An unnamed female ghostwriter is tapped to write a failed third-party Presidential candidate’s memoir. The candidate is a witty elder stateswoman who is soon investigating a murder with the ghostwriter’s help in this homage to golden age mysteries, The Busy Body.
I love golden age mysteries. I still hope that a few lost early Agatha Christie novels will be found. While this book has some of their tropes, it lacks the pacing of those earlier, and much more concise, works of art. In other words, this plot is slow, creakingly slow, to begin. The narrator, the ghostwriter, has no backstory. She doesn’t even have a name, so it is hard to relate to her, or even picture her in my head. The mystery itself was fine, though not very challenging. For both of these reasons, The Busy Body is probably best read in small doses before bed. 3 stars.
Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.