69 books like Ghostwriter Anonymous

By Noreen Wald,

Here are 69 books that Ghostwriter Anonymous fans have personally recommended if you like Ghostwriter Anonymous. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Honey Roasted

Caryl Janis Author Of To Sketch a Killer

From my list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a musician and writer who has always loved mysteries. Main character-sleuths who are likable and sometimes get in over their heads are my favorites, both as a reader and a writer, especially if they contribute something positive to their world in addition to solving the crime. If their careers or hobbiesanything from the arts to small customer-service businesses – offer joy to themselves and to others, so much the better. Since I grew up in the New York area, I like books that are set there, but am open to a good story set anywhere in the world.

Caryl's book list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York

Caryl Janis Why did Caryl love this book?

Here is one of the latest in the popular books featuring Greenwich Village coffee house manager, Clare Cosi.

It is enormous fun to tag along on Clare’s most recent wild adventure as she investigates both murder and attempted murder while trying to plan her honeymoon with an overworked police detective, getting a quick education in beekeeping, and still overseeing the Village Blend and its loveable staff.

Despite numerous intriguing complications, I loved how Clare handles everything with great aplomb and integrity. The action, the wit, the appealing characters, and the evolving plot that kept me guessing until the end made this story a winner.

By Cleo Coyle,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Honey Roasted as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Coyle's latest Coffeehouse mystery is a honey of a tale....A primer on bees, coffee, and some of New York's most unusual and exciting areas make for a fascinating and mysterious read."—Kirkus Reviews

Clare Cosi is busy as a bee planning her honeymoon when murder buzzes into the Village Blend in this all-new mystery in the beloved New York Times bestselling Coffeehouse series by Cleo Coyle.

While struggling to find a romantic (and affordable) destination for her upcoming honeymoon, coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi whips up a honey of a drink made from honey-processed coffee. Clare plans to serve her outstanding new…


Book cover of Murder in Fourth Position: An On Pointe Mystery

Caryl Janis Author Of To Sketch a Killer

From my list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a musician and writer who has always loved mysteries. Main character-sleuths who are likable and sometimes get in over their heads are my favorites, both as a reader and a writer, especially if they contribute something positive to their world in addition to solving the crime. If their careers or hobbiesanything from the arts to small customer-service businesses – offer joy to themselves and to others, so much the better. Since I grew up in the New York area, I like books that are set there, but am open to a good story set anywhere in the world.

Caryl's book list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York

Caryl Janis Why did Caryl love this book?

The latest in a series featuring an engaging New York City ballerina/amateur sleuth.

On hiatus from Lincoln Center while her ballet company is on tour, Leah goes undercover as a dancer on Broadway to keep her eyes open for clues into who is harassing the show’s leading lady online. It starts simply enough until murder enters the picture.

I loved the quirky backstage energy, the interplay between the colorful cast of characters, and the many absorbing plot twists. It’s easy to applaud as Leah keeps investigating despite mounting personal danger as well as the anxiety it causes in her romance with the appealing detective on the case.

By Lori Robbins,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Murder in Fourth Position as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mad Music was the buzziest new show of the upcoming Broadway season, with a hot score, a cool director, and a deadly plot twist no one saw coming. When rumors of a behind-the-scenes disaster surface, ballerina Leah Siderova finds herself with the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to make her Broadway debut while playing a double role. The producers hope to capitalize on her talent, as well as her devoted fan base, to revive ticket sales. Leah's true reason for abandoning Lincoln Center for the Great White Way is her undercover investigation of online threats against Amber Castle, the…


Book cover of A Fatal Finale

Caryl Janis Author Of To Sketch a Killer

From my list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a musician and writer who has always loved mysteries. Main character-sleuths who are likable and sometimes get in over their heads are my favorites, both as a reader and a writer, especially if they contribute something positive to their world in addition to solving the crime. If their careers or hobbiesanything from the arts to small customer-service businesses – offer joy to themselves and to others, so much the better. Since I grew up in the New York area, I like books that are set there, but am open to a good story set anywhere in the world.

Caryl's book list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York

Caryl Janis Why did Caryl love this book?

I loved Ella Shane who rose from Lower East Side poverty to success.

