Even if It Kills Her: A Bailey Weggins Mystery

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. (Oct.)