How to Seduce a Ghost

Lee Bartholomew #1

by Hope McIntyre

This compelling page-turner is the first novel in a new series about a romantic buy highly neurotic ghostwriter whose new assignment is a ticket to mayhem and murder.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 28, 2005

About the author

Hope McIntyre is a psuedonym for Caroline Upcher.

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a difficult time getting into this book and considered putting it aside but I pushed past those feelings and I'm glad I did. I'm still not sure I actually care for the Nathalie (Lee), the protagonist, in fact, I convinced I don't like her. I am incredibly intrigued by her often ridiculous and neurotic thoughts and generally self-excusing behavior. There is a great cast of secondary character, eccentric and thoroughly British. The mystery is a bit scattered and surrounded by red herrings that seem more developed than clues about the actual culprit. The book was part murder mystery part the daily dealings of an almost 40-something woman. It was interesting and I'll read the next but I wasn't left anxious for more but several plot points were left hanging and I would love to find the answers.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mix of Bridget Jones and Monk is how one of the cover quotes describes the character of Lee. That blends is what makes the book work and pulls you into the story, at least that is what made me relate to her. Not to mention the story has the perfect blend of romance, mystery, comedy and drama to keep the reader entertained throughout.

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the author tried to cover too many issues in too short a time and it bogged the book down. It hasn't stopped me from reading book 2!

[Leanna Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, but this book was plain stupid to me. I picked it up at the library just for the title, which is very clever and by far the best part of the book. There were about five zillion characters and subplots, most of which had nothing to do with advancing the actual storyline at all. The protagonist is just irritating. The writer fails miserably at trying to create a character with depth, and she just comes off as ridiculous. It's one of those books where this happens, then this happens, then this person says this, and that person says that, but there's no really getting to know that person. It's a lack of all those great things you learn about in English class - metaphor, simile, symbolism, etcetera. Blah blah blah blah. So glad it's over so I can move on to something better.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee is a ghostwriter for the stars--and it's the perfect job for her. She's a loner and a homebody unwilling to change her ways, even to marry her longtime boyfriend. She's too lazy to even call an electrician and worried they might disturb her routine. And then everything ruins her routine. A neighbor is killed, she thinks the celebrity she's writing for is being abused by her husband, and her mother moves it.

This mystery was engaging from the beginning. Lee is a well-drawn interesting character I really felt a connection to. The writing was wonderful and the plot interesting. This is one of the best books I read this year.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book, I slip inexorably into the narrator's state of mind "oh, no, I couldn't POSSIBLY manage that." "Fancy a bit of a kip, do you?" She's passively aggravatingly twitteringly incapable.... and then she isn't. Fun read, a bit of a Mary Stewart vibe, some cloak and dagger, mixed in with a bit of afterschool special and some spunk. Home improvements. Housekeepers. The creeping, menacing DAMP. Fresh, hand delivered vegetables! (Although of course here they're "veg" since it's screamingly British.)

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book, which I picked up by chance at the library, almost surpassed it's 100 page limit (my "get out now" magic page number) and never really redeemed itself. It was very difficult to get into, the story line was all over the place and, to make matters worse, the main character, Lee, annoyed me with her indecision, "the recluse who is afraid of being alone". I can't recommend this book to anyone.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part about this book for me was the title. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but somehow it wasn't a book about women who love badly. Or rather who choose bad men to love. Or are unable to love, whether it's man, friend or parent. All in all it was rather depressing, especially since I somehow expected lighthearted romance. I did like the ending though, in terms of which man Lee ended up with. I'd say more, but it would be a spoiler.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moderately reclusive ghostwriter becomes obsessively concerned, as she often does, when someone seems to have been murdered in her neighborhood.

The plot thickens when she starts her new ghostwriting job.

A page turner! I couldn't stop thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it. The ending was pretty good too. All in all a very good and entertaining read.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun book to read by the pool. Some mystery, some silliness, some angst. Kind of all over the place. Not fantastic, but fun!

