Fashion Victim [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Sam Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2005

Who would leave a highly respected, hard-won position as an investigative journalist at one of London's top newspapers for a job at a fashion rag? That's the question on everyone's mind when Annie Anderson announces her move. True, the last few months - and a sting gone fatally wrong - have been tough on Annie. Her colleagues think she's lost it, but Annie has her secret reasons.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The editor in chief of Cosmopolitan UK follows Cosmo (U.S.) editor Kate White's lead by penning a mystery with a reporter in the starring role—but the narrative in Baker's busy whodunit has as much to do with what everyone's wearing as it does with what they're doing. Annie Anderson is a serious reporter going undercover at a fashion magazine. Or she's a burned-out investigative journalist taking refuge in a lighter job. Or, wait, she's an amateur detective with a heart of gold. At times it's hard to tell where Baker's going with her main character, who's the expected chick-lit combination of perky and put-upon, but the ride is fun. In New York to see the fashion shows and interview golden boy designer Mark Mailer, Annie quickly stumbles into a nightclub robbery that ends in Mailer's death. Was it just a robbery gone bad, or was Mailer targeted—and is his wife, ex-junkie and model Patty Lang, next? Annie's the only person Patty will trust with her story, and soon the reporter's knee deep in a chic world with a very seedy underbelly. If Baker's Americans seem to use the same Briticisms Annie does, and if general suspension of disbelief gets slightly strained by such a fashion-conscious mystery, well, those looking for a killer and a happy ending probably won't mind. Agent, Emma Parry. (On sale May 31)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

As editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan UK, Baker knows fashion, and she uses that knowledge in her debut novel featuring British investigative journalist Annie Anderson. When Annie leaves her reporter job to work for glitzy Handbag magazine, only her boss knows that she's taking the job to do undercover work. Exactly what she's supposed to investigate remains somewhat unclear, but, ultimately, it hardly matters. The real draw here is the crazy fashion show world, with its glamorous settings in New York, Milan, and London. While in Manhattan, Annie witnesses the murder of Mark Mailer, a hot young designer she has been interviewing. Although the shooting appears to be a random robbery run amuck, Annie believes otherwise--and discovers that Patty, Mark's strung-out model girlfriend, feels the same way. Populating the story with a host of appealing secondary characters, including Rebecca, Annie's formidable boss at Handbag, and Lou, Annie's saucy best friend, Baker creates an adventure that will appeal to fashionable and frumpy alike. Pair this with the Bailey Weggins mysteries by Cosmopolitan U.S. editor Kate White. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 558 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (November 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786281138
• ISBN-13: 978-0786281138
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful who-done-it, June 9, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fashion Victim: A novel by Sam Baker (Hardcover)

Investigative reporter Annie Anderson worked extremely hard and had made it when she abruptly quits her job at London Post to accept a position as a fashion editor at Handbag Magazine. Her peers at the Post assume the last case burned her out as she went undercover to expose a juvenile prostitute ring in which an innocent person was murdered.

It remains in the blood for Anne to go undercover so she hides her credentials and travels to New York to expose the fashionista class to her readers. Her editor Rebecca Brooks demands she also interviews the hottest designer of the moment Mark Miller. He is forthcoming answering all her questions except anything involving his supermodel lover drug addict Patty Lang or the immediate future of his new company that most insiders believe he will sell. However, the future ends abruptly for Mark when someone shoots him. While the police investigate his murder, Annie interviews associates of the victim though some refuse to speak of the dead. In Milan, Patty is murdered. As Annie continues to investigate, she uncovers a piracy rip-off of designs that places her in jeopardy

Annie is a strong center holding the investigative look into the fashion world together. Her homicide inquiries are fun to follow as she seeks a killer while searching amongst way out designers and misanthropic models who aggressively compete in a to the death queen of the hill (make that runway) contest that make the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry look like chicken salad. Sam Baker provides a wonderful who-done-it and readers will want her to return with more Anne undercover investigations.

Harriet Klausner

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars rather disappointing!, July 6, 2006

By 

littletinyboots - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fashion Victim: A novel by Sam Baker (Hardcover)

maybe it was just the hype that preceded this book (well, the author is editor of cosmo uk, so you do the math), but i just found it dull. for a whodunnit, it certainly wasn't pacy and it didn't hit any chick points, despite being about the fashion industry. i did finish it - just. i won't bother with any sequels, though.