Even If It Kills Her

August 21, 2017
In White’s tepid seventh Bailey Weggins mystery (after 2012’s So Pretty It Hurts), Bailey, now a true-crime journalist who does a little amateur sleuthing on the side, is surprised to run into a college friend, Jillian Lowe, at an event at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y, where Bailey is promoting her latest true-crime book. Bailey hasn’t seen Jillian in 16 years, not since Jillian’s parents and two younger siblings were murdered in their home in the Berkshires town of Dory, Mass. New DNA evidence has exonerated the man originally convicted of the crime, and Jillian wants Bailey’s help in reinvestigating her family’s murder. Two days later, Bailey and Jillian drive to Dory, where they hope to uncover the truth. After one potential witness is murdered and Bailey is attacked, Bailey realizes that the original killer is still loose and that, because they’re stirring up the past, she and Jillian are squarely in harm’s way. A predictable plot and a contrived ending will disappoint newcomers, but series fans will enjoy catching up with Bailey. Agent: Sandra Dijkstra, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

August 15, 2017
A true-crime writer travels to small-town Massachusetts to investigate the murder of a friend's family years earlier only to find a tangle of secrets and lies.Bailey Weggins (So Pretty It Hurts, 2012, etc.) leads a comfortable life in Manhattan: she has a new book out and is on the hunt for her next subject. When Jillian Lowe walks into one of Bailey's author events, it's a blast from the past, and not an entirely pleasant one. They were college pals 16 years earlier when Jillian left school abruptly after her parents and two younger siblings were slaughtered in their home in Dory, Massachusetts. Neighborhood teen Dylan Fender confessed to the crime, and Bailey has always regretted that she never reached out to Jillian after the murders, letting their friendship lapse. Now Jillian has a professional proposition for Bailey and a way for her to atone for her friendship sins: DNA evidence just proved that Fender was wrongly convicted--though he tragically died in jail before being exonerated--and Jillian wants Bailey to find the real killer. Returning to Dory is jarring for Jillian and informative for Bailey, whose investigation often seems to hinge more on luck than on deductive reasoning skills. White (The Secrets You Keep, 2017, etc.) leans heavily on the cliche of the smaller the town, the bigger (and dirtier) its secrets, but Bailey's digging into the lives of the not-so-perfect Lowes does yield a few genuine twists. The continued and unsuccessful attempts on Bailey's life is a well-worn trope but isn't out of place here. A murder case almost two decades old often takes a back seat to the ups and downs of a friendship finding its footing after years and tragedy have taken their tolls--a familiar but well-executed mix.

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August 1, 2017
Crime writer Bailey Weggins has one regret: not comforting Brown University classmate Jillian Lowe when her parents, sister, and brother were stabbed to death 16 years earlier. But when Bailey meets Jillian at a book event, Bailey sees a chance to make amends. DNA from the crime scene has been uncovered, suggesting that the learning-disabled teenager convicted of the crimes may have been innocent. Prompted by this information, Jillian asks Bailey to find the real killer. Soon Bailey is butting heads with local authorities and putting herself and others at risk, as she uncovers Lowe family secrets and marks possible suspects, all of which frightens her live-in boyfriend, Beau Regan, threatening their longstanding relationship. Although the identity of the killer comes out of left field, White builds suspense masterfully, and this seventh in the Bailey Weggins series (after So Pretty It Hurts, 2012) has the makings of another hit. Bailey is a smart, sexy sleuth, and her exploits make for thoroughly entertaining reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)