Author Kemper Donovan has made no secret of the influence that Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, has had on his own writing. You can hear it in every episode of his podcast, All About Agatha. Likewise, I’ve made no secret of who myfavorite author is, and it’s a tribute to our shared passion for the Dame that the moment I opened Sweet Spot, Kemper‘s third novel in the Ghostwriter series, I started to get ideas!

As you might imagine from previous outings, the title is open to multiple interpretations, but first and foremost Sweet Spot is a place. Mr. Donovan loves to set his mysteries in intriguing locations (a house made of glass in The Busy Body, an ocean liner in Loose Lips), and this is no exception. We find ourselves in an impressive compound, heavily fenced and guarded (by that staple of mystery fiction, a pair of twins), perched on the edge of a plateau in Southwestern Utah. The view is majestic, the access limited. In fact, no one can get in unless they are invited, and so it serves as a protective refuge – a “sweet spot”, if you will – for its owner, Genevieve Caraway.

Genny is about to become ghost writer Belle Currer’s latest famous client, but hers is not a fame to which any of us would aspire. When she was fourteen, Genny was kidnapped and held captive by a young couple, Austin and Deirdre Gregory, who sexually tortured her for three months until she managed to escape. For the last two decades, she has been rebuilding her life and sharing her thoughts and advice in a series of self-help books. Now she wants to write her memoirs and tell what really happened. As for the Gregorys, they were caught and convicted and now reside in a for-profit prison located on the border of Arizona and Utah that just happens to sit across the canyon from Sweet Spot. (Cue dramatic sting!) However, a mysterious accessory to their crime, a man not even Genny can identify,  has been missing for twenty years. (Another sting, please!!)

Belle receives this writing assignment as a sort of consolation prize: she had reached out to an old flame in order to scratch her own sweet spot, only to discover that he was engaged. Ironically, the job offer comes from the man’s fiancée, who happens to be Genny Caraway’s best friend. The Ghostwriter flies to Utah and lands right in the thick of things when Deirdre Gregory, fresh out of prison, shows up at the compound with a dire warning for Genny. Before she can make clear where the danger lies, Deirdre is sent away with her own warning, never to return. Thus, it is a big surprise for everyone when the following morning her corpse is discovered in the inner courtyard of Sweet Spot!

How on earth did Deirdre breach the security of the compound? Did she kill herself in a fit of despair and guilt, or was she murdered? And if it was murder, whodunnit and why? Was it Genny herself, thirsting for revenge? Her husband, the bodybuilder? Her teenaged son, the violin prodigy? His high-strung tutor? Genny’s out-of-the-closet father? His snarky, much younger lover? The housekeeper, who gives off a distinct Mrs. Danvers vibe? Or that best friend fiancée who has ruined Belle’s plans for sexy fun and then has the nerve to be a delightful woman?

As you can see, Kemper has given us all the hallmarks of a traditional mystery: a quirky closed circle of suspects, an intriguing, secluded setting, even a locked room mystery! All of it is narrated in Belle’s breezy style, awash with pop cultural references – and yet this is a pivotal chapter in the Ghostwriter’s personal story. She’s poised at the opportunity of a new romance, but she also finds herself grappling with dark ghosts of the past. By the end, we will unearth some serious stuff about Belle and see her ready to turn the page on a new chapter in her life.

If she can survive the week in Utah!

One of the hallmarks of this series is that each book contains a different l’inspecteur d’histoire, as Kemper might put it, and the detective here is my favorite so far. Kay Adams is cheerful, intelligent, a devout member of the Church Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (they don’t much like the term “Mormon”), and pregnant with her fourth child. She gives off vibes similar to one of my favorite film detectives, Marge Gunderson from Fargo. Kay is delighted to finally be handed a possible murder case and more than happy to share the investigation, albeit unofficially, with Belle. Much of the joy here is derived in observing these two very different women find their own sweet spot together as they attempt to solve the case.

Now . . . about those ideas I mentioned at the start. Obviously, I can’t get specific here without spoiling things for my fellow Christie fans! I will only mention that I believe I spotted three “Easter eggs,” i.e., references to three Christie novels. It’s a delight watching Kemper take these classic ideas as inspiration while crafting his own original plots and puzzles. I do have to say, though, that I solved this one pretty early on, largely due to a single sentence that happened to remind me of one of the most delicious traps Agatha Christie ever set! 

I love when an author is inspired by the very best, and I trust this whets your whistle to pick up Sweet Spot and play armchair detective yourself!