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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: 5 stars
Summary: AN ARTICULATE READING
Review: Popular stage, television and film actress Kate Walsh has numerous roles to her credit. Perhaps best remembered for portraying Drew Carey's girlfriend on The Drew Carey show, she is also recognized for appearances on TV's Norm and Law and Order. This wealth of experience is brought to her articulate reading of Kate White's latest action packed adventure.

Protagonist Bailey Weggins, a crime reporter for a high end magazine, returns to super sleuth again. When a friend invites her to enjoy a gratis few days at a posh spa in Massachusetts Bailey can't get there fast enough. She's ready to be pampered, pedicured, and polished.

Amenities vanish when she discovers a corpse trussed like a mummy in a treatment room. What kind of treatment is this? And, who administered it - a tossed aside lover, double-dealing ex, a number of other assorted characters?

If you know Bailey, you know there's romance mixed with murder - this time in the form of a good looking detective looking into the slaying. However, there's not much time for moonlight and roses as Bailey tracks down leads only to find herself a target.

Another yarn both suspenseful and sensual from Kate White.

- Gail Cooke

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Snoozer
Review: Predictable ending - I kept hoping there would be some great twist at the end and it never happened :(

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Mediocre
Review: The author gives more (too much more) empahasis to the protagonist's person life than the mystery element in the story.
And this makes the book a drag and like a bad version of Bridget Jones' Diary. By the middle of the book one totally loses interest in who committed the murder. There is no nail-biting suspense nor a feeling of impending doom one may associate with a mystery novel. This also does not say much about the story-telling ability of the author.
The stoty opens in a spa and the novel somehow does not cash in on the glamour element which could have made the book more interesting but rather makes any spa look as interesing as cardboard. None of the characters are well developed (not even the heroine's whose personal life shoud be of absolute disinterest to the readers) and story proceeds in a meandering style going everywhere and touching nothing.
I would say skip it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Where's the spunky Bailey I grew to love?
Review: The worst part about reading a surprisingly great book (If Looks Could Kill) is being let down by a far lesser follow up. Everything I loved about Kate White's first book seems to be sadly missing from this dull edged, half hearted mystery. It's hard to believe it was even written by the same person. When I heard it was about a murder in a spa, I had frightening flashbacks to the countless 80's and 90's books about this very tired subject. But I trusted the fun main character Bailey to carry it through.

Only it seems Bailey had been replaced with a stereotypical man-bashing, self-questioning drone of a female so beautifully portrayed in countless light beer commercials. As far as the plot, it's alright (not great not bad), but the novel is set in BFE without the benefit of the energy and excitement of Manhattan. And even though some characters like Cat Jones from the last novel were a little over the top, at least they were interesting (where as in this book, the characters were as compelling as leftover cappucino. In fact, I was actually hoping they would be put out of their misery.)

I think that just about covers it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fast-Paced Sequel to 'If Looks Could Kill'
Review: Thirty-three-year-old amateur sleuth and crime journalist, Bailey Weggins, is back, and she's up to her old tricks. When Bailey is invited to stay at her friend, Danny's spa, the Cedar Inn and Spa, in Warren, Massachusetts, she jumps at the chance to leave her fast-paced Manhattan lifestyle behind, along with the drama with her on again, off again lover Jack Herlihy, a thirty-five-year-old professor of Psychology. So she packs up her things and heads for the rural Inn, where she plans on getting a little R&R, and a few good massages. However, when she arrives at Cedar Inn, she is shocked to find a mummy-wrapped corpse in one of the many treatment rooms at the spa. Before she knows it, Bailey's vacation/weekend of rest is out the window, and she is fully immersed in solving the case. Soon she is uncovering all types of secrets about Cedar Inn, such as a shady ring of employees, a spurned lover, and a sleazy husband. However, with a totally good-looking cop, Jeffrey Beck, by her side, she knows that everything will work out for the best. Unless the killer comes after her next...

As I was a HUGE fan of Kate White's IF LOOKS COULD KILL, I eagerly awaited the paperback release of A BODY TO DIE FOR. While the wait was long, it was well worth it. Bailey's quirky personality, is one of the most pleasurable things about White's writing, and is a gift to be able to read again. White is magnificent at describing the fast-paced world of journalism, seeing as how she's the Editor-in-Chief of COSMOPOLITAN magazine, and she is amazing at weaving together an amazing story filled with the strangest twists and turns at every corner. Her ideas are remarkable, and will have even the savviest mystery reader stumped by who the murderer is. A must have book, do not miss it.

Erika Sorocco

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Crisp and well written
Review: This is a book written by a truly professional writer. She wastes no time introducing her sleuth, Bailey Weggins, and her plot, murder at an elegant spa in rural Massachusetts. The sleuth is a sharp-tongued and witty magazine writer - one of the more interesting and provocative female sleuths to come down the pike in a long time.

The plot and sub-plots are complex, unusual and well thought out. The characters, from the slightly shady husband to the murdered staff member who offered just a little extra to some of her massage clients, were totally believable. If I was to offer a suggestion it would be that more of the characters be developed more fully.

The dialogue is sharp and edgy and the conflict, both internal and external, is well maintained throughout. The pacing is crisp, working to a surprising and satisfying climax.

The writer really has a handle on all the aspects of writing detective fiction. It's a treat to read a who-dun-it and not have to cringe at an overdone setting or a poorly thought out plot. She has put together a great read. She's a professional, and it shows.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Jessica Fletcher she ain't
Review: This is the first book I've read by Ms. White, and while I might read the earlier book, chances are I'll check it out of the library rather than purchase. I never saw the supposed closeness in the relationship between Bailey and Danny so, although I finished the book, it was tough for me to generate any empathy for the characters.

Bailey, a crime-writing divorcee from Manhattan comes across as Nancy Drew without George, Bess, or Ned. Having said all that, if you're looking for a nice easy read while laying in the beach or taking a flight --- this may be the book. If you leave it behind, you probably won't spend alot of time wondering whodunnit.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Of average interest
Review: This story was only mildly interesting and just barely had enough "oomph" to keep me going until the end. I really enjoyed White's first novel but this one didn't live up to my expectations. By page 200, I had thought I knew who it was that had committed the crime and why, but I was wrong, and I readily admit that; however, by the time I did find out "whodunit", I didn't really care and I thought my hunch would have been a better one anyway. Her relationship issues barely scratched the surface of believability, and it just seemed to be thrown in for the heck of it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great summer read!
Review: Well, Bailey is at it again and this book was alot better then the first. I really enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down. It takes place in a spa and it has all kinds of twists and turns.
A great read!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Much better than the first
Review: While I enjoyed "If Looks Could Kill", I also had some problems with it - it definitely felt like a first novel. This book was much better, in my opinion. I cared much more about Bailey this time out, the fashion descriptions were not as evident (therefore making the book more readable in future without getting distracted by clothes descriptions), the twists were not as obvious.

There are still a few problems - if you, like me, are from a small town, you could be offended by the seeming characterization of all "locals" outside of NYC as being hicks and/or stupid. While the twists weren't as obvious, a dedicated mystery reader won't be all that surprised by them.

Still, the story was fast-paced and easy to read. Like the first, it's not great literature, but it's fun - and, to me, was a better effort all-around. If you haven't read the first, and don't mind skipping a book in a semi-series, skip it and read this one. There aren't any spoilers and you don't need the first to understand this one. If you (like me, I admit) prefer to read books in order, don't give up after the first, and read this one, too. It's really much better.


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