Over Her Dead Body [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Kate White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2005

A New York Times Bestselling Author

Bestselling author and Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Kate White delivers a sizzling mystery that takes readers inside the cutthroat world of fashion and celebrity magazines.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Sharper than a stiletto heel, funnier than a bad dye job and full of fuchsia herrings, White's fourth Bailey Weggins murderfest (after 2004's 'Til Death Do Us Part) brings back the glitz of the Cosmo editor-in-chief's bestselling debut, If Looks Could Kill, and features yet another she-devil magazine editor. After getting the pink slip from her gig at Gloss ("kind of Cosmo for married chicks"), the sexy sleuth takes a job reporting on celebrity crime for Buzz, a gossipy magazine helmed by Mona Hodges, who wears Dolce & Gabbana, not Prada, and is notorious for her "verbal bullwhipping." When Bailey discovers Mona's body in the editor's office after hours, Bailey's friend and fellow Buzz staffer, Robby Hart, becomes a key suspect in her murder. Soon after acting editor Nash Nolan taps Bailey to do the Buzz investigative article on the crime, Bailey uncovers a zillion other suspects. White keeps the reader guessing whodunit to the end, but the book's main attraction is Bailey herself, with her musings on train-wreck journalism and the perils of falling in love in between worrying if she's next on the killer's list. Catty and bitchy at times, she's all the more appealing because she's not too much of a goody-goody.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Trust White, editor in chief at Cosmopolitan, to know when something needs a makeover. The last entry in her successful series starring true-crime reporter Bailey Weggins, who works at a Cosmo-like magazine called Gloss, felt a little tired. In a world of $1,000 shoes, how many murders can even an intrepid reporter find to investigate? So, just in the knick of time, Bailey is fired from Gloss (and breaks up with her boyfriend), giving the series a jolt of needed energy. Bailey quickly lands a new job, this time with a People-like magazine, Buzz, whose much-despised editor in chief is found murdered days after Bailey is hired. The acting editor assigns our gal the murder story, and Bailey is off and running once more. It's common in the mystery genre for sleuth to outweigh story or vice versa. Not here. Readers, especially those who have followed Bailey through the three previous books, are every bit as interested in her welfare (and personal life) as they are in finding out who killed Mona and why. Bailey's back! Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 600 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (September 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786278102
• ISBN-13: 978-0786278107
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,420,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kate White is recognized internationally as not only the veteran editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, the best-selling women's magazine in the world, but also as the critically acclaimed author of both fiction and nonfiction books. Few high-profile editors have successfully balanced the rigors of overseeing a major magazine title with a thriving and independent writing career.

It all began when Kate won Glamour magazine's Top Ten College Women contest and appeared on the cover. Kate earned a position at the magazine and quickly rose from editorial assistant to feature writer and columnist. After holding key jobs at several national magazines, she became an editor-in-chief, running four magazines (including Redbook) before taking the helm at Cosmopolitan in 1998.

Drawing on experiences from her successful career, Kate published the bestselling career bibles Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead...but Gutsy Girls Do in 1995 and 9 Secrets of Women who Get Everything They Want in 1998. Her most recent nonfiction book, You on Top: Smart Sexy Skills Every Woman Needs to Set the World on Fire published in 2006.

But Kate also has a passion for writing fiction. In penning her first novel, If Looks Could Kill, in 2002--which was selected as Live With Regis and Kelly's first Reading With Ripa Book Club pick--Kate introduced her gutsy and irreverent sleuth, Bailey Weggins. Ms. Weggins went on to solve more grisly murders and entertain readers in A Body to Die For (2003), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2004), Over Her Dead Body (2005), and then again in Lethally Blond (2007), all New York Times bestsellers. The books were recently optioned by Lions Gate Pictures.

Kate's highly anticipated first thriller, HUSH, with her new publisher HarperCollins, will be available in bookstores March 2010. HUSH marks Kate's entry into a whole new genre. Set in the world of fertility clinics and hailed as a "pulse-pounding, chilling, and provocative" read, it's the story of an ordinary woman who flees the scene of a murder and realizes it's not just the law that is hunting her.

