How to Seduce a Ghost

July 25, 2005
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. Agent, Joy Harris.

Starred review from September 1, 2005
Lee Bartholomew is a loner who makes her living as a ghostwriter for the semifamous. She lives rent free in her parents' crumbling Notting Hill townhouse, while longtime boyfriend Tommy lives on the other side of London. And by the way, Lee is convinced she'll die a horrible, gruesome death. Okay, she's a little neurotic, but even the paranoid sometimes can be right. When Lee hears that her neighbor, Astrid McKenzie, died in a suspicious fire that the police are investigating, her fears seem justified. Lee is forced out of her safe shell when she's hired by mysterious soap star Selma Walker to work on her autobiography. As she delves into the lives of Selma and her powerfully seductive husband, Buzz, Lee begins to untangle the mystery of Astrid's death as well as make some startling discoveries about her own life and relationships. Wry and cynical one minute and hopelessly confused the next, Lee makes an appealing protagonist in this funny and charming debut mystery that will also appeal to chick lit readers. Recommended for all public libraries. McIntyre is the pseudonym of British-born Caroline Upcher, who now lives on Long Island. -Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2005
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)