IF SHE SHOULD DIE

Author: Carlene Thompson ISBN:0312983131 1/2004 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: ST. MARTINS
Note: Suspense/Mystery Theme

Three years have passed since erotic, willful Dara Prince disappeared from Winston, West Virginia, leaving a note saying she's run away. Now a body has been found in the creek. A body, Christine Ireland suspects, that could very well belong to her adopted sister Dara. Deputy Sheriff Michael Winter certainly seems to think so. But if Dara's dead, who's been sending Ames prince the letters he cherishes: always with a different postmark and always signed with his missing daughter's initial? When Dara's diary turns up unexpectedly, Christine is plunged into her lost sister's dark and mysterious world. Clearly, in the days before her disappearance, Dara was certain somebody was stalking her. As past melds hauntingly with present, people who knew Dara are meeting tragic fates. Now, someone is watching Christine's every move--perhaps just the way they once watched Dara, right before she died. If, indeed, she really did die..

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Carlene Thompson's IF SHE SHOULD DIE, is not a romance book in any way shape or form. I must say that surprised me, since that was what I was expecting when I started it. That being said, this suspense/mystery was pretty darn good. Plenty of plot twists and turns with sinister characters lurking around every corner and the not-so-popular victim kept me reading. I did suspect whodunit pretty early on, but naturally kept going to be sure.

The story revolves around Christine Ireland and her mentally challenged brother, Jeremy. Devastated by their parents death in a plane crash, they are taken in by an acquaintance of their folks, Ames Prince. Though Ames invites them into his home, they never fit in with his family, especially with his missing nineteen-year-old self-absorbed daughter, Dara.

Dara's mysterious disappearance three years before casts a shadow of suspicion on Christine and Jeremy, despite the host of people who had motives to remove her presence from the small town. The discovery of a body that could be Dara's and her scandalously revealing diary brings them under the close scrutiny of Deputy Michael Winter. But more importantly, the real killer.

Full of suspense and things that just don't add up, I found myself deeply involved in this mystery. Who is going to be the next one to die? Did the whole town hate Dara or just sleep with her? How much more will Christine take of the killer's taunts before breaking down? But most importantly, just when is she going to kiss that cute deputy?

You will have to read it yourself to find out the answers to those questions and a whole lot more.

Shannon