Kate's writer's eye has been described by the New York Times as "scathingly observant," capturing "the mood...with a verisimilitude some of her peers might recognize." The Los Angeles Times says of Kate's work: "It's like devouring a box of chocolates!"

Through her magazine work and books, Kate White has influenced at least two generations of women with her unique honesty, passion, and imagination. She is the winner of the Matrix Award for Outstanding Achievement in Communication, as well as the Woodhall Institute Award for Ethical Leadership.

Kate currently resides in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bully bites the dust., July 16, 2005

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over Her Dead Body (Hardcover)

Kate White's deliciously titillating new novel, "Over Her Dead Body," is about the murder of Mona Hodges, the dictatorial editor of "Buzz," a weekly celebrity gossip magazine. White's heroine, Bailey Weggins, has just joined the "Buzz" staff. Since her beat is celebrity crime, Bailey is assigned to cover this sensational story. Not content merely to report the facts, she decides to do some sleuthing on her own. Much to her chagrin, Bailey finds that the list of people who might have killed Mona could easily fill a small telephone book. Mona insulted almost everyone she knew, and many individuals would have profited from her death.

White is the editor in chief of "Cosmopolitan," and her insider's take on the celebrity gossip business is hilariously satirical. She depicts "Buzz" as a trashy publication whose writers cover such stories as the shocking secrets of the rich and famous, freaky beauty rituals, and the "binges, breakups, and botched plastic surgeries of the stars." The "Buzz" office is a very nasty place to work. It is filled with backstabbing employees who are eager to get ahead, even at one another's expense.

Who hated Mona Hodges? One of the victim's many enemies is a portly singer named Kimberly Chance, whom Mona dubbed "Fat Chance" in the pages of her magazine. Bailey's friend, Robby Hart, is also a prime suspect, since Mona unceremoniously fired him shortly before she was killed. Other people who may have resented Mona are a publicist named Kiki Bodden, Tom Dicker, the pompous owner of "Buzz," and Nash Nolan, the magazine's ambitious number two man. The possibilities are dizzying. When Bailey persists in her quest to find Mona's killer, she herself becomes a target for death.

White captures the breezy vernacular of the hip urban professional in her cute, but not cutesy, dialogue, and her characters are both varied and well-drawn. Bailey is savvy and sophisticated; yet, she displays a touching sweetness and vulnerability when an appealing new man named Beau Regan comes into her life. "Over Her Dead Body" is suspenseful, engrossing, and well-crafted, and I liked White's restrained and fairly realistic ending. Kate White tells it like it is; she describes the lurid world of gossip magazines with humor, style, and flair, and this mystery is an amusing and entertaining romp.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Bailey Please!, December 9, 2005

By 

TJ's Mommy (El Dorado Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Over Her Dead Body (Hardcover)

I'm hooked on the Bailey Weggins novels. She is easy to relate to, but in a job that I could only dream of having.

In Over Her Dead Body, Bailey gets a job at Buzz Magazine...a gossip rag. Almost immediately, her boss, Mona, is killed and Bailey is on the case. The author presents so much information as to why various people would have or could have killed Mona. Your mind just races trying to get to the end of the book to actually figure out who done it.

This is a great series and all of the books have been page turners.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars O.K. but not her best, September 23, 2005

By 

Holly Kincaid "Book addict" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over Her Dead Body (Hardcover)

I have really enjoyed Kate White's books in the past, but this one just didn't measure up to the others. I found myself putting the book down and finding other things to do when I normally devour her books from start to finish. I still enjoy the main character (Bailey Weggins) and find the setting of Manhattan quite fun, but the story line just didn't hold my interest. The biggest complaint I have is that it seemed to repeat itself over and over. I would read 50 pages and feel like nothing had really happened other than the main character talked with some people. Another 50 pages, and she talked with some more people. Another 50 pages, and she talked with some more people. Not really up to Kate White's other work. If you would like to read it because you are a fan of the series, I would recommend checking it out from the library. Not really worth buying.