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Dragonfly Summer

J.H. Moncrieff (Goodreads Author)

3.80 · Rating details · 40 ratings · 6 reviews

The perfect next listen for fans of Wendy Walker and Shari Lapena, Dragonfly Summer is a gripping thriller that asks: What happens when the past comes back to haunt you?

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 fin ...more

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Published February 13th 2020 by Audible

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Feb 20, 2020 Michael Hicks rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-review-copy, audiobook, mystery-thriller-crime-suspense

My review of DRAGONFLY SUMMER can be found at High Fever Books.

J.H. Moncrieff may be best known for her horror works, like her recently released Those Who Came Before or her Ural Mountains creature-feature, Return to Dyatlov Pass, but as her Audible Original Dragonfly Summer proves, she’s more than adept at tackling a straight-up murder mystery.

When she was a teenager, one of Jo Carter’s best friends was murdered. Now, thirty years later, she receives a strange newspaper clipping and news of ano My review of DRAGONFLY SUMMER can be found at High Fever Books.

J.H. Moncrieff may be best known for her horror works, like her recently released Those Who Came Before or her Ural Mountains creature-feature, Return to Dyatlov Pass, but as her Audible Original Dragonfly Summer proves, she’s more than adept at tackling a straight-up murder mystery.

When she was a teenager, one of Jo Carter’s best friends was murdered. Now, thirty years later, she receives a strange newspaper clipping and news of another friend’s death that urges to return home to Clear Springs, MN. Although Amanda has died in a tragic car accident, it has never been entirely clear what happened to Samantha when they were children. After a series of strange occurrences, and the discovery that Amanda had been investigating Samantha’s disappearance and presumed death, Jo, a former newspaper reporter and war correspondent, is determined to get to the bottom of things and find out the truth about what happened to Samantha.

Dragonfly Summer is positively loaded with plenty of intrigue, small-town mysteries, false leads, and red herrings. Moncrieff layers the story with question after question, leading listeners down a rabbit hole of discoveries that constantly provoke further questions. She also injects a few light supernatural elements into the proceedings, adding yet another level of mystery to the proceedings. Her protagonist, Jo, is nearly every bit a mystery herself as Samantha’s cold case, given her strange, broken memory. Jo had vowed never to return to Clear Springs, although she can’t quite remember why, and the two girls she had been so close to as a teen are people she barely remembers now. Whatever she had done as a young woman, though, has earned her the ire of several Clear Springs residents, and she’s met with hostility at several turns. This is further compounded by other oddities, like the strange notes and packages being left for her.

Worse, still, is the revelation that there are a surprisingly large number of suspects that would or could have potentially caused harm to Samantha, and the investigation into the girl’s death or disappearance has put Jo in the crosshairs of a killer hellbent on keeping the truth buried.

Moncrieff does a fantastic job building suspense throughout the course of Jo’s investigation, slowly pulling back the curtains to reveal the various tragedies that have befallen this small town and those left behind in the wake of whatever it was that ultimately happened to Samantha. The author lines up a number of plausible connections and red flags, peppering in a decent amount of action and hairpin thrills that keep you guessing. This is a solidly crafted whodunit, and Moncrieff seemingly effortlessly keeps the reader engaged and curious.

On narration duties is Natalie Gold, a new-to-me performer, who does an excellent job keeping the book moving and capturing the sense of confusion, loss, bullheadedness, and occasional wonder exhibited by Jo in her quest for answers. Jo’s a strong woman, and having formerly covered the Syrian civil war right from the frontlines, she’s not easily rattled. Gold does a great job capturing her sense of character, making her a familiar presence to the listener, while Moncrieff’s words show she’s not a woman to be trifled with, either. Between the author and narrator, Jo really comes alive as a fully-realized, three-dimensional heroine.

