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A Body to Die For

A Body to Die For

List Price: $23.95
Your Price: $16.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An enjoyable beach read.
Review: Crime reporter Bailey Weggins is in need of some rest and relaxation, and there is no better place than the Cedar Inn, an out of the way country spa, but Bailey's restful weekend is about to turn into the hunt for a killer.

Bailey doesn't like mingling with the snooty and up-tight, but a good massage is a good massage, and she's enjoying all the pampering until she stumbles, literally, over a dead woman wrapped up like a mummy in one of the spa's treatment rooms.

Now on a full murder investigation, Bailey begins interviewing the socialites that inhabit the spa and finds a long list of suspects, among them; a jilted lover, a shady husband, and a group of employees with something to hide. As Bailey gets deeper and deeper into her investigation she finds more questions than answers, and to make matters worse she finds herself falling for the detective assigned to the case.

Hoping to help the owner of the spa, Bailey wants to catch the killer, but another murder pushes her farther away from the truth, and forces her across state lines chasing clues until she becomes the killer's next target.

' A Body To Die For' is a great follow-up to 'If Looks Could Kill,' and fans of breezy, entertaining mysteries are in for a treat. The plot unfolds quickly as the murder sets the stage in an enjoyable page-turner guaranteed to keep you engrossed. Bailey is a funny, quirky, and quick-witted character, one that readers will root for no matter what situation she is thrown into. Kate White's fun mysteries are the much needed spark in a genre that is becoming stale. Her novels are fast-paced and smart, with plot twists that are exposed at just the right time with just the right amount of suspense to keep you engrossed.

A good, enjoyable mystery, perfect for the beach or plane ride.

Nick Gonnella

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Don't bother....
Review: Don't bother spending any time with this book. It lacks everything--suspense, good character development, good writing. You know who "done" it in the first few chapters and you really don't care about any of the characters because the author has done such a poor job of developing them. She should go back to Cosmo.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hated the ending
Review: I enjoyed this book, though not half as much as I enjoy writers Marcia Muller and Sue Grafton. Bailey Weggins is a likeable character, though, and it was a fun summer read. I liked that the characters were complicated people. There were times when I couldn't put the book down. Until the ending, that is. While I won't give it away, the ending was a huge disappointment. The motive and the murderer were totally not believable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kate White's Body of Solid Mystery Grows
Review: I read "If Looks Could Kill," when it first came out in Hardcover a few years ago, and I must say that I was very much happy with this, the sequel.

The story brings Bailey Weggins back to us - thirty-something, kind of flustered at a relationship that seems to be all sparked out - and really overdue for a relaxing time in a spa her friend owns. But, in true murder-mystery fashion, her pal's place becomes a murder scene, and soon Bailey is as hip deep in secrets and danger as she'd like to have been in herbal massage oils. The characters are rich, and the mystery plot itself is full enough of red-herrings and dead-ends to make it a confounding puzzle that one enjoys unscrambling.

With a steamy potential romance as a side-plot, the story has a solid momentum, and I didn't pick the right bad-person any sooner than Bailey did, which is always a plus. Better, characters from previous books (her love interest, her boss, her wonderful neighbour) are still on the scene, and growing. This isn't deep thought provoking stuff, it's fun and enjoyable mystery - I'll definitely keep my eye out for Kate White again.

