This is lightweight and entertaining – and I enjoyed the voice immensely. I often borrow books from the library if I am unfamiliar with the author and many get returned quite quickly if I find they are not my metaphorical cup of tea. But my continued delight in mysteries narrated by unique characters has won out again here.
The narrator of this book (which appears set to become a series) is a ghostwriter. remains nameless, witnessing and contributing to the plot but nonetheless a mystery to the ready in many ways. She’s witty, self-deprecating, clever but not the star of the show. I was impressed when I realised Donovan never mentioned her name throughout – like many ghostwriters she allows the real hero to shine and provides a lens through which the reader views the various suspects.
We experience the plot through her lens, although she is very much the Dr Watson in the crime solving scenario. The real sleuth is the woman she is penning a biography of: Dorothy Gibson, failed presidential candidate but a woman of intelligence and character.
When a local woman who recently took a selfie with Dorothy is found drowned in her own bathtub – Dorothy gets involved, initially as a concerned neighbour and public figure. However, as the death becomes more and more curious, Dorothy is unable to stop herself from undertaking her own investigation.
I had hints as to the solution but didn’t quite put it all together which is refreshing.
I’ll pick up the next one in this series with interest – it ends with some teasing hints of a personal trauma in the ghost writer’s life that may yet come to light- and may have played into her desire to help solve this novel’s crime.
Welloflostplots 