A
Reunion to Die For
A
Joshua Thornton Mystery
Lauren
Carr
Five
Star (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59414-548-2 (1594145482)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-548-3 (9781594145483)
Publication Date: June 2007
List Price: $25.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Murder reveals all secrets. Gail Reynolds left Chester, West Virginia, to become a hard-hitting investigative journalist and never looked back. Twenty years later, no one is more surprised than Joshua Thornton when she returns to write a book about the long-ago death of classmate Tricia Wheeler. Before Gail has time to unpack her laptop, a second girl is killed and the small town finds itself in the midst of a killing spree. When Gail is added to the body count, her death reveals a deeply kept secret that casts a shadow of suspicion on Joshua. Suddenly, the newly elected county prosecutor finds his own name at the top of the list of murder suspects.
Review:
Lauren Carr's second mystery featuring West Virginia district attorney
Joshua Thornton, A Reunion to Die For,
reunites classmates 20 years after their high school graduation only to
have the past meet the present ... with a murder.
Twenty-one years earlier in October of 1984, a very popular
cheerleader, Tricia Wheeler, was found dead in her home by her mother.
As there seemed to be little or no evidence to support any other
theory, Tricia’s death was ruled suicide. Now, twenty years
later, a high school classmate reveals that she has written a book that
will tell the true story of what happened to Tricia. Soon after her
announcement another popular cheerleader, Grace Henderson, is found
dead. This time there is proof of murder. Josh Thornton, a graduate of
Oak Glen High School and once a good friend of Tricia, becomes involved
in the investigation of the crime. When he views the body of Grace,
still dressed in her cheerleaders outfit as was Tricia when she died,
memories flood in. He was too young to question her death in 1984, but
now he wonders: Could it have been murder? The information or lack
thereof concerning both girl’s deaths bring about more
questions than answers.
The old divisions of high school remain today: the boys were either
jocks or nerds, the girls were either "in" or "out". For Josh, this
investigation means dealing with people who were like him in high
school, and those who were not. But he soon finds more suspects than
victims, more enemies than friends, and not enough concrete clues to
take to court so an arrest can be made.
Then it gets worse when Josh, himself, becomes a suspect in the murder.
At one point, he says, "It's difficult to keep track of the players."
And that's the most significant problem with A Reunion to Die For:
there are far too many characters. It's almost impossible to keep track
of who did what to whom for what reason and when it happened. The
intersecting plots at times are so complex the temptation is to simply
skip forward a few pages, over the sometimes tedious narrative.
A
Reunion to Die For isn't
necessarily a bad mystery, simply an over-written one. A tighter plot,
far fewer characters, and considerable editing would have done wonders
here.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Reunion to Die For and to Breakthrough Promotions for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read A Reunion to Die For? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
A
Small Case of Murder
iUniverse (Trade Paperback), May 2004
ISBN-10: 0-595-30253-X (059530253X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-595-30253-6 (9780595302536)
A Reunion to Die For
Five Star (Hardcover), June 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59414-548-2 (1594145482)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-548-3 (9781594145483)
Omnimystery
keywords for A Reunion to Die For
...
Location(s) referenced: West Virginia.
