'Til Death Do Us Part

April 5, 2004
The third cleverly plotted Bailey Weggins mystery from Cosmopolitan
editor-in-chief White (after 2003's A Body to Die For
) provides a juicy inside look at the well-to-do matrons of tony Greenwich, Conn. Lounging at home one winter evening in Manhattan, the 30-something Bailey gets an unexpected call from one of her fellow bridesmaids from "the infamous Cross-Slavin wedding" held the previous spring. Ashley Hanes wants the Gloss
magazine true-crime reporter/amateur detective to look into a bizarre coincidence: two bridesmaids have died, both seemingly by accident. So Ashley and Bailey travel to Greenwich to talk with the star of the wedding herself, Peyton Cross. Through her heroine's funny, self-deprecating voice, the author deliciously conveys the milieu of moneyed Greenwich-ites (and their New York counterparts). One has to wonder, though, why the refreshingly down-to-earth Bailey is even friends with the likes of Peyton Cross, a "Bridezilla" unpleasantly obsessed with perfection. White keeps everything light, but she also sustains a real sense of mystery, with less than obvious motives and a positively suspenseful denouement. Ultimately, the pleasures here are more gossipy than criminal. Agent, Sandra Dijkstra. (May 4)

Forecast:
After all the hype over White's best-selling mystery debut,
If Looks Could Kill (2002), last year's follow-up couldn't quite sustain the momentum. But Marc Platt and Touchstone have optioned the Bailey Weggins books for an hour-long ABC-TV pilot, which bodes well for the long-term health of the series.

March 15, 2004
Bailey Weggins, the brainchild of " Cosmopolitan "editor-in-chief White, seems a little tired. Who wouldn't be at the rate she's solving murders: " If Looks Could Kill" debuted the popular series in 2002 and was followed by " A Body to Die For "in 2003. Weggins' main job is writing true-crime stories for a " Cosmo"-like magazine called " Gloss," but she seems to stumble across as many dead bodies as she does ideas for articles. Here the deceased are all bridesmaids of a Martha Stewart wanna-be, Peyton Cross. Weggins was in the wedding party, too, so it seems natural for one of the maids left standing to get in touch with her, both for her amateur-sleuthing skills and because she, too, may be marked for death. There are lots of circumlocutions here, but sometimes Weggins (and White) appears to be just going through the motions--it's that time of year, she seems to be saying, so bring on another murder. Despite the signs of fatigue, though, there's still plenty to be entertained by here. The unveiling of the murderer has some bite, and Bailey is as endearing as ever, proving again that, in mysteries, it's not so much what happens as who it happens to that matters. This isn't as strong as its predecessors, but that won't keep it from drawing a crowd. It won't hurt that an hour-long ABC pilot is in the works called " Bailey Weggins."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)