No small town’s secrets can stay buried for long: Dragonfly Summer by J.H. Moncrieff #DragonflySummer #bookreview #NetGalley

No small town’s secrets can stay buried for long. Moncrieff digs into the treachery of memory and the power of female friendships…
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 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 the killer who could still be on the hunt.
Deliciously twisty and suspenseful from the first minute to the last, Dragonfly Summer proves that no small town’s secrets can stay buried for good.

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Hi and welcome to my review of Dragonfly Summer! There was no walking away from this book: it actually had me at dragonfly, I love dragonflies so the title alone pulled me in, I loved the cover with the desolate lake at sunset, and when I noticed the author was J.H. Moncrieff, I knew I had to read Dragonfly Summer as I had a great time with The Restoration last year.

For those of you who don’t share my love of dragonflies: no worries, the title refers to a summer when all was well in the small town of Clear Springs, Minnesota. Jo, Sam and Amanda were best friends and nothing truly bad could ever happen. Except that shortly after, something bad did happen. As a matter of fact, the worst thing happened, but somehow, Jo remembers nothing.

That was twenty years ago and Jo has moved on, all memories of high school hazy and few. A mysterious note referring to Sam sets Jo’s investigative journalist’s brain alight and she decides to return home and find out what really happened to her best friend and why she can remember so little.

I do love me a small-town setting with the inhabitants acting all aloof and mysterious, so Dragonfly Summer was right up my street. I loved all the mystery shrouding Sam, and how on earth could Jo forget her best friend?! The need for answers definitely kept me turning the pages. Especially when all the small reveals en route seemed to muddy the waters rather than providing clear answers. I did figure out a few things but I missed the biggest truth until it slapped me in the face.

I had a great time with Dragonfly Summer. I was hooked right away and I enjoyed tagging along with Jo, even if there were a few instances when I wanted to shout at her: WTF do you think you’re doing?! You know, like with slasher movies, when the scared-out-of-her-wits girl runs up the stairs to escape the knife-wielding serial killer and you’re screaming at your TV: WTF are you doing, the front door is right there!! That.

Dragonfly Summer is an entertaining and suspenseful thriller that I would gladly recommend to readers who enjoy uncovering small-town secrets. 

Dragonfly Summer is out in digital formats, hardcover and paperback on 15 November.

Massive thanks to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.