So Pretty it Hurts

May 28, 2012
Renee Raudman delivers a winning performance in this audio edition of White’s sixth whodunit featuring New York City reporter Bailey Weggins. Whenever the investigator in a mystery (especially one set in the present day) isn’t a professional, listeners have to suspend even more disbelief—and that’s where the right narrator (like Raudman) can make all the difference. Crime—with a specialization in celebrity misdeeds—is Bailey’s beat, but her work becomes hands-on when an invitation to a country house lands her in “a big fat mess that involved all sorts of nasty things,” including murder and kinky sex, as well as a threat to her continued employment. While Raudman shines in her portrayal of Weggins, she is less convincing in her rendition of male voices. However, this is a minor fault as the bulk of the narrator’s performance is devoted to Weggins. A Harper hardcover.

January 23, 2012
Cosmo editor-in-chief White’s entertaining sixth Bailey Weggins mystery (after 2007’s Lethally Blonde) finds whip-smart reporter Bailey working hard at the New York gossip rag Buzz while dating elusive documentary filmmaker Beau Regan. When Beau suddenly takes off for Arizona to work on a new film, Bailey accepts a weekend invitation to a record producer’s upstate country house, where the demise of a celebrity guest soon causes consternation. Not satisfied that supermodel Devon Barr died of a drug overdose or committed suicide, Bailey embarks on a relentless quest to figure out who and what killed Devon in the prime of her career. But the more dark secrets Bailey uncovers, the more she has to watch her own back. While the prose can be more kitsch than clever in this fast-paced, insider look at the seedy underworld of fame, series fans and readers who love tabloid drama will be enthralled. Agent: Sandra Dijkstra, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.