[S.j. Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to Seduce a Ghost by Hope McIntyre / 2005
The title is a real stretch, there are no ghosts in or around this story. The protagonist, Natalie Bartholomew, aka Lee, is a Ghost Writer, hence the clever title. The story begins with a murder up the street from Lee's home in the fancy Notting Hill. A local children's television show host has been set ablaze in her own home and killed. The story mostly veers away from the murder, and focuses a lot on Lee and her incredibly flaky life. Everyone is exceptionally unlikeable in this story and the plots/subplots are all over the place. We have cheating lovers, a soap star and her abusive husband, a raging alcoholic best friend, a nosy neighbor, a lodger in Lee's back yard, a handsome police detective, a randy contractor, a pushy literary agent, another murder in Lee's back yard, and to top it off Lee's parents are divorcing and her mother moves back in with Lee. The story had its moments of interesting plot twists, but like I said, the characters are mostly so unlikeable I really didn't care who would fall prey next. Still though 3/5 stars for the exciting way the ending was mashed together and strategically sorted out.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Notting Hill section of London is hit with a series of fires, all ex girlfriends or lovers of soap star Selma's husband and manager Buzz.

The suspects are the housekeeper, whose sister is an invalid, another jealous anonymous girlfriend and Buzz himself, until he is killed in one of the fires.

While Ghostwriter Lee Bartholomew is dealing with a new assignment, her parents divorce, the sale of her house, and guilt at having fallen for Buzz's charms herself.

We see a glimpse of her parents in France, the local color of Noting Hill, the fruit and vegetable market and the life of a ghost writer.

The killer is a bit out of left field, and Lee is a bit of a scatter brain, a lot of convenient coupling, her old friend reappearing, and being fiance to the cop.

Too many romantic attractions for Lee as well.

Okay, may read another.

[Charleroi Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hope McIntyre really put together an engaging thriller mystery! there were many elements where those who love a good fast paced story and yet at times added suspense. also for those who enjoys domestic thrillers. I thought the main character was easy to follow, which made the plot that much more scary. the author took a realistic fear of not knowing if we’re safe in the night and amplified her fears page by page. I kind of guessed the whodunit, but not 100%. the facets of family, work life vs home life, and friendships were all at play here. there was no dull moments to me and I liked that it started in the midst of trouble. well done!!

[Brenda Haven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5 for stars. I really disliked the main character until about half way through the book. I am going to definitely find the second book to read and see how that one goes. The ending to this first one does kind of leave you wondering who she will ultimately end up with.

[Jennie Damron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever mystery and I did not guess the villain in the end. I loved her character
development and her writing was on par.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a3.5. I’ll read the others .

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good murder mystery that becomes a thriller

[Teressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had more characters in it that you want to dislike and find them constantly making mistakes.Not only are you trying to figure out the who dunit,but also if the main character and her so called boyfriend are going to stay together and at the end of the book,you really do not know if she is going to have a relationship with the detective.This book to me was only so-so.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who want a dead body to appear early in a mystery novel, Hope McIntyre’s How to Seduce a Ghost comes through just fine – in a terrific opening line, in fact. The victim, Astrid McKenzie, was killed by an arsonist who set fire to her home. But since protagonist, Lee Bartholomew, is a professional ghost writer who hadn’t really known the victim living in her neighbourhood, she has no reason to investigate the crime, so she doesn’t. And this is what makes this novel so different from other amateur sleuth novels. The opening chapters of this book are more about Lee’s complicated emotional life than murder. We learn a lot about Lee’s up-and-down relationship with her boyfriend, her feelings about her mother and her former best friend. So much detail is given that I began to wonder how the author would pull the reader back into the mystery.

This happens subtly at first, when soap opera star, Selma Walker, hires Lee to write her autobiography, against Selma’s husband’s wishes. The couple live just around the corner from Lee, which adds a complication to the murder mystery and Lee’s personal life. Also, the former boyfriend of Lee’s new tenant dies in a fire inside the summer house in Lee’s backyard. When the tenant disappears, Lee decides to ask a few questions.

