HOW TO MARRY A GHOST by Hope McIntyre

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Date published: February 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0446616027
Mystery
Mass market paperback
Reviewed by Gina


A year after her brush with death and proposal of marriage to Tommy Kennedy, ghost writer Lee Bartholomew journeyed from England to the Hamptons on Long Island, New York for her mother’s commitment ceremony to the Phillionaire. Her parents aren’t divorced and the Phillionaire’s name is Phil and he’s rich and Lee certainly doesn’t call her mother’s intended by her private pet name for him. Before the couple can exchange their vows a body washes up on the beach and it’s not just any body. It is the son of the famous rock star, Shotgun Marriott, the subject of Lee’s latest ghost writing project. Well she doesn’t quite have the job, yet. As it turns out another ghost writer client, Bettina, of her agent is also hoping to get the job. That is, until Bettina shows up dead the day after Shotgun’s son, Sean’s body washed up on the sand. Did I mention Sean was wearing a wedding gown? Well yes. The question is why. The couple quickly changes their plans and pledge their troth in a modified ceremony and quickly whisk off on their honeymoon. Lee avails herself of the opportunity to stay in a cottage on the Phillionaire’s property and begins work on Shotgun’s book. With murders seeming to happen on a daily basis and a strange car sitting just outside, in view of her cottage, Lee pines for Tommy. Unfortunately days before their wedding Tommy decides that he wanted to wait a bit…eight years courtship suddenly didn't seem all that short a time. Hurt, yet pragmatic, Lee has gone on with her life until she learns Tommy has lost his job with the BBC. Without a word, in true Tommy fashion, he shows up on her doorstep, once again filling her life and home. When it begins to look like one of Lee’s new friends may be behind the murders, Lee digs in to investigate only to find a daisywheel puzzle being woven before her eyes.

HOW TO MARRY A GHOST is the second of Hope McIntyre’s “how to with a ghost” series. I almost did not finish the first book, HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST, but was glad I did because it led me on to this wonderfully told tale. The Lee character definitely comes into her own in this story and has an active part in solving the crimes. This time when Lee became the target of the killer I found myself holding my breath and clenching my fists hoping she’d make it out alive and unscathed. I was sorry Tommy had gotten cold feet and pleased when he showed up. There is something so very endearing about Tommy. In HOW TO MARRY A GHOST readers are treated to Ms. McIntyre’s humor from the very beginning when we meet the Phillionaire. Each character is well defined and true to life. Without missing a beat the author introduces her readers to the rich and protective enclave of the rich in the Hampton’s along with their foibles and often silly rules. When she moves the tale back to England the language shifts to the Notting Hill environs with ease. The villains lair is cunningly devised and had me holding my breath from the moment Lee entered the door.

I thoroughly enjoyed HOW TO MARRY A GHOST and immediately looked for the third book in the series, HOW TO COOK FOR A GHOST. Unfortunately it is not available in the United States and the cost of purchasing and shipping it from Europe is a bit prohibitive. I looked for an ebook version and sadly it isn’t available for the Kindle or other electronic form either. I hope at some point HOW TO COOK FOR A GHOST becomes available because, as with most series, Lee and Tommy have taken on a life of their own in my imagination.

Waste no time and cozy up with HOW TO MARRY A GHOST.

HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST by Hope McIntyre

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Date published: January 2007
ISBN: 978-0446616010
Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Gina


Reclusive, slightly neurotic ghost writer Lee Bartholomew pretty much has her life in order. She lives in a wonderful old house in Notting Hill in England, has been dating the same man for eight years give or take and gets to meet some of the most fascinating people around when she settles in to ghost write their life stories. Her parents retired to France and left Hope in charge of their home. While her mother is gregarious and has a zest for living, Lee prefers to spend her days alone, writing her books and avoiding danger. Boyfriend Tommy Kennedy, an engineer for the BBC, wants nothing more than to marry her and settle in with a pack of little Kennedy’s. Things are going swimmingly until she awakes one morning to the news that one of her neighbors has died in a fire.

Before Lee can process her neighbor being killed in an intentionally set fire, her agent, calls her into town with an exciting new ghost writing project. A famous soap actress has decided it is time to tell her story. Despite her love of solitude, with a murderer on the loose, Lee seeks the comfort of Tommy’s presence while the killer is sought. Before Lee can completely dig into the story, a series of events unfold including a brooding police detective dogging her tail, the demise of her parents’ marriage, an affair with a married man, the return of a childhood friend and a tenant in the garden cottage. That would be among other events and people descending on Lee’s otherwise orderly world. But when the killer sets his…or her sights on Lee, someone needs to do some quick thinking or she will die.

I was drawn to Hope McIntyre’s HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST because of the title. I had gone to the library to pick up a mystery by another author for a reading group and spotted Ms. McIntyre’s HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST and HOW TO MARRY A GHOST. Immediately I was intrigued and picked both books up. My mind flew to the possibilities of a ghost helping to solve his or her murder mixed with a blend of one my favorite movies, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. This is not a paranormal series. It is not about a ghost in the common way we think of a ghost and that strongly colored my perceptions of the first book, HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST. Putting my own disappointment aside, I read on and continued to be disillusioned with the story. Although she is the heroine of the piece, Lee does little to solve the crime and as the story is told in the first person, it is more of someone talking about an incident in their neighborhood. A tragic one to be sure, but nothing to feel emotional about. I felt little connection to any of the characters.

While the author had some solid threads including rising up from an abusive relationship, infidelity and of course, murder, I felt there were too many all at once. It would have been a much better read to have narrowed the scope and left some of the threads for another tale.

That said, there were two reasons I continued on to the second book in the series, HOW TO MARRY A GHOST. The first is how Ms. McIntyre paints life in Notting Hill in a marvelous array of words. The reader can hear the conversation between the characters as if it occurring before him or her. In this way Ms. McIntyre has a wonderful way with words. The other is Lee’s penchant for living the life of a recluse, preferring to keep to herself, live alone and enjoy the peaceful order of her life. That described me to a T and I felt a kinship with her angst at having so many people trample through her home. There really weren’t that many and she invited them in, yet at the same time she really wanted her solitude back. I continued on to HOW TO MARRY A GHOST and happily read on.

Do check out HOW TO SEDUCE A GHOST if for no other reason than to learn the players in HOW TO MARRY A GHOST. Then pick up and cozy up with HOW TO MARRY A GHOST.