The Ghost Writer

Question: Was the ghostwriter murdered? Why? The book had already been published, and he only discovered the truth about Ruth minutes before, so who would have wanted him dead?

Answer: Who would want him dead? Ruth, for one, as well as Professor Emmett (her CIA recruiter) and others involved in the conspiracy. Yes, the book had been published, but the secret message only comes across if one is in possession of all the knowledge that the writer had acquired, which the casual reader would not have. And minutes is plenty of time for Ruth, Emmett, or anyone else to make a phone call and arrange the hit.

The published book was a rewrite and would not have the secret message in the chapter beginnings.

The published book was a rewrite of the original manuscript. He gives her the original manuscript that he was working off, not a final draft.

Makes no sense, he was run down 2 minutes after she read it.

We know the beginning of the book was rewritten as he didn't like it. Almost certainly, the clue is not in the published version of the book. Ruth was shocked to read the note and is delivering her speech so is unlikely to be complicit in the murder of the Ghostwriter. The ending suggests that Ruth, too, is little more than a pawn in the whole conspiracy.

Continuity mistake: When driving to the house for the first time, the taxi stops at the gates for a security check and Ewan is sitting in the back seat on the left (he passes his passport out the left window). In the next shot, as the taxi pulls to a stop at the house, Ewan is sitting on the right with his bag still in the middle of the seat. I doubt he switched sides for the short haul up the driveway.

More mistakes in The Ghost Writer

The Ghost: Didn't you want to be a proper politician?
Ruth Lang: Didn't you want to be a proper writer?

More quotes from The Ghost Writer

Trivia: When Ruth Lang and the ghostwriter are watching CNN's breaking news on television, the information bar at the bottom of the news screen identifies Lang as: "FMR Bristish PM". This must be an intentional typo that alludes to the commonly misspelled words on CNN. (01:01:20)

More trivia for The Ghost Writer

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.