The Busy Body is the first book in a stylish classic modern mystery series by Kemper Donovan. Released 23rd Jan 2024 by Kensington, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
This is a first person classic-pattern mystery with a protagonist who remains anonymous throughout. She's a ghost writer, with a new dream assignment to shadow a Hillary Clinton-esque independent candidate (Dorothy) who has split the vote enough that a dark horse outsider (he who shall not be named) has successfully gained the presidency. When Dorothy's neigbor dies in odd circumstances, they decide to investigate on their own, to the chagrin of the local constabulary.
Although it's an odd (too clever?) twist to have the ghost writer remain anonymous, the prose is well crafted and it won't be problematic for most readers. Mr. Donovan manages to convey a female voice reasonably well, and the fact that the character wasn't continually referred to by name never made it feel like she was genderless or masculine.
The story culminates in a Poirot-gets-the-suspects-together denouement, and although many readers will be expecting the big reveal, it was well written and entertaining. Definitely plans for future volumes given the epilogue. It's not at all derivative, but fans of modern intellectual classic mysteries like those by Anthony Horowitz, Nita Prowse, and Richard Osman will find a lot to like.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours 6 minutes and is capably narrated by Eva Kaminsky. She has a slightly earthy alto voice with a neutral accent (east coast American but not distinctively regional) and does a good job of delineating the various characters of both sexes and a range of ages. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Four stars for both print and audiobook formats.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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