Summer (Beautiful Dead) by Eden Maguire

Publication Date: 3/1/2011

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: From Friend :)

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Goodreads Summary:

Six months have passed since the last Ellerton teenager died, but Darina is still traumatized by the stabbing of her own beloved Phoenix. But there's work to be done as Darina must now turn her attention to the shooting of Summer Madison - the beautiful and gifted, singer-song-writer with a heart of gold. It's been nearly a year since the random shooting in a shopping mall caused Summer's meaningless death.
Summer left behind recordings of her wonderful songs and a deep sadness amongst high school friends. Now Darina must act as Summerās agent to track down the psychotic killer in a clear search for justice. With the sound of Summer's music constantly playing inside Darina's head, recalling the wonderful months when she was alive and performing her first gigs, Darina, Phoenix and the Beautiful Dead are determined to catch the crazed killer. And all the while Darinaās love for Phoenix continues to beat...

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Darina is possessed by the inclination to help the Beautiful Dead.  They are her connection to her boyfriend Phoenix who passed away in a stabbing that was said to be an accident.  However, Darina knows differently.  Phoneix isn't her concern at this time.  Each Beautiful Dead has one year from the time of their death to discover what truly happened to them or they will be stuck in limbo forever.  Summer Madison is the next person Darina is supposed to help.  Summer passed away in a random shooting at the local mall, but was it really random?

Darina is going to find out who this psycho killer is and what was going on that caused Summer's death.  This is hard on Darina because Summer was a friend of hers.  Summer was a beautiful and talented young woman who wrote music and sang beautifully.  She left behind recorded soundtracks of her music which people have continued to listen to.  Darina has her own thoughts concerning who killed Summer or who is responsible for the "accident", but it's going to take a multitude of misinformation to discover what actually happened.  Darina could end up being the victim herself if she continues her own line of questioning...

This is another great Beautiful Dead novel.  Darina puts herself into a bind in trying to help Summer.  She is banished from coming to see Phoenix until she obtains more information.  She is constantly putting herself in danger at the warnings of others.  There are times when the Beautiful Dead are putting their secret at risk to save the life of Darina.  I give this girl a ton of credit for having the balls to keep helping each lost soul find out the truth surrounding their death.  She puts her own life on the line to help them, but she is selfish in that the only reason she's doing it is so she continue to see Phoenix.  I'm anxiously awaiting the next novel in this series which will be Phoenix's story.  I wonder if this next book will be the end of if Darina will keep helping them in the future without Phoenix by her side.  Another great series that I have to thank a friend for introducing me to!  Thanks Becky :)