Meet Bailey Weggins, the thirty-something, single-again true crime writer for a leading Manhattan woman's magazine. Smart and savvy, she's got a sixth sense when it comes to seeing the truth in a story-especially if it's murder. Bailey's in bed with her commitment-challenged lover K.C. when she gets a frantic call from her high-maintenance boss at Gloss magazine. Grabbing coffee and a cab outside her Greenwich Village apartment-the consolation prize in her divorce settlement-Bailey reluctantly heads uptown. At Cat Jones's Upper East Side town house, she finds something that seriously clashes with the chic dΓ©cor: the dead body of the family's line-in nanny.
As Bailey-unofficially-delves into the murdered girl's past, she finds no shortage of A-list suspects. But when a startling discovery suggests that Cat may have been the intended victim, Bailey is suddenly up to her bed head in high-profile investigation that's perfect fodder for a tabloid headline: Is someone trying to kill the editor's of women's magazines?
With the spotlight on New York's glitzy media world, Bailey interviews back-stabbing editors, straying husbands, and one sexy, six-feet two psychologist who could make her decide to kick K.C. to the curb. Sporting her pair of red slingbacks and armed with the investigative skills she's honed as a true crime reporter, she sets out on a search that takes her from Manhattan's exclusive Carnegie-Hill area-the nanny heartland of America-to the ritzy weekend estates of Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Bailey will need all her street smarts and some lightning-fast detective work to catch a killer who could end up deleting her name from the masthead for good.
From Publishers Weekly
At first, it would seem to make sense for Parker Posey, the acclaimed actor who has played memorably ditzy dames in movies such as The Anniversary Party and Waiting for Guffman, to read Cosmopolitan magazine editor White's sexy new mystery novel. But White's heroine, Bailey Weggins, a 33-year-old true crime writer for Gloss magazine, is anything but a flake. She's a shrewd freelancer with a gift for catching the dark side of gender crime. And although Bailey is slightly frazzled from the Gotham dating wars, she's definitely not one of the walking wounded looking to Gloss (and its acerbic editor, Cat Jones) for life-changing advice. Posey's softness and Valley Girl intonations tend to defuse whatever strength White's story about a murdered nanny and a plot to knock off the editors of top women's magazines has to offer. Although the book has strong appeal, this production doesn't have enough oomph to captivate listeners.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When her young nanny dies of poisoned chocolates meant for her, magazine editor Cat Jones enlists the help of freelance crime writer Bailey Weggins. Bailey's not really an investigator, but she knows the procedure: scope out the crime scene, interrogate possible suspects (including Cat's attractive photographer husband), reconstruct the victim's last hours, consult with pals, etc. Bailey's attention soon turns toward Cat's conniving colleagues at the magazine and farther afield. A down-to-earth heroine, a sturdy story line, and breezy prose make this debut novel by the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine a pleasure.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.