The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan

 Hi everyone! I hope Spring is showing its face where you are. It was the first day of Daylight Savings Time where I am. I have dubbed it Mixed Up Monday (vs Freaky Friday). We lost an hour of sleep and the entire work day was a very mixed up day. There was evidence that not only was I tired and not as sharp as I should be, but all work coming in had issues, errors and well general weirdness. Glad when the day ended.

For our March Mystery Book Club, we read The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan. It is the first in the Ghostwriter series by the author.

About: "It's a dream assignment. Former Senator Dorothy Gibson, aka that woman, is the most talked-about person in the country right now, though largely for the wrong reasons. As an independent candidate for President of the United States, Dorothy split the vote and is being blamed for the shocking result. After her very public defeat, she's retreated to her home in rural Maine, inviting her ghostwriter to join her.

Her collaborator is impressed by Dorothy's work ethic and steel-trap mind, not to mention the stunning surroundings (and one particularly gorgeous bodyguard). But when a neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances, Dorothy is determined to find the killer in their midst. And when Dorothy Gibson asks if you want to team up for a top secret, possibly dangerous murder investigation, the only answer "Of course!"

The best ghostwriters are adept at asking questions and spinning stories . . . two talents, it turns out, that also come in handy for sleuths. Dorothy's political career, meanwhile, has made her an expert at recognizing lies and double-dealing. Working together, the two women are soon untangling motives and whittling down suspects, to the exasperation of local police. But this investigation-much like the election-may not unfold the way anyone expects."

We had a good discussion about this book. Everyone went around and said they liked it well enough, good story etc. Then people in the group starting commenting on different aspects of the book which created a lot of "I didn't catch that, oh is that what it was, I totally missed that...". There are quite a few red herrings in the story. The main character, the ghost writer isn't named. That bothered me for quite awhile. I went back several times looking for the characters name. It is not there. But as  people talked, we decided that a ghostwriter's name isn't the writer's real name so that is probably why they aren't named. I did not guess "who dunnit" but I knew there was something off about that character. There is a lot of dry wit and I found parts of the repertoire hilarious. There are many references and humorous quips about to British mysteries; Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Poroit, and Miss Marple comparing the characters in the story. 

We also debated: Who is the busy body in the story? (If you have read this book, I would like to know what you think.) Who I thought/think was the busy body and who others think it was differed. Hmmm

A few of the members had already read book two, Loose Lips, or were waiting to pick it up at the library. All in all, we decided it was a pretty good book and most left wanting to read book two, Kemper Donovan also has a podcast, All About Agatha, (as in Christie). A few people had already checked out the podcast and listened to a couple of episodes.

About the author:

"I’ve lived in Los Angeles for most of my adult life. Starting out, I worked at a wonderful company called Circle of Confusion (no, really) representing film/television screenwriters and comic books. My very first client wrote the screenplay for the feature film Hanna, released by Focus Features in 2011. (If you haven’t seen it, watch it; you won’t be sorry.) Before that I went to college at Stanford University (with apologies to the Bay Area, I am definitely more of a SoCal person), and law school at Harvard. Technically, I am a retired lawyer, which means I passed the New York Bar and then immediately switched my status to “retired” to avoid fees and continuing education requirements….

I began writing my first novel, The Decent Proposal, when I was still a manager. After an extremely long gestational period and an even longer process acquiring representation and then selling the book for publication, I turned to writing full-time. Around the same time, I also began a side project with my dear friend, Catherine Brobeck. Together we created the podcast All About Agatha, devoted to the one and only Agatha Christie. Tragically, Catherine passed away at the end of 2021, and I have continued on with the podcast solo. It was my work on All About Agatha that inspired me to write my own mystery series, which is currently being published by Kensington Books. 

I am married, and my husband and I have two daughters who keep us extremely busy. When I’m not with them, or chattering into a microphone, or staring at a laptop with my head in my hands, I enjoy doing things that have a more obvious/tangible/short-term payoff such as running and attempting to play the violin (emphasis on the attempt)."

https://kemperdonovan.com/about-me/