Read time: 4 minutes
🎧 Listened in audio
📢 Narrated by Eva Kaminsky
⏱ Duration: 10 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Recorded Books Inc. / Penguin Random House Australia
📅 Published: January 23, 2024
Book Blurb:
Former Senator Dorothy Gibson is the most controversial woman in the country. The independent presidential candidate blamed for splitting the vote and reshaping American politics. After her very public defeat, she retreats to Maine and invites her ghostwriter to help her pen her memoir. But when a neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances, Dorothy and her ghostwriter find themselves entangled in a murder investigation. Blending politics, secrets, and a dash of humor, The Busy Body crafts a layered mystery where truth and narrative are always up for debate.
Let’s Talk … Murder!
I can’t remember how this one landed on my radar. Maybe a forgotten book club recommendation? Either way, I’m so glad I pressed play on this brilliant meta premise, and that is what genuinely stood out for me in The Busy Body. Kemper Donovan plays with meta-narrative in a way that really pulled me into the story. The ghostwriter (deliberately nameless, and fascinatingly secretive about her identity) is telling the story in retrospect, occasionally commenting on how she would have said or acted differently in hindsight with the knowledge that she now possesses. That “if only I knew then” narrative layer gave the whole book a deliciously dramatic irony. You’re reading a mystery, sure, but you’re also watching someone process it in real time, looking back. That’s such a clever device, and it worked beautifully in audio.
Dorothy Gibson is such an absolute force. I found myself deeply curious on who she might have been modeled after. A fiercely intelligent, politically independent woman with the kind of presence and gravitas, she ruled the pages she was on. Sharp, articulate, and much too human for the caricature she’s become in the press, Dorothy feels like she could have walked out of a real-world campaign trail.
Eva Kaminsky’s narration is pitch perfect. She captures both Dorothy’s magnetic authority and the ghostwriter’s quite observation. The twists kept coming, and I’ll be honest, I figured out part of the mystery towards the end, but not nearly enough of it to feel smug about it. The rest genuinely caught me off-guard. If I had one gripe, it’s the ghostwriter’s ending. I won’t say more, but let’s just I had a different ending in mind for her, and closing that final chapter left me with a faint, specific disappointment. Not enough to sour me on the book, but enough to sit with me. Still, I’ll absolutely be back for her next case without a second thought.
Would I recommend it?
If you are a fan of cozy mysteries with literary backbone and a whodunit that actually delivers, this one belongs in your list. It’s clever without being smug, warm without being saccharine, and twisty enough to earn its ending. Eva Kaminsky’s narration brought the ghostwriter narration to life. The meta-narration alone makes this worth your attention.
If You Liked This, Try…
- Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – self-aware, meta twisty fun.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The Maid by Nita Prose – quirky yet sharp narration with secrets layered beneath politeness.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The Appeal by Janice Hallett – told through documents and shifting perspectives.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – another story-within-a-story gem with a ghostwriter involvement.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
The Ghost Knows Best — But Do You?
Dorothy Gibson had the instincts of a political veteran, and our ghostwriter had the ears of a seasoned storyteller. Together, they made one formidable team. But here’s what I want to know: do you tend to solve the mystery before the reveal, or does the book always get the last laugh on you? Drop your confessions in the comments. I promise I won’t judge. (I only got half of this one, for the record.)
Book Links:
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Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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I also read this one and liked it.
Such an interesting concept! Did you read the second book? I’m trying to get it from my library
There is a third one coming out as well. I did read the second one.
I’ve not heard of this book, but I like the sound of it. I enjoy cozy mysteries and this does sound like an interesting premise. Great review, you’ve piqued my interest.
This is indeed a wonderful concept. The way they wrote a character from whose point of view we see the entire story, but whose name we never know