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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 stars -- the second half of the book mkes up for the slow start..., November 21, 2005
While I found "How to Seduce a Ghost" to be a fairly entertaining and absorbing read, I didn't think that it was that much of a page turner. I think that the difference in opinion may lie in how one reacts to the heroine of the piece, Lee Bartholomew. If you find this character to be an engaging and beguiling character that you can relate to, than the book automatically becomes a very absorbing read. If, on the other hand, Lee's constant self-involvement begins to grate after a while, then, like me you begin to have mixed feelings about "How to Seduce a Ghost." When ghost writer, Lee Bartholomew's famous neighbour, Astrid McKenzie, dies tragically in a house fire, Lee begins to fixate on the notion that she might be the next Notting Hill denizen to die in a house fire. (Lee has several phobias; and one of them involves imagining painful forms of death.) Single and living rent free in her parents house, Lee has it rather good -- a nice boy friend (Tommy) who's dying to settle down with her (except that she's not ready and seems to be a little bored with their relationship right now) -- and a job she loves. So what if she seems to lead a rather solitary and circumscribed life. But all this changes suddenly when she lands the assignment of ghosting a noted soap opera actress's biography and finds herself in the middle of an affair with the actress' manager (talk about conflict of interest!); and then her parents drop the bombshell that they want to sell the house that she's living in -- this after she's rented out the summer house to a young girl who bares a passing resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. And when, one night while she's away her summer house burns down while someone is in it, Lee realises that her life has taken on the semblance of a nightmare -- and one she cannot seem to wake up from... For me, the interesting thing about this book was not so much the plot (it was a bit easy to figure out who the murderer was), but "watching" how Lee finally grew up and became less self absorbed, difficult and snooty. Because, quite honestly, I couldn't really see why so many characters kept falling over themselves to please her for much of the book. Here was a character who had a rather nice boyfriend (not perfect, but nice) and all she did for much of the book was moan about him and push him away. And then there was how she allowed her parents house to fall apart because she valued peace and quiet over seeing to the rising damp problem. Apparently living with the smell of decay and the dirt was far easier than putting up with Tommy's untidiness. Fortunately, just as I was about to abandon the book, things changed and the pace picked up a bit. With Lee learning some unpalatable truths about her new lover, making some unwelcome discoveries about herself and her relationships with the other people in her life, and her reslove to solve the mystery of who the mad arsonist is, the novel became a more interesting and more challenging read -- a bit like a much lighter version of a good Nicci French urban thriller. And I must admit that the second half of the book really made for good reading -- the pacing was swifter and the plotting became tighter and more urgent. So that all in all, I'd rate this as a good 3 1/2 star read. (And by the way, the character Lee Bartholomew is supposed to be a some kind of cross between Bridget Jones and Monk -- from the TV series -- not Colin Dexter's Chief Inspector Morse -- unless one is suggesting that Morse's partiality for a glass of beer is some kind of neuroses. I don't quite see the analogy myself but then I can be dim sometimes.)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solving the Mystery of the Fires, November 18, 2005
Lee Bartholomew is pleased with her life. She lives alone in her parents' home while they are living in France. She has a boyfriend of eight years whom she sees occasionally. She is a ghostwriter for people who need help writing their autobiography. In addition, she just got a new client, a famous soap opera star. Little did she know that her life was going to change. It all starts when Astrid McKenzie's house goes up in flames with her in it. Lee becomes scared since she lives right down the street. Then Lee meets Selma Walker to write her story. Instead, she becomes involved with Selma's manager Buzz. Then she learns that Buzz is also Selma's husband. After Lee's summerhouse catches on fire, Tommy, her boyfriend, moves in. Lee's mother shows up and Lee learns about having a full house. Meanwhile, when Lee is supposed to be writing Selma's book, she tries to solve the mystery of the fires. How to Seduce a Ghost, though long, kept me interested. Readers will have trouble putting the book down. They will be puzzled as more and more facts and people get involved. Readers will guess repeatedly and be very surprised with the ending.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ultra lighthearted chick lit whodunit, October 25, 2005
In London ghostwriter Nathalie "Lee" Bartholomew is doing quite well professionally with her latest potential client being an American soap opera star Selma Walker who wants to hire her for sinful amount of cash to write her autobiography. However, on the personal front, her boyfriend of eight years Tommy wants to marry Lee; she has doubts about tying the knot so she tries to delay her response. Meanwhile Lee makes love with Selma's manager Buzz only to learn that he is also her client's husband and that he abuses his wife. Even worse, Buzz apparently made it with Lee's neighbor Astrid who recently died in arson set fire. Lee wonders if Buzz committed the act even while the detectives query everyone remotely connected to the victim. However, soon Lee's house is in flames and a corpse resides in her summerhouse; someone is systematically reducing the Notting Hill Gate neighborhood population and interfering with lee's love life. HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST is a fun chick lit amateur sleuth tale starring an intriguing female who seems to enjoy being on the edge even when it places her long term relationship in jeopardy. Lee is fun to follow as she proves London swings though her numerous trysts (and that of Selma too) also take away from her arson-homicide investigation. Still fans of ultra lighthearted chick lit whodunit will enjoy Lee's antics enhanced by Selma's escapades. Harriet Klausner
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