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The Ex: a ghost story
'There it was again. More scrabbling. No question about it now. Someone, or something, was scratching at the window. Someone, or something, wanted me to open it up and let them in...'
John Croydon is out of his depth. His latest client is classy, beautiful and very, very rich. And she's being stalked by her fianc�'s ex-wife, who is threatening to disrupt the wedding, or worse. Croydon has just one week to persuade this inconvenient ex to leave the happy couple alone.
Problem is, she's going to take some persuading. Because she's dead. Has been dead for some time. And she isn't looking pretty.
From the author of cult vampire novel Suckers and Notting Hill ghost story Stiff Lips comes another ghost story, narrated with self-lacerating humour by a private eye who has a lot to learn about himself and the supernatural.
In the course of an investigation that will lead him from London to Norfolk and, ultimately, to Venice, John Croydon will be forced to dig into his own troubled past for answers. He will discover that looks can be deceptive, women are not to be trusted, one canal is much like another...
And that some ghosts are worse than others.
John Croydon is out of his depth. His latest client is classy, beautiful and very, very rich. And she's being stalked by her fianc�'s ex-wife, who is threatening to disrupt the wedding, or worse. Croydon has just one week to persuade this inconvenient ex to leave the happy couple alone.
Problem is, she's going to take some persuading. Because she's dead. Has been dead for some time. And she isn't looking pretty.
From the author of cult vampire novel Suckers and Notting Hill ghost story Stiff Lips comes another ghost story, narrated with self-lacerating humour by a private eye who has a lot to learn about himself and the supernatural.
In the course of an investigation that will lead him from London to Norfolk and, ultimately, to Venice, John Croydon will be forced to dig into his own troubled past for answers. He will discover that looks can be deceptive, women are not to be trusted, one canal is much like another...
And that some ghosts are worse than others.
- GenresHorror
358 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2012
26 people want to read
About the author
Anne Billson
38 books76 followersANNE BILLSON is a film critic, novelist, photographer, style icon, wicked spinster, evil feminist, and international cat-sitter who has lived in London, Tokyo, Paris and Croydon, and now lives in Belgium. She likes frites, beer and chocolate.
Her books include SUCKERS (an upwardly mobile vampire novel), STIFF LIPS (a Notting Hill ghost story), THE EX (a supernatural detective story) and THE COMING THING (Rosemary's Baby meets Bridget Jones) as well as several works of non-fiction, including BILLSON FILM DATABASE, BREAST MAN: A CONVERSATION WITH RUSS MEYER, and monographs on the films THE THING and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.
Her latest book is CATS ON FILM, the definitive work of feline film scholarship.
She sometimes writes about film for the Guardian, and is currently working on a screenplay and a sequel to her vampire novel, SUCKERS. She has three blogs: multiglom.com (the Billson Blog), catsonfilm.net (a blog about cats in the cinema), and lempiredeslumieres.com (photographs of Belgian beer, bars and sunsets).
Her books include SUCKERS (an upwardly mobile vampire novel), STIFF LIPS (a Notting Hill ghost story), THE EX (a supernatural detective story) and THE COMING THING (Rosemary's Baby meets Bridget Jones) as well as several works of non-fiction, including BILLSON FILM DATABASE, BREAST MAN: A CONVERSATION WITH RUSS MEYER, and monographs on the films THE THING and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.
Her latest book is CATS ON FILM, the definitive work of feline film scholarship.
She sometimes writes about film for the Guardian, and is currently working on a screenplay and a sequel to her vampire novel, SUCKERS. She has three blogs: multiglom.com (the Billson Blog), catsonfilm.net (a blog about cats in the cinema), and lempiredeslumieres.com (photographs of Belgian beer, bars and sunsets).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 23, 2019
Loved this book. I’ve now read two of Billson’s novels and they’ve both been great. Creepy, mysterious, well-written, and engaging. She was named in Granta’s Best Young British Novelist many years back and she’s definitely the real deal.
September 1, 2013
The Ex is a fast paced, supernatural detective novel with a welcome vein of black humour running through it. As you might expect from a writer who has written extensively about film, the book is peppered with movie references which give it an air of realism that somehow makes the supernatural elements more believable.
All in all a very entertaining read and well worth the price of admission.
All in all a very entertaining read and well worth the price of admission.
February 15, 2021
I've been reading a lot of thrillers in lockdown; many by award winning authors or those who find themselves on the bestseller list regularly. Most of these have been awful, barely literate and borderline offensive, so I didn't hold out much hope for this unheralded, indie-published book from the late eighties- what can I tell you, it's brilliant.
The setting is redolent of Richard Curtis rom-coms; glossy, privately educated people who happen to have unproblematic friendships with the hoi polloi hero but the characters and situation they find themselves in is well drawn and the set up is intriguing. It's good right through to the end.
I don't know why this wasn't adapted- it could easily be imagined on screen with my choice of James MacAvoy as John Croydon, Rachel Weitz as Alice and Colin Firth as Nick.
The setting is redolent of Richard Curtis rom-coms; glossy, privately educated people who happen to have unproblematic friendships with the hoi polloi hero but the characters and situation they find themselves in is well drawn and the set up is intriguing. It's good right through to the end.
I don't know why this wasn't adapted- it could easily be imagined on screen with my choice of James MacAvoy as John Croydon, Rachel Weitz as Alice and Colin Firth as Nick.
December 19, 2014
Another page-turning spine-chiller from the author of Suckers. The plot is more complex and fast-moving than I expected, and it contains Billson's usual mix of dark humour, social satire and imaginative creepiness. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews