How to Seduce a Ghost

A young ghostwriter must track down a deadly arsonist in the first of an exciting new mystery series.Writer Lee Bartholomew spends more time dwelling on the terrifying possibility of her own grisly murder than on solving anyone else+s. Yet she insists upon living alone in a gigantic London house, banishing her boyfriend Tommy-who is eager to marry her-while she quakes in terror at the thought of the rampant crime erupting just at the other side of her front door. The situation gets worse when someone begins setting fire to houses in Lee+s Notting Hill neighborhood. As Lee embarks on a new job to ghostwrite the autobiography of soap star Selma Walker, she finds herself catapulted into the center of the arson investigation-and into the arms of a dangerous new lover. Now, she must discover who is setting these mysterious fires, learn the truth about Selma-and give Tommy an answer to his marriage proposal-before she can return to her quiet life.

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.
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*Starred Review* 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. Jenny McLarin
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