She directs and performs in her own opera company – most unusual for a woman in 1899, even in New York. Never forgetting where she came from, she is grateful for all she’s achieved. In this first of a three-part series, Ella turns sleuth after one of her young singers dies mysteriously onstage.

When the singer’s cousin (a Duke, no less) arrives to investigate, the promise of romance is definitely in the air. The contrast between late 1890s protocols versus the changing attitudes of the coming new century is fascinating. The main characters are beautifully and compassionately drawn, and the story has an action-packed finale.

By Kathleen Marple Kalb,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Fatal Finale as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On the cusp of the twentieth century, Manhattan is a lively metropolis buzzing with talent. But after a young soprano meets an untimely end on stage, can one go-getting leading lady hit the right notes in a case of murder?
 
New York City, 1899. When it comes to show business, Gilded Age opera singer Ella Shane wears the pants. The unconventional diva breaks the mold by assuming “trouser roles”—male characters played by women—and captivating audiences far and wide with her travelling theatre company. But Ella’s flair for the dramatic takes a terrifying turn when an overacting Juliet to her Romeo…


Book cover of Against the Currant: A Spice Isle Bakery Mystery

Caryl Janis Author Of To Sketch a Killer

From my list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a musician and writer who has always loved mysteries. Main character-sleuths who are likable and sometimes get in over their heads are my favorites, both as a reader and a writer, especially if they contribute something positive to their world in addition to solving the crime. If their careers or hobbiesanything from the arts to small customer-service businesses – offer joy to themselves and to others, so much the better. Since I grew up in the New York area, I like books that are set there, but am open to a good story set anywhere in the world.

Caryl's book list on cozy mysteries—with a touch of romance—set in New York

Caryl Janis Why did Caryl love this book?

Lyndsay has strong ties with her family and, in the opening book of this series, I loved how all three generations, including her feisty grandmother, pitch in to help Lyndsay realize her dream of opening a Caribbean bakery and café in her local Brooklyn neighborhood.

And when a rival business owner is murdered, Lyndsay needs all the support she can get as the spotlight shines on her as a potential suspect. Despite any danger involved, she begins her own investigation. Things become further complicated when one of the detectives on the case turns out to be her high-school crush from the past.

With lots of determination, a warm heart, and an appreciation for what is important in life, I cheered her on right through the last page.

By Olivia Matthews,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Against the Currant as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Little Caribbean, Brooklyn, New York: Lyndsay Murray is opening Spice Isle Bakery with her family, and it's everything she's ever wanted. The West Indian bakery is her way to give back to the community she loves, stay connected to her Grenadian roots, and work side-by-side with her family. The only thing getting a rise out of Lyndsay is Claudio Fabrizi, a disgruntled fellow bakery owner who does not want any competition. On opening day, he comes into the bakery threatening to shut them down. Fed up, Lyndsay takes him to task in front of what seems to be the whole…


Book cover of Pretend I'm Not Here: How I Worked with Three Newspaper Icons, One Powerful First Lady, and Still Managed to Dig Myself Out of the Washington Swamp

Andrew Crofts Author Of Ghostwriting

From my list on ghostwriting and ghostwriters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a ghostwriter for over thirty years, publishing more than a hundred books under other people’s names, as well as those under my own name. It has allowed me to live a hundred different and varied lives and it is a profession I like to encourage all writers to consider. Several of my own novels have featured ghostwriters as central characters, including Secrets of the Italian Gardener and What Lies Around Us.

Andrew's book list on ghostwriting and ghostwriters

Andrew Crofts Why did Andrew love this book?

Barbara Feinman Todd is a top-level Washington ghostwriter and journalist. In this memoir, she gives a shocking, and entertaining insight into her relationships with clients such as Hillary Clinton, as well as explaining the dynamics of political journalism at the very highest level. When she accidentally confides one of Hillary’s secrets to an editor, whose discretion she thought she could trust, her professional world is blown apart.

By Barbara Feinman Todd,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pretend I'm Not Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An accomplished former ghostwriter and book researcher who worked with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Ben Bradlee, and Hillary Clinton goes behind-the-scenes of the national’s capital to tell the story of how she survived the exciting, but self-important and self-promoting world of the Beltway.

