The Busy Body By Kemper Donovan-Summary

Goodreads summary (review below) of The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan:

The host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age murder mystery into the present day, as a ghostwriter is chosen to collaborate on a presidential candidate’s memoir, only to discover just how much trouble a smart woman with time on her hands can get up to…

It’s a dream assignment. Former Senator Dorothy Gibson, aka that woman, is the most talked-about person in the country right now, though largely for the wrong reasons. As an independent candidate for President of the United States, Dorothy split the vote and is blamed for the shocking result. After her very public defeat, she retreated to her home in rural Maine, inviting her ghostwriter to join her.

Her collaborator is impressed by Dorothy’s work ethic and steel-trap mind, not to mention the stunning surroundings (and one particularly gorgeous bodyguard). But when a neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances, Dorothy is determined to find the killer in their midst. And when Dorothy Gibson asks if you want to team up for a top-secret, possibly dangerous murder investigation, the only answer “Of course!”

The best ghostwriters are adept at asking questions and spinning stories… two talents, it turns out, that also come in handy for sleuths. Dorothy’s political career, meanwhile, has made her an expert at recognizing lies and double-dealing. Working together, the two women are soon untangling motives and whittling down suspects, to the exasperation of local police. But this investigation—much like the election—may not unfold the way anyone expects…

Reason #1- Writing

The Busy Body is the first book I’ve read by Kemper Donovan, and now I’m mad at myself. I should have read the Desent Proposal. However, idiotically, it didn’t show up on my radar. I will fix this promptly. Kemper Donovan’s writing is smooth as silk and diverse. It flows easily. The writing moves from suspense to mystery and then some seriously brilliant dark humor. But I’ll get to that in a minute. How Kemper Donovan’s writing shines and why is truly extraordinary. Sometimes, even showing insight that says the quiet parts out loud.

But isn’t that often the way of these things? Death makes us nervous, hence punchy. Sometimes laughing at bad jokes is the best we can do.

Grief is explored and expressed with tact and deftness.

He dug his thumbs in his eyelids. ‘It does not seem real. It is like I am remembering a television show, or a story someone else told me. But this is what happened’

Lastly, a book is rarely written in the second person point of view, but he pulls it off flawlessly.

Dorothy’s house was in Sacobago, and upscale suburb of Portland. That’s Sock-o-Bage-oh, with a hard g, emphasis on the third syllable. Wouldn’t want you mispronouncing our setting the whole way through like I would have…

Reason #2- I’m Cackling, Here.

More quotes are coming! But how am I supposed to talk about how rampant and delicious the humor is in The Busy Body without actually showing you? Often, though not always, relayed by the ghostwriter’s narrative, Kemper Donovan demonstrates top-notch dark, often critical humor. Sometimes, it borders on a Clue level of madness. But we’ll get to Clue in a minute.

He was a magnificently disgruntled man, which is why when I picture him, it’s his great beak of a nose that comes to mind… I swear that schnozz could have done Shakespeare, it was so impressive- always up to something, whether scrunching in disgust, flaring in announce, or quivering impatiently.

A private plane is two hundred times more likely to crash than a commercial one, and if that’s the way I’m going to go, I’d like my fiery death to be an unmitigated tragedy rather than one of those situations where people say I had it coming to me, you know?

Reason #3- The Mystery/Plot

Ok, this is the last time I will mention Clue until we get to reason #5. One of my favorite parts of how the mystery rolls out is the Clue-like manner in which it does so. A lot of this is towards the end, so I can’t go into it too much, but it is both suspenseful and fun as hell.

But don’t get me wrong. The mystery and plot is very suspenseful and intricate. Throughout, I was dying to read what happened next. And the ending? Ohhhh, boy. I never saw that coming. I could have had binoculars, and I wouldn’t have guessed. It is well plotted throughout the book, and then it slams you towards the end.

Thank you to Kensington Books and Recorded Books Media for an advance copy of The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan, releasing January 23

Reason #4- The Characters

The characters are characters. Moreover, it isn’t just Dorothy and the ghostwriter who are flushed out with their backgrounds, current circumstances, and emotional state. We have a detective with the biggest schnozz ever, another detective with anxiety problems, an open marriage, a highly protective assistant, and a grieving husband. And that is just to name a few. Each one is given their own voice and has time to tell their story (mainly through dialogue with the ghostwriter or Dorothy).

Reason #5- Dropping Cultural References

This isn’t long, but it is too fantastic not to include. From the Golden Girls to Clue and Indiana Jones, there are namedrops all over The Busy Body, and I am here for them. Kemper Donovan does a brilliant job of not forcing them for the sake of including them. Instead, they are carefully utilized for maximum impact.

<The coat> was every bit as hideous as it sounds, the sort of muumuu overcoat you could imagine… Dorothy Zbornak wearing whenever she traveled north of Miami,

Those eyes of hers were blazing with a fury so hot, I was surprised the rest of her face wasn’t melting around them like that guy at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade- you know, the one who chose… poorly.

My apologies, but I can’t quote the Clue reference because of spoilers, but you can see where this is going.

Bonus on the audiobook: Recorded Books did a fantastic job choosing the narrator for The Busy Body, in Eva Kaminsky. As I mentioned, there is a laundry list of characters that are characters. Eva Kaminsky does a brilliant job bringing each one to life.