Now that she’s solved the murder of her NYC editor’s nanny (If Looks Could Kill, 2002), Gloss crime writer Bailey Weggins is ready for a restorative stay at a friend’s Massachusetts spa. Yeah, right.
This time, the corpse Bailey discovers is that of Anna Cole, the massage therapist who’s been wrapped in layers of her own Mylar tissue and given a heavy neck message. Could the nemesis of Cedar Inn and Spa who’s threatening the livelihood of owner Danielle Hubner—obviously some intimate who knows where to find weapons like Mylar tissue—be someone who knew the truth about the former job that won Anna such a glowing recommendation? Someone who knows the terrible secret from Anna’s past that was, as a fellow masseuse observes, making her body so deeply tense even pre-mortem? Someone as close to home as Danny’s untrustworthy new husband George? Convinced that “something ulterior was happening at the spa,” Bailey works every lead with all the energy of Nancy Drew, but in truth she’s a lot more interested in the complicated bliss of her pursuit by both Jack Herlihy, the DC psychology prof she thought had lost interest, and Detective Supervisor Jeffrey Beck, whose interest is never seriously in question.
Mystery authors envying the runaway success of White’s brightly ordinary debut will probably be equally bemused when this one hits the bestseller lists. It’s enough to drive a body to murder.
