Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Dawn Over Dayfield
AUTHOR: Karenna Colcroft
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 200 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
BLURB:
After the death of his adoptive mother, Andy Forrest decides to track down his biological family. The search leads him to the struggling central Massachusetts town of Dayfield—and local historian Weston Thibeault, the town’s only other openly gay man. With the help of Weston, Andy uncovers secrets about his birth father, the youngest son of the Chaffees, the family that once owned Dayfield’s largest employer, a furniture factory that closed thirty years earlier.
As Andy and Weston work together, they find a connection to a scandal that rocked the Chaffee family over 125 years ago. But small towns like to bury their secrets, and many of the older residents of Dayfield will do anything to stop Andy and Weston from discovering the truth about the town and its inhabitants.
REVIEW:
I picked this book up because of the Massachusetts angle. As a native New Englander, I’m always a sucker for a book set in the region where I’m from. I’m glad I got to read and review this one. It was a nice change from some of the heavier fantasy type books that I’ve been reading lately. I’m not saying it was fluff though, so don’t get me wrong. Dawn Over Dayfield is in my opinion a mystery, with an m/m story line added in as an aside, not the whole subject of the book. If you’re looking for a straight on romance, this one isn’t it. But if you’re like me, and like a story outside the romance, you’ll enjoy it.
Andy Forrest was adopted days after his birth, nearly 30 years ago. His adopted mother has just died of a genetically passed issue that no one knew she had, so Andy’s adopted Dad has encouraged Andy to find out about his biological Father and birth Mother. All he has is their names and where they were from at the time of his birth.
When Andy arrives in Dayfield, Massachusetts he is greeted warmly by Weston Thibeault, the town’s only openly gay man, who also happens to be the one in charge of the local Historical Society.
Through Weston’s help, he will discover more than he expected to about his family history. Along the way he will run into stiff opposition from the rest of the small town. He is the spitting image of his father, and small towns have long memories…and they protect their own.
Weston will also learn things he never knew about his own family and how they’ve helped keep secrets for the last 125 years…
I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed it. The pieces fit together as the story went along, though I will say I guessed a good portion of the mystery pieces before they were reached in the story. I think the story is well written, the characters were well fleshed out, and it was an interesting read. The only negative…I really think the total recluse Grandmother would have added a lot to the story, but she was never visited. Regardless, pick up the book if you’re into a small town mystery type story, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
RATING: 
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