7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A bully bites the dust., July 16, 2005
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.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More Bailey Please!, December 9, 2005
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.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
O.K. but not her best, September 23, 2005
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.
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