BelEdit Book Reviews
There’s a lot to enjoy in The Busy Body. I really liked the chemistry between the two main characters, the nameless ghostwriter and the failed presidential candidate Dorothy Gibson (clearly loosely based on Hilary Clinton). They’re both intelligent strong female characters and there’s some good dialogue between them.
Kemper Donovan has a long-standing podcast about the revered “Queen of Crime”, Agatha Christie. And so it’s no surprise to find many elements of golden age classic British crime fiction reinterpreted in this modern novel. The story is a locked room mystery with a good cast of characters and plenty of twists and surprises.
Recommended for fans of well-written modern crime fiction in the classic tradition.
I did figure out the key to the mystery quite early on. I think this was intended by the author as there is a homage to Agatha Christie in there. It’s all the more enjoyable when you’re reading along knowing who but not why or exactly how.
And it all leads up to a nice classical reveal scene towards the end.
The romance part of it felt like an unnecessary add-on. Maybe it’s relevant for future books in the series…
I give it a rather ungenerous 3 rather than 4 stars because, well — and I guess this is the inevitable result of writing a novel so deeply inspired by one of the greatest crime writers ever — if you’re constantly comparing a novel to an Agatha Christie, the bar is set very high from the start. The Busy Body is a good read but it doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing.
Thanks to the author, publisher @LittleBrownUK and Netgalley for the ARC. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
#TheBusyBody #NetGalley #bookreview #KemperDonovan
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