'Nathan

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: totally unengaging
Review: I read half way through and then gave up, not even enough interested to look at the end to find out whodunit. What turned me off were the non-existent sexual morals of the protagonist.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not What I Expected - Disappointig
Review: I really enjoyed Kate White's first Bailey story, "If Looks Could Kill," but this one irritated me more than anything. I like Bailey for the most part, but in most of this book, she was too nice & goody-goody to the manager of the spa. She doesn't really seem to have a rough-around-the-edges side to her. She is your classic New Yorker: always dressed nicely, exotic foods & drinks, just too New York, I guess. I found most the characters annoying. I think if White wanted to include Bailey's sex life in this novel, she should have done so. Her love life seemed very vague to me. I wish she either left that part out all together or included a little more to it. It took me a long time to finish this novel because I was not intrigued or curious. My suggestions to the author: give your characters a few more quirks (especially Bailey) & please don't use anymore cheesey titles. I look forward to reading 'Til Death Do Us Part, but I will keep my fingers crossed that the plot is a little thicker than this one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too predictable
Review: I was quite disappointed with this book - you can guess the culprit within the first 50 pages.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book since I had enjoyed "If Looks Could Kill" so much....and I wasn't disappointed! I was hooked from the first sentence. Can't wait for Kate White's next one!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: fun amateur sleuth
Review: Manhattan Crime reporter Bailey Weggins feels she needs some rest following her last dangerous investigation (see IF LOOKS COULD KILL). So she feels fortunate when she receives an invitation for a free weekend at the Cedar Inn, a posh nineteenth-century Asian-like spa in Warren, Massachusetts. Bailey plans to enjoy forty-eight hours of mud bath pampering.

However, her mellowing ends rather quickly when Bailey finds the murdered corpse of masseuse Anna Cole, wrapped like a mummy. Unable to ignore the homicide especially since the beleaguered owner is a close friend of her mom, Bailey makes inquiries and soon uncovers a laundry list of suspects. Also her continuing to look for clues keeps her within a caress of Detective Supervisor Jeffrey Beck even while psychology professor Dr. Jack Herlihy shows renewed interest in the brave heroine.

Readers will envy the lead protagonist for the melodious serene relaxation especially those heavenly physical massages that she undergoes. However, once the tale goes into investigative mode, it never slows down. The story line works because the audience will like the "pampered" Bailey who is as interested in the men in her life as she is in solving the homicide. Kate White will score once again with her second Bailey book.

Harriet Klausner

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Big, scary countryside
Review: Poor Bailey Weggins. Every time she leaves safe, cozy New York city for the big, scary countryside, someone threatens or tries to kill her. This happens in both of the first two books, and I have to admit I found it a little funny.

As someone who grew up in Berkshire County, I'm one of the backwoods "locals" White pokes fun at in this book. I can tell you that you're less likely to find a mullet, a plaid sportsjacket, or a tie "as wide as a lobster bib" in Berkshire County than you are in one of the five boroughs. And New Yorkers come to the Berkshires for our world-class cuisine (check out what Wine Spectator says about Wheatleigh, for example), but poor Bailey can't find anything more sophisticated than pot roast or roast chicken.

The other thing you won't find in the Berkshires is Warren, MA. There is such a town, but it's about 60 miles east of Berkshire County. When I saw that the Cedar Inn was located in Warren, I thought, "Whew! I can enjoy this while being spared the condescending views of some Manhattanite who comes to the Berkshires to spend money but doesn't see a thing." But when Bailey goes back to New York, she starts telling people she'd been/was returning to "The Berkshires." Look at a map, honey. (And while you're looking, check out New York state, too. The NYS Thruway stretches from the eastern border to Buffalo--it doesn't go to NYC.)

OK, these are just the picky objections of someone who doesn't like the way an condescending outsider fails to portray her where she lives. So how's the mystery? It adds two stars to the one-star portrayal of the setting. The Mylar-wrapped body was a nice touch that added interest and originality. While I enjoy Bailey's breezy tone and her determination (and love her neighbor Landon, who's never in the books enough), the mystery does tend to drag on. I don't need to know what Bailey had for each and every meal, nor do I need to know each and every thought that passes through her head. While I enjoy red herrings and deadend clues, the sheer volume of Bailey's thought processes gets a little overwhelming, and I find I can skip ahead and not miss anything. The book would be better if edited down by about a third. As it is, it's as flabby as the thighs of some of the spa's guests.

It also bugged me how the structure more or less followed the first book: Bailey finds a body; is asked by a friend-she-can't-refuse to investigate; gets spooked in the countryside; receives a threatening, wordless warning at her office; worries about her commitment-shy lover; and finally "solves" the mystery by stumbling across the real killer, who intends to harm her. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there she writes an article for a national magazine in about two seconds. Must be that I'm just one of ignorant, rural Massachusetts hicks, but I can't figure out how a freelance writer can afford her own apartment in Greenwich Village, given how little work she does.


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