Review "Dare To Die" by Carolyn Hart

Dare To Die by Carolyn Hart
Published by Avon Mystery
ISBN 978-0-06-145305-2
At the request of Bestsellersworld, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
     On the quaint island of Broward's Rock, a native daughter has returned after a ten (10) year absence. Riding a bike in the pouring rain with nothing but a duffel bag and a change of clothes, Iris Tilford arrives.  She has made this visit, not only to make amends of her past, but to also find the truth of what really happened all those years ago when a high school friend, Jocelyn Howard, died the night at The Pavilion for an sports awards night.  Did Jocelyn commit suicide, as so many have believed, or was it murder.
     Annie and Max Darling, a couple loved by all is having a pre summer party for their friends at the same Pavilion ten years later but many, who have been hiding secrets for 10 years are not looking forward to the invitation.  Annie befriends Iris on her second day in Broward County and invites her to the get together.  Iris hopes that the party will somehow trigger a memory of that tragedy because at the time, Iris had a drug dependency that clouded her thinking, that she now has conquered.  Are the memories she has a true depiction of Jocelyn's last minutes or were the visions due to the drugs?
     The night of the Darling's party, tragedy strikes again, Iris Tilford if found dead in the woods right off the path of the Pavilion.  All in attendance are now suspects. Annie and Max can't believe that any of their friends could be a murderer, until they start trying to put together the puzzle pieces of who killed Iris and who has just tried to kill them too.  Could it be Emma Clyde, the resident eccentric mystery writer who is having a writer's block and needs an idea for her next book?  Or maybe even Liz and Russell Montgomery who are very defensive and was one of the last two that saw Jocelyn before she died that tragic night so many years ago?  Or what about Fran and Buck Carlisle, Max knows he is lying but what about exactly?  Could it be Cara Wilkes, who after her failed marriage and loss of her young daughter has also returned to become a successful realtor, but there is evidence that belongs to her that was left at the scene of the Darlings' attempted murder?
     And then another student from the same graduating class but not a member of the clique also turns up dead.
     The reader will be able to visualize and know a community just like Broward's County through the vivid descriptions the writer conveys.  The exceptional writing by this author regarding this close knit circle of friends will pull the reader in to wanting and feeling like the characters are true life friends.  The suspense, at times, so intense, that the reader has to continue turning the page.  This was a truly enjoyable book of suspense and mystery.
Format at request of Bestsellersworld.

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold...they are kept by me,
or given to familn and/or friends.