Dragonfly Summer is a deft, surprising, and captivating audio-only mystery, and Gold makes for a perfect reader of Moncrieff’s prose. While this story works perfectly as a standalone one-and-done story, I certainly wouldn’t mind reading another Jo Carter mystery, and I’m certainly one hundred percent all-in on another J.H. Moncrieff Audible Original. ...more

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Feb 27, 2020 Mary Aalgaard rated it it was amazing

When Jo receives a message in the mail dredging up a tragedy that devastated her senior year in high school, she returns to her childhood home to find out what really happened to her friend Sam. Not everyone feels a happy reunion at her reappearance, nor her prying into the lives of her former friends and their parents. Moncrieff has crafted a thriller that keeps you listening well past your bedtime. Natalie Gold is an excellent narrator of this gripping tale. (This is an Audible original.)

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Mar 04, 2020 Madavaraj Baskaran rated it it was amazing

Honestly i read some reviews and picked this book.. But to the surprise this book took me to the swirl of thrill and suspense. credits to the Narrator Natelie.
I am gonna pick a book of Natalie’s especially for her narration.

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Mar 30, 2020 Theresa Braun rated it it was amazing

This well-constructed mystery will keep you guessing. There are enough suspects and red herrings to sink your teeth into; and the fact that multiple crimes, both past and present, may or may not be connected is an added bonus to the mix. In the end, most of the questions I had while reading were answered, which is usually a good thing. And the final pages surprised me enough to make for a satisfying payoff. If you enjoy suspense with a sprinkling of the paranormal (just the right amount of ghost This well-constructed mystery will keep you guessing. There are enough suspects and red herrings to sink your teeth into; and the fact that multiple crimes, both past and present, may or may not be connected is an added bonus to the mix. In the end, most of the questions I had while reading were answered, which is usually a good thing. And the final pages surprised me enough to make for a satisfying payoff. If you enjoy suspense with a sprinkling of the paranormal (just the right amount of ghost-y stuff—yay!), this book is for you.

Overall, Moncrieff weaves in some subtle themes. One of these is our connection to the past. A profound question: how accurate are our memories, especially if they’re steeped in trauma? While Jo pokes around her hometown, her friends and their families struggle to piece together their recollections—or bury these recollections as deep as they can. As a result, we (along with Jo) sift through fact and fiction, all the while wondering if any of characters, including Jo, are the same person as they were back then. In fact, this read explores the idea of our history and how it connects to our identity and sense of self. I love that Jo grapples with all of this. Plenty of juicy fodder surfaces in the plot along these lines.

Jo’s experiences, thoughts, and feelings are extremely realistic throughout. I really appreciated her breaking from the stereotypical gender role and coming to grips with that. (Perhaps another subtle theme, methinks.) In her middle-ish age, she hasn’t married nor had any kids. At one point another character even questions Jo’s sexuality because of this. At another point in the story, her being single leads to in an extremely awkward situation with one of her male friends. It’s through these aspects of the book where we see Moncrieff’s knack for making the cast of characters come to life. They are so believable and relatable, partly because each of them is so gloriously flawed. I think that’s truly what makes this novel shine.

Catch this page-turner on Audible. It’s sure to engross you. You might even start seeing some dragonflies in your midst, if you’re lucky…
...more

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Feb 14, 2020 Nikki rated it it was amazing

They say you can’t go home but that’s not always true. It’s just sometimes not recommended, depending on what you left behind at home and what parts of your past will be there to greet you. This story was full of aching history, mysteries galore and many lives impacted by a singular tragedy that took place years ago. The narration was impeccable and the narrator managed to convey emotion and varying voices in a subtle and brilliant way. It gave personality and faces to the characters. I’m a fan ...more

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Apr 01, 2020 Cathlene Burk rated it really liked it

Very good book, but a little too predictable for my taste. Or maybe the author did an excellent job at foreshadowing and I was paying more attention.

I intend to look for more books by the same author.

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About J.H. Moncrieff

J.H. Moncrieff

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J.H. Moncrieff's City of Ghosts won the 2018 Kindle Book Review Award for best Horror/Suspense.

Reviewers have described her work as early Gillian Flynn with a little Ray Bradbury and Stephen King thrown in for good measure.

She won Harlequin's search for “the next Gillian Flynn” in 2016. Her first published novella, The Bear Who Wouldn’t Leave, was featured in Samhain’s Childhood Fears collection a ...more