T;LDR: A mystery with light romance, an oddball cast of characters and an anthropology lens, Summer of the Dragon is a delightful read. It is one, but not the only one, of my favorite Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels books.
Summer of the Dragon by Elizabeth Peters
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the first of many Throw Back Thursday book reviews for books I’ve reread so many times, but can never get enough. This particular book is partly why I love mysteries and also why there is a mystery in my upcoming novel. As these are throwback reviews, the format will be slightly different and not as hard hitting as the others I’ve written or plan on writing for newer books.
Plot
D.J. Abbott is a graduate student of anthropology and needs a summer internship or grant to remain competitive amongst her fellow students. As it is last minute, her advisor throws out a particularly interesting, but potentially career-ending, option – working for Hank Hunnicutt on his new top secret project.
Hank Hunnicutt is a very rich man, who went to school with D.J.’s advisor. He lives on a ranch in Arizona and believes in everything from Atlantis to martians. An odd assortment of characters who spout these beliefs sponge off him while living in the lap of luxury.
D.J. snaps up the opportunity, but only because she has nothing else, it gets her 500 miles away from where her parents live (her mother won’t travel further than that and her father only flies to classical archaeology conferences) and it’s an all expenses paid trip.
After arriving at the ranch, DJ eats a lot, smacks down many of the oddball characters soaking up Hunnicutt’s generosity, but doesn’t get close to discovering what she is there for.
And then Hank goes missing. During one of many desert searches, D.J. finally sees why it is Hank hired her. But her discovery gives her knowledge she shouldn’t have and could ultimately die for knowing.
T;LDR: D.J. Abbott accepts a summer position at a rich man’s Arizona ranch for some secret purpose only the rich man, Hank, knows. After a few falls and broken gadgets, Hank goes missing. Can D.J. find Hank before its too late or will the knowledge she gains while searching for him get her killed?
What I Liked
I have reread this book many times. In fact, it was one of the six books I took to Canada with me (post here). So, I love this book.
I love that D.J. loves to eat and does so, a lot. I love her sense of humor, that while gullible in other ways, she’s not gullible when it comes to the crackpots who roam the ranch. I love that I learned all about Atlantis, aliens, and all the other crazy theories that people believed enough to write books about them.
I love the friend character in Mary Jo, the maid, and the fact that D.J. doesn’t even think of her as anything less than a friendly person. I like that Hank can be both laid back and casual, but also straightforward and ruthless when he needs to be. He has more depth than he could have with another author.
This book has one of Elizabeth Peter’s trademarks – a sexy guy who spends most of the book in a snark fight with the heroine. And while I know it’s part of her pattern, I still love it anyway. Tom De Karsky might be modeled on Tom Sellecks’ Magnum PI character (the mustache alone gives it away) and the sexy appeal of his mustache might be a bit dated, but he’s still an intelligent, no-nonsense kind of guy.
I first started reading Elizabeth Peters books in my teens, when my sister brought home Crocodile on the Sandbank and urged me to read it. She was right – I loved it – and spent many many years reading everything she’s written under this name as well as Barbara Michaels (her more paranormal series – not all of them are). I love that I learn something new in every book I read by this author, whether it’s archaeology, art history, politics, rose gardens, mazes, the publishing industry, or history.
I love that most of her heroines are smart, sassy, independent, but also can be a mess. I love that her humor shines through in almost all of her books. She is for me a comfort read that I continually go back to. And, she is the inspiration for the mystery plotline in my book, even though I hadn’t planned on including a mystery at all. But then, writing a book does that – things creep in you least expect and you just roll with it.
What I didn’t Like
This is where my reviews for TBT books diverge. There’s really not much I don’t like about my TBT book selections. So, instead of focusing on what I didn’t like, I’m going to feature the top common critiques from other reviewers.
One of the top review lacks for this book is how obvious the mystery/villain(s) is/are. At this point in time, I can’t tell you if that’s true because I read it for the first time in my teens. So, yeah, it’s obvious to me now. But if I dig deep, I could see why they say that.
Other commentary against the book is that the plot is thin. That’s possible. We spend more time watching D.J. interact with the crackpots than we do progressing the plot, but that’s because the crackpots are part of the plot…in a way (no spoilers). But also, you don’t read this book for its denseness, but instead as a light and fun read. So, I’m going to disagree that this is a negative against the book.
Another common negative is the cardboard characterization, too much bickering, and lack of depth in the characters presented. I disagree with that. There are a lot of characters in this book. If she gave all of the secondary characters the room they needed to be fully fleshed out, it’d be massive…and boring.
I never find her characters lacking. Are there similarities across some of her books? Absolutely. But I still enjoy reading them, so maybe this book and the other similar books are my guilty pleasure reads. Maybe.
But I don’t think so.
To Sum Up (too late!)
Overall, if you snarky heroines who eat too much, sexy men with mustaches, learning about all of the crazy theories that people exist out there, and a light-hearted fun read, this book is for you.
It is one of my favorites and so for me, it’s five star all the way, baby!
About the Author
Elizabeth Peters is a pen name of Barbara Mertz. She also wrote as Barbara Michaels as well as her own name. Born and brought up in Illinois, she earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. Mertz was named Grand Master at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. She lived in a historic farmhouse in Frederick, western Maryland until her death.
You can find my truncated, but similar, Goodreads review here.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.