Barbara Feinman Todd has spent a lifetime helping other people tell their stories. In the early 1980s, she worked for Bob Woodward, first as his research assistant in the paper’s investigative unit and, later, as his personal researcher for Veil, his bestselling book about the CIA. Next she helped Carl Bernstein, who was struggling to finish his…


Book cover of Ghosting: A Double Life

Andrew Crofts Author Of Ghostwriting

From my list on ghostwriting and ghostwriters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a ghostwriter for over thirty years, publishing more than a hundred books under other people’s names, as well as those under my own name. It has allowed me to live a hundred different and varied lives and it is a profession I like to encourage all writers to consider. Several of my own novels have featured ghostwriters as central characters, including Secrets of the Italian Gardener and What Lies Around Us.

Andrew's book list on ghostwriting and ghostwriters

Andrew Crofts Why did Andrew love this book?

This memoir is an intimate portrait of a relationship between one ghostwriter and her complicated, larger than life client, a famous publisher, entrepreneur, and socialite, the late Naim Attallah. It is a beautifully written book, providing many profound insights about life and about writing, and showing how deeply involved a ghostwriter and client can become in one another’s lives.

By Jennie Erdal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ghosting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Jennie Erdal was hired to edit a flamboyant London publisher’s Russian books in translation, she was happy to be able to commute from her home in Scotland. Soon, however, she was also secretly writing her boss’s love letters, hundreds of newspaper columns that appeared in his name, and, though she had never before written fiction, his two well-reviewed novels. For more than fifteen years she would be the indispensable ghostwriter for the exasperating, obsessive, but nontheless charming “Tiger.”Erdal reveals this oddly intimate relationship with a novelist’s flair for character and observation--and wry insight into her own collusion. Suspenseful, controversial,…


Book cover of The Complete Guide to Ghostwriting

Andrew Crofts Author Of Ghostwriting

From my list on ghostwriting and ghostwriters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a ghostwriter for over thirty years, publishing more than a hundred books under other people’s names, as well as those under my own name. It has allowed me to live a hundred different and varied lives and it is a profession I like to encourage all writers to consider. Several of my own novels have featured ghostwriters as central characters, including Secrets of the Italian Gardener and What Lies Around Us.

Andrew's book list on ghostwriting and ghostwriters

Andrew Crofts Why did Andrew love this book?

This book is a direct competitor to my own title, but Teena Lyons is a hugely experienced ghostwriter and I have to admit that she has done a very thorough job of explaining how the business works. She interviewed a number of other ghostwriters in the course of writing the book, (myself included). The result is highly readable and a useful introduction to the business.

By Teena Lyons,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Complete Guide to Ghostwriting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A good book to read if you're interested in ghost writing. The chapters on what makes a good ghost, how to become a ghostwriter, getting structure right and most of all what to do when it all goes wrong are a must-read!”
Dora Archie Okeyo - Reviewer

“This book leads you through the world of ghostwriting. There really is everything in this book and I have found the information invaluable.”
Karen Lawton - Reviewer

“A very good resource indeed. A straightforward, no nonsense guide to the world of ghostwriting.”
Ruth Giles - Reviewer

“I discovered many useful ideas, especially when…


Book cover of The Ghost Writer

Andrew Raymond Author Of Official Secrets

From my list on political thrillers that dared to be different.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been obsessed with political thrillers since reading All The President’s Men when I was far too young to understand it all. What I did know was that at the upper echelons of society there were often shadowy conspiracies at play, and brave souls fighting to expose the truth. Something about Woodward and Bernstein’s quiet heroism and bravery in investigating a story that everyone told them to drop really stayed with me. That’s why I write political thrillers: in an attempt to tip the scales back in favour of good versus evil. And to make heroes of those who risk it all to tell truth to power.

Andrew's book list on political thrillers that dared to be different

Andrew Raymond Why did Andrew love this book?

This one was a game-changer for me, taking thinly-disguised characters and events from real life – an obvious Tony Blair-type, fleeing prosecution for war crimes in a clear nod to the Iraq War – Harris wisely ushers us into the world of high-stakes politics via the innocent and unnamed Ghost Writer, hired to write a disgraced Prime Minister’s memoirs.

It’s a brilliant and clever mechanism that makes the reader feel at home. And when murder appears, puts you squarely in the shoes of a terrified man on the run.

