex-wife whose son leaves something to desire. There are so many people who could have done it yet who truly did?
Readers will enjoy the cast of characters. The mystery itself is filled with twists and turns. This will be a fun book to recommend real soon.
Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Let’s begin at the end shall we. Hands down the cleverest denouement I’ve read in a long time. Dramatic, snarky, and deliciously gossipy, it was an absolute delight!

An old-fashioned murder mystery with a touch of glitz and glamour with a cast of the rich and infamous. Dorothy has got time on her hands after losing the bid for presidential candidate, so she decides to hire a ghostwriter to help her with her memoir. When a neighbour turns up dead under highly suspicious circumstances, they are soon swept up in solving the mystery.

The characters in this book were so vivid that they popped off the page fully formed; from our unnamed ghostwriter who gives new meaning to an Irish exit, to the detective that boils over with anger at Dorothy’s interference, to our numerous shady and ridiculous suspects; none disappoint.

A perfect read!

A whodunnit with a punchy character and intriguing set up: a ghost writer travels to a secluded (read, rich) community to put together a well known politician's biography when they stumble into a murder and very quickly decide to do some sleuthing of their own.

The novel has a very unique personal voice, being written entirely in first person POV from a character who warns the reader from the start she is not putting words to paper to be liked or even come across as likeable. An endeavour she most definitely succeeds at in the first half of the book where I did a few eye rolls when our storyteller sometimes comes across as a sheltered teenager who's watched/read too many action flicks and speaks in punch lines.
The short chapters make reading through feel quite quick, giving a sense of the short time the events are taking place over, and also successfully conveying the sense of urgency they all feel to find the murderer.
One thing I immensely appreciated is that the author is clearly one for character studies. For every character we come across there is a host of impressions and details, which can either be reiterated to fully press the point of who they are and how they fit into the story, or add new dimension to these people as we get to know them.
Something I will note is that I suppose it helps the person leading the amateur investigation is a well known politician, so it makes a little more sense for people to want to talk to the investigative duo (politician and ghost writer - aka the narrator) even though they don't hold any legislative power or have any experience. I'm maybe used to reading whodunnits with established PIs as lead, so my suspension of disbelief struggled a little at points where it seemed unlikely the suspects would want to go over their alibis and backstories twice (once with the police and once with the duo).

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was great. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you netgalley.

A ghostwriter gets a dream job writing a memoir of a presidential candidate. The two team up to solve a murder.

I liked the team up here but the writing style wasn’t my favorite. It felt very stream of consciousness which isn’t really for me.

This was a great read I really enjoyed the mystery aspects and writing! I think the characters had strong personalities and the plot was paced correctly. I think this is a great book

"The Busy Body" by Kemper Donovan is the first in a series revolving around a nameless narrator who finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery.

The narrator is a ghostwriter who sees herself as Lady Cyrano. She has no close friends and is cut off from her family by her choice, and she likes it that way. She doesn't like to associate with others and keeps to herself. When asked to write the memoir of Dorothy Gibson, a former Senator who lost the Presidential Elections, she gladly agrees. Many admire Dorothy’s work ethic and steel-trap mind, and so does the narrator. The plot thickens when a neighbor they met once is found dead in her bathtub. When suspicion of foul play arises, both ladies team up to solve the mystery.

Overall, it was a well-put-together mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I liked the homage to Agatha Christie (one of my favorite authors), the setting, and the eloquent writing. I also liked the dynamics between the characters, the dialogues, and the puns. The romance was also a nice touch.

The book kept me engaged in most parts. However, it started very slow with over-detailed descriptions of surroundings and a stream-of-consciousness streak that further slowed down the pace. Luckily, the pace increased after the finding of the body.

I have to say that the overuse of name-dropping - of real and fictional characters - and pop culture references threw me off. Also, the repeated references to the failed campaign and badmouthing the candidate that won were a bit too much.

I also didn't like the lack of backstory on the nameless narrator which leaves us in the dark about her history. Maybe it will be revealed in the next book. While I liked the ending, Hercule Poirot style, I didn't like the choice the narrator made in the end. It makes her seem too inflexible and set in her ways, not a characteristic I like in my heroines.

