Dragonfly Summer by J.H Moncrieff

Hope everybody is safe and sound quarantining today. As for me, I am continuing in my adventures with audiobooks, for my second book is decided to go a bit more thriller/suspense instead of horror. My choice was then the excellent Dragonfly Summer by J.H Moncrieff. Dragonfly Summer is only released on Audible.

Dragonfly summer:

Jo Carter never thought she'd return to Clear Springs, Minnesota. But when the former journalist receives a cryptic note about the disappearance of her friend Sam twenty years before, she's compelled to find out what really happened. During her investigation, she learns another high school friend has died in a mysterious accident. Nothing is as it seems, and Jo must probe Clear Springs' darkest corners and her own painful and unreliable memories to discover the truth - and save herself from a killer who could still be on the hunt.

Now, this is what I call a quality suspense story! J.H Moncrieff is more known for her horror stories, but with Dragonfly Summer, she shows that she can write a well-crafted mystery novel, and sprinkled with just a hint of the supernatural. I found the story engaging and its mysteries kept me guessing as to what had happened to Jo’s childhood friend.

As for the story itself, it’s a well written tale, Jo is a great character, I would not say that she is broken, but she is clearly hurt by the life she had in her hometown. She has a rather strained relationship with her father and some of the inhabitants of her hometown. Also, with the fact that our main character has a rather unreliable memory, means that she is discovering the truths of her past with us, the engaged readers. This just makes the story more immersive.

I know all too well the intricacies with small town life, and in this story here we get that kind of life, almost detailed in minutiae. Sometimes I almost felt like I was back in my own home town whilst listening to this story.

As I said earlier, this book kept me guessing to what actually happened, and I am usually quite good as to assume and guess how things usually ends in this kind of stories, but alas, as for Dragonfly Summer I was completely stumped, so kudos to J.H Moncrieff, you kept me guessing!

Natalie Gold does a great job as the narrator, at first, I was a bit unsure, felt a bit like the voice and the character of Jo did not match, but not long into the story I felt that they did match and the voice became Jo’s entirely.

So, if you are in the mood for some well-written and engaging suspense that drags you in, then do yourself a favour and get a copy of Dragonfly Summer. I for one am happy that I choose this as my second ever audiobook!

I give the story 4,5/5 mysterious news clippings.

The narration I give a 5/5.