A review by sophiarose1816
Summer of the Dragon by Elizabeth Peters

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 

Post-grad Anthropology student, DJ Abbott, was determined to have a summer internship far from her polar opposite parents back in Cleveland, OH, and in desperation applies for eccentric (read crackpot) billionaire, Hank Honeycutt’s need for an anthropologist for a summer project in the desert near his ranch house in northern Arizona.  An easy job, she thinks until she gets there and the mysterious happenings start piling up. 

 

Years ago, I discovered my first Elizabeth Peters’ book and I binge-read her extensive backlist in under a year.  I loved the light, sarcastic wit her tough, intelligent heroines displayed and the pairing with equally tough and abrasive heroes who all take a secondary place.  Put this with the entertaining, twisting plots and the fascinating historical elements and laid back academic world connections that come straight from Elizabeth Peters’ own experiences as an archeologist and I was hooked. 

 

Summer of the Dragon is a standalone and chock full of all that I mentioned above.  DJ is an average-looking woman, but she carries around as much machismo as the first of the male characters she encounters.  The sparks fly between this pair who suspect and antagonize each other in their turn.  The book was written in 1979 so its dated, but I felt nostalgic instead of separated from the story. 

 

Hank Honeycutt’s house party was a scream.  He has gathered every non-traditional practitioner with their out there theories and some downright con artists around him.  DJ’s flat refusal to politely drink the Kool-Aid makes her Miss Unpopular from the first pre-dinner cocktail hour.  Speaking of dinner, this gal loves her food and makes no bones about it, but heaven help the blunt guy who brings it up. 

 

There is a sense of something ominous building at the ranch and has something to do with why Hank brought DJ out there for the summer.  Someone doesn’t want Hank to show her what he found out in the desert and will stop at nothing to keep it from happening.  I loved the build to the big reveal about what was going on, but also Hank’s big find. 

 

Grace Conlin is a long-time familiar narrator of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series for me and I thought she did great catching the tone and pace of the book as well as the large cast of disparate characters led by DJ herself. 

 

Summer of the Dragon was light-hearted, funny, but also exciting and interesting.  Entertainment value is high and the romance is slow-burn as is the suspense.  I recommend this ‘classic’ to those who like going old school with their romantic suspenses and still need to try Elizabeth Peters’ works.