The ending seems to imply that the next book will be with the ghostwriter only, which is odd. Here she was just the sidekick to the senator, and the senator was the one who cracked the mystery. Overall, it is a decent start to the series but could do better with some tightening of the plot and another round of editing (there were format issues). I rate the book 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to less fussy readers who enjoy whodunits with a Golden Age atmosphere.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

My thanks to Net Galley and Kensington books for allowing me to review this arc. Unfortunately I only got thru 40% on my Kindle. The mystery sounded good. Ghost writer hired for a memoir of a former Senate candidate and the candidates neighbor is found murdered in her tub. I struggled because I believe this was an uncorrected copy. There were no chapter breaks, misspellings, words strung together, sentences ending in the middle of the page, a large space after, then continuing on the next line. Hard to comprehend.

The narrator has been hired to ghostwrite a former senator and presidential candidate's biography. To do so, the unnamed narrator follows the subject everywhere including to a neighbor's memorial service. Was the neighbor really murdered? Enter the narrator and their subject to solve the case. Cleverly plotted, this debut mystery gives homage to Christie and provides a modern fresh story.

This snarky, cozy adjacent mystery has a lot in common with classic mysteries while having a decidedly contemporary bent. A ghostwriter is summoned to the job of working with a high profile politician who recently lost her bid for the presidency, and the gig quickly turns from writing Dorothy Gibson's memoirs to sidekicking as the former senator relentlessly "investigates" the death of a neighbor. The characters are hilariously and completely described, though leaving plenty of intrigue around the central ghostwriter character for future development as the series continues. Comps include Killers of a Certain Age or the Horowitz and Hawthorne series.

This is a clever mystery in the style of golden age writers like Agatha Christie. The plot is well crafted and the narrative voice is unique.

A very talented ghostwriter signs on to help a failed female presidential candidate (shades of you know who!) write her memoir. Their initial work weekend is going well when there is a murder next door. The politician feels called upon to investigate taking her ghostwriter along - a Watson to her Holmes. An enjoyable mystery tale ensues.

An unnamed ghostwriter willingly takes on her latest project, the memoir of a former senator and defeated, female Presidential candidate Dorothy. Arriving in Maine to dive into the book, the ghostwriter and Dorothy are soon in the middle of murder mystery involving a Dorothy fan and neighbor. Much like an Agatha Christie tale, the duo follow the clues and set out to figure out the killer's identity. The ghostwriter's point of view is a bit snarky and conversational, keeping this a quick and lighter read. Well plotted with interesting characters.

This fascinating debut of the Ghostwriter series by Kemper Donovan is well done and well-paced. The main character is never named, but a failed Presidential candidate retains her to help write her memoir. Instead, Dorothy Gibson, the subject, entices the ghostwriter (GW) into helping her investigate the murder of a neighbor.

The author’s writing style is different and engaging. And the comfortably related story augers well for this new series.

A cozy mystery on steroids with an interesting cast of characters and a clever finale that will leave the reader feeling satisfied.

I do wish the author had made it easier for us to relate to the protagonist. We don’t initially know if she’s male or female; she’s female. We have no name other than ghost writer, and we know nothing about her life other than a couple of random hints dropped here and there. Having said that, you do warm up to the author’s vision for this book roughly half way through.

Based upon the conclusion, I do recommend this book for anyone who loves a good, albeit, different kind of cozy mystery.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions are my own.

Politics meets murder mystery in this thoroughly entertaining book where The West Wing meets Marple.

It’s no surprise that the author, who has read every single Agatha Christie book, is able to spin an excellent whodunnit yarn.

A fun and punchy who dun it. Enjoyable, fresh, fun and a new author for me.
I found this to be fun and enjoyable.

I love finding new authors who have a great spark, and Kemper Donovan is one of them! if you love Agatha Christie and all things Christie vibes you need to add this book to your collection. Women Sleuths, Sets at the wilderness of Maine, and a fast page turner, make this a fabulous read!

There is a lot to enjoy in The Busy Body. I loved the world of ghost writing in which it was set and the well read nature of the characters made it fun to find their literary references sprinkled throughout the text. This book reminded me of Knives Out as it’s also a fun exploration of the world of privilege while also unraveling a mystery. Similarly, the humor kept me turning the pages while hunting for clues along the way. I will definitely read subsequent entries in the series!