Blackbeard's Curse

Clara Dare Ivankova, an independent and strong-willed attorney, has always been the black sheep in her old Southern family. But when she returns home to North Carolina’s beautiful Crystal Coast to attend her Uncle Jack’s funeral, she begins to realize that while she has always managed to avoid most of the family drama, she may have unintentionally sacrificed too much.When Clara Dare is summoned back home a month later, she finds her Aunt Eloise in a fierce legal battle over Uncle Jack’s estate. New details about Uncle Jack’s secret life arise that, combined with Clara Dare’s cousins’ strange behavior and the discovery of a series of cryptic journal entries made by the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, just months before his capture in 1718, soon draw Clara Dare into a race against time with a ruthless killer.With the help of her childhood friend, Detective Tara Thompson, her brother-in-law, Vasek, and a contingent of her mother’s friends who are privy to all of the local gossip, Clara Dare must get to the bottom of the nearly 300-year-old mystery of Blackbeard’s treasure before another body is found and priceless artifacts are lost forever.***Join Clara Dare and her friends as they comb the North Carolina coast for clues to uncover the who, why and how of the clever, and often desperate, murders that hit close to home. Experience beautiful beaches, remote island villages, cozy harbors, and coastal living at its finest with the sleuths in the Crystal Coast Mysteries.Visit www.chessenparker.com for more about the books, the Crystal Coast, free writing competitions, art and apparel.