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AN INTIMATE GHOST
by Ellen Hart
St Martin's Minotaur, March 2004
320 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0312317476


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Jane Lawless is hired to cater Nick and Lauren Clifford's wedding reception. Jane organizes the food but leaves it to her staff to handle the event. When she stops by for a spot check, things are out of control. The guests are acting strange, talking to plants, and running around without their clothes. Jane realizes that someone has spiked the food and her catering staff will be the most likely suspects. Things turn deadly when the groom decides to dive into an unfilled pool and is rushed the hospital.

Jane is aware that she is not at fault; yet, she feels incredibly guilty. In order to appease her guilt, she decides to investigate the crime and help clear her employees from blame. As always, she turns to her sidekick Cordelia Thorn for help. Unfortunately, Cordelia has been saddled with her baby niece and might not be there to provide all of the necessary help. Somehow this poisoning is connected with a kidnapping that occurred in 1972. Jane, along with the help of a female PI must solve this crime before someone else is hurt.

All of Ellen Hart's books are character-driven rather than plot-driven and AN INTIMATE GHOST is no exception to this rule. While this is a very popular style of writing, it gets pretty old in this book. The main problem is that Jane is the focus of the book; hence her problems and thoughts are the majority of the book. While there is nothing wrong with Jane she is slightly boring and rather conservative in her life.

In my mind, Cordelia is more interesting than Jane simply because she's slightly more flamboyant and out-going. Cordelia's approach to live is simply amazing -­ after all how many women try to convince a baby that the classic movies are much more interesting than cartoons? It is true that Cordelia is more selfish than Jane is; yet, this only adds to her appeal. A main character needs to be a bit more interesting than Jane. I hope I am not the only person who feels this, but I would be more interested in reading a book featuring Cordelia rather than Jane.

AN INTIMATE GHOST is the 11th book in the Jane Lawless series.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, April 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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