As a technical piece of thriller writing, it’s stunning stuff. Harris’s decision to base a fantastical conspiracy around real-life events and characters was inspiring – and it’s something I use in every book.

By Robert Harris,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Ghost Writer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'An unputdownable thriller about corrupt power and sex' Sunday Telegraph

'Guaranteed to keep you awake' The Times

A body washes up on the deserted coastline of America's most exclusive holiday retreat. But it's no open-and-shut case of suicide. The death of Robert McAra is just the first piece of the jigsaw in an extraordinary plot that will shake the very foundations of international security.

For McAra was a man who knew too much. As ghostwriter to one of the most controversial men on the planet - Britain's former prime minister, holed up in a remote ocean-front house to finish his…


Book cover of Pilgrimage To Hell

Justin Oldham Author Of Search for Haven

From my list on post-apocalyptic showcasing humanity’s drive to survive.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a lifelong fan of all things post-apocalyptic. Books, movies, television, games – I have enjoyed all of it. I knew I wanted to write post-apocalyptic fiction before I was ten years old. I had to wait almost three decades before life gave me the opportunity to do it. I’ve always been fascinated by the many different ways people can survive these kinds of catastrophes. As dark and visceral as the genre can sometimes be, I will always look for the elements of hope.

Justin's book list on post-apocalyptic showcasing humanity’s drive to survive

Justin Oldham Why did Justin love this book?

This is the first volume in the long-running Deathlands series, penned by many ghostwriters. If you can find all of the volumes, you’ll be treated to the most extravagant post-apocalyptic story arc that I’ve ever seen. I enjoyed the larger-than-life heroes and heroines, who blazed their trails across a detailed landscape. This series inspired me to think bigger about life and the things that I could do with it.

By James Axler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pilgrimage To Hell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On a crisp January day, a Presidential inauguration day, a one-megaton blast ripped through the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C.

Subsequent explosions around the globe changed the face and the shape of the earth forever. Out of the ruins emerged Deathlands, a world that conspired against survival.

In the blasted heart of the new America, a group of men and women plan desperately to escape the eerie wastes and mutated life forms of their nuclear hell. Three warriors—the tough, intelligent Ryan Cawdor, an enigmatic beauty called Krysty Wroth and the armorer J.B. Dix—set out on a harrowing journey to find…


Book cover of True Story

Chris Pavone Author Of Two Nights in Lisbon

From my list on suspense that is actually about something bigger.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love crime fiction—mysteries, thrillers, espionage, you name it, plots and puzzles that excite and confound and ultimately gratify. I also love the non-genre called literary fiction, sharply observed and beautifully written books that move me, and leave me with a slightly better understanding of humanity. And I think the sweetest spot of all is the intersection of the two, with sparkling prose, fully realized characters, and interesting settings combined with an insistent, credible plot that makes it a matter of urgency to turn the page, presenting the exquisite dilemma of wanting to race through the excitement but also the opposite urge to slow down and enjoy it all.

Chris' book list on suspense that is actually about something bigger

Chris Pavone Why did Chris love this book?

A rumor about teenage sexual assault has long-term repercussions on a handful of characters in this superb novel that toggles among different genres—thriller, mystery, women’s fiction, coming-of-age literary, even screenplays—with voices in first, second, and third person, a fascinating way of looking at a single event from every angle. The characters are astoundingly well-drawn, in particular the spot-on portraits of teenaged boys, which are a master class on how to write credible, realistic, and true characters that are well beyond the novelist’s own experience. Even the title itself is a clever subversion.

By Kate Reed Petty,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked True Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A gripping, ripped-from-headlines tale." -People

"Spellbinding." -Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review

Tracing the fifteen-year fallout of a toxic high school rumor, a riveting, astonishingly original debut novel about the power of stories-and who gets to tell them

2015. A gifted and reclusive ghostwriter, Alice Lovett makes a living helping other people tell their stories. But she is haunted by the one story she can't tell: the story of, as she puts it, "the things that happened while I was asleep."

1999. Nick Brothers and his lacrosse teammates return for their senior year at their wealthy Maryland high…


Book cover of Honey Roasted
Book cover of Murder in Fourth Position: An On Pointe Mystery
Book cover of A Fatal Finale

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Florida, presidential biography, and private investigators?

Florida 142 books