As the story unfolds, the reason for pages of detailed personal revelation about Lee become clear. To understand Lee’s actions; actions that might seem selfish, egotistical, hurtful, or insensitive, you have to understand important things about Lee. To learn what these things are, read the book. Complex characters and a great plot make How to Seduce a Ghost an entertaining read.

[CD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly intricate mystery, but there was one annoying thing that the author kept doing: telling me what just happened. One character would say something and then the author would explain EXACTLY what that just meant. There was the problem of infidility. The heroine has a long term boyfriend, but has a brief affair and instant attraction with what ends up being the husband of her client. Her guilt and remorse is something that she has to deal with, but she really doesn't feel all that guilty and her feelings for her boyfriend are not clear cut either making the affair a huge albatross around her neck. Giving a heroine whom the reader has not decided she likes yet such a fault is definitely risky. If you keep reading the plot eventually evens out and the mystery takes over and becomes more engrossing. However, Lee doesn't ever become someone who grows on you enough to make you buy into the series.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book as I was so off put by varying reviews saying it was Bridget Jones-esque (as each to their own but that does nothing for me at all).

This book was engaging and gripping throughout and the characters were well developed and likeable, even the soap actresses manager and his no saint!

There are a fair few red herrings along the way before you reach the conclusion which was unexpected because there was no hint of the perpetrator at all. That was probably my only issue with the story as it felt like the offender was plucked at random by the author although it must be noted that other factors of the story were so well done I think this is easily forgivable.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of McIntyre's that I've read and it won't be the last. Her primary character, a ghost writer, is efficiently and remarkably well-thought out. I say "remarkably" because it is rare in today's literary world for a writer to go back to elementary fiction principles and plan out the depiction of a main character so they say and do believable things. As I read this book, the ghost writer comes alive as a person carried along by the plot: as it should be in fiction. This is not a great work of literature, but it actually has some meanings and layers that put it a step above "summer beach reading".

[D.A. Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising and entertaining, even if slightly annoying at times. I developed a love/hate attitude to the main character, Lee, and actually enjoyed the supporting cast more. The plotting was a bit scattered and there were sections I could easily have left out, in fact I did skip bits but the mystery angel remained a mystery until it was revealed and it was full of surprises, humour and charm. It's got nothing to do with ghosts though if you're looking for supernatural action, look elsewhere. Lee is a ghostwriter and a very reclusive person, who gets caught up in a series of murders. This is a good read.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Screwball neurotic ghostwriter with 7 year itch and domineering parents with late-life marital crisis is entangled in murder while house is falling down around her ears and ends up re-evaluating her life, romantic ties and friendships. Weirdly, it works. Not great, but fun and certainly different. Reminds me a bit of Donna Andrews' Meg Lanslow mysteries or Charlotte MacLeod's Sarah Kelling series.

[Michelle Hurst · Rating 1 out of 5]

So poor. It was a very choppy storyline and could not even grow to like the main character, she was a pain the ... you know what!

The way the character repeated everything that came into her head even though she had just spoken the words, drove me up the wall.

Anyway this is only my opinion there maybe people out there who liked it.

[Jesse Figuera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the worst book that I've finished in a long time. I was hooked from the first page, and still found it infuriating - with the main character making poor choices and not seeing all the red flags right and left. I usually quit books, but i kept hoping it would get better...would resolve and redeem itself..hoped it all the way till the end. oh well.

[Cindi Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not a cozy mystery. It's a British mystery and I really enjoyed it once Lee learned to stop being so paranoid and recluse. I never did figure who was setting the fires. The main suspect made the most sense but he had no reason too.

[Nikole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked it up from the bargain shelf at Barnes and Noble. I liked the first few chapters, but as the book went on, the plot was all over the place and I found myself not really caring about what happened to the protag.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it -- an interesting cast of characters who were intriguing and believable, a good plot and fun dialogue. I may not be keeping it for myself to read again, but it was a fun book, difficult to put down, and a good read.

[Jerrica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed this book. It has a mystery, a little romance, and an interesting main character, who at first I found a little tiresome but by the end of the novel I loved her. Can't wait to read the next in the series.