Another Review at MyShelf.Com

How to Seduce a Ghost

by Hope McIntyre



      How to Seduce a Ghost is about ghostwriter Lee Bartholomew's encounter with a serial killer who sets fires and burns up his victims. The first victim is one of Lee's neighbors - which is scary enough, especially when you're a woman with as many neuroses as Lee, but when the next victim dies right in Lee's yard...well, things get pretty stressful. Booklist loved this book and I respect that - really, I do. They found Lee engaging. I found her a teensy bit annoying, maybe because she sometimes hits a little close to home. She's a very introverted writer who is more than a little self-absorbed - aren't we all? She's terrible at relationships (which is too bad because every guy in the book fancies her - um, this is not the part that reminds me of me). And she has a lot of relationships to sort out in this book - will she marry her boyfriend? Will she survive her parents? Will she successfully deal with the soap opera star and write her compelling autobiography? Will she die a fiery death? - It is a mystery, after all.

The book does have a charming sense of humor. You cannot help but laugh at the convolutions of the plot where more and more people are thrust upon this social-phobic writer. And the book works very hard at being socially relevant with bits about alcoholism, the consequences of infidelity, domestic violence and whether men really can do laundry. So - sometimes I loved the book and sometimes I wanted to smack Lee upside the head. But I was never bored.

The Book

Mysterious Press / Time Warner
October 2005
Hardcover
0892960132
Mystery
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Jan Fields
Reviewed 2005
NOTE: Reviewer Jan Fields is the editor of Kid Magazine Writers emagazine and has written dozens of stories and articles for the children's magazine market.
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