Saturday, February 4, 2012

Murder at a House Party: So Pretty It Hurts


Bailey Wiggins, girl crime reporter, is having romantic problems. Beau is away and rather than sit around waiting for him, she agrees to accompany a girl friend to a house party. The occasion is the preview of super model, Devon Barr's, first album. The other guests include Devon's manager, her booker, a rock star, a writer, her personal attendant and another model. Before the end of the weekend, Devon is found dead from a supposed heart attack.

Bailey immediately thinks something is wrong. She suspects that Devon was anorexic and someone was trying to hide the fact. When a bottle of ipecac disappears from Devon's bathroom, Bailey begins to think foul play. Did someone encourage Devon's anorexia to the point of killing her? The plot of the mystery follows Bailey's attempts to track down which guest had a motive for murder.

The book drags a bit. Bailey keeps asking essentially the same questions about Devon's anorexia over and over as she interviews the house guests. I found it hard to believe they would continue to answer. They suspect that she's on the trail of a story, but keep believing her when she says she's just looking for the truth. I also found the ending contrived. For me, it just didn't seem to fit the characters and wasn't enough for all the murder and mayhem.

I wasn't thrilled with the book. It's an easy read, but it didn't really hold my attention. I would have liked to see more action and less repetitive questioning.

I reviewed this book as part of the Amazon Vine Program.


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