[.ca] How to Seduce a Ghost: A Novel (ISBN 0892960132)

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.