16 Mysteries Perfect for Summer Reading
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By Jen Collins Moore, Tina deBellgarde, Carol Pouliot, and Lida Sideris
Summer says reading, and this month we are delighted to share some of our favorite mysteries perfect for the beach, airplane, or anyplace you find yourself with time to dig into a great book.
Tina’s Recommendations
I have two different types of summer reading: lazy beach reads and lazy under a tree reads. My beach reads tend to be light and often take place in beachy, summery places. They are quick because I can’t handle heat for a long time. I just can’t think in the heat. My under a tree reads are introspective and luxurious. They let me linger in the cool verdant shade with plenty of time to consider all the intricacies of a well-crafted story. Most of my summer reads are under a tree.
The Savage Kind: A Mystery (Nightingale Trilogy #1) by John Copenhaver
The Savage Kind is more than a mystery and more than a thriller. It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s a story about first loves. It’s about finding your proper reflection when the world sees you all wrong. It’s about growing up, growing old and parenting. It’s about the different forms of family. But mostly it’s about identity and belonging. The Savage Kind is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with extra layers of noir twists. This was one of my favorite reads of the last year and I look forward to re-reading it this summer before the second book, Hall of Mirrors, is released.
The Rising Tide: A Vera Stanhope Novel #10 by Ann Cleeves
The Rising Tide is definitely an under a tree summer read. It is thought provoking and English, and requires a certain amount of time to luxuriate in the characters and the wonderful seaside setting. Cleeves has already won me over with Vera Stanhope–a woman of a certain age who doesn’t care how she looks and relies on her wits. Despite being the tenth book in the series, it works beautifully as a stand-alone. This book finds Vera investigating a hanging on Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England. Fifty years ago, a group of teenagers went on retreat there and continue to hold reunions every five years. It’s a strong character driven story–just my thing.
The Finalist by Joan Long
Five authors are finalists in a competition to complete a deceased novelist’s manuscript. It’s the chance of a lifetime. At stake is a million dollars and a writing contract. The finalists are transported to a tropical paradise where they are cut off from the world for seven days to try their hand at finishing the manuscript. And then…one of them is found dead, and the story takes off. A modern spin on Christie’s And Then There Were None. This book is fun and immersive and set in paradise. A perfect beach read.
Murder in Trastevere: A Roman Holiday Mystery #2 by Jen Collins Moore
Jen’s book brought me back to all my time spent in Italy—always in summers around my school vacations as a student and teacher. Jen nails the atmosphere, sights, scents and foods of Italy. If you love armchair travel, then you will love Murder in Trastevere, where art and la dolce vita are the backdrop to expat infighting and murder in the Eternal City.
Carol’s Recommendations
I’m not a beach person but I am a traveler. So “Summer Reads” for me are page-turning books that I can get lost in during a flight to Europe. The last book on my list isn’t technically a mystery. It’s a time-travel thriller with an intriguing premise, interesting characters, lots of history, and more twists and turns than a lot of mysteries. I couldn’t leave it off my list.
Still Life (#6 in the Karen Pirie series) by Val McDermid
DCI Karen Pirie, head of Historic (i.e. Cold) Cases, is in a new relationship and on a new case. A fisherman finds a dead man, who turns out to be the brother of a senior Scottish government official who mysteriously disappeared more than a decade ago. Then a skeleton is discovered in a trailer in someone’s garage. DCI Pirie takes over both investigations. With hidden identities, people masquerading as someone else, and art forgery, Karen has a full plate. The last thing she needs right now is the man who killed the love of her life being released from prison. A wonderfully fast-paced and clever story.
The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell
This page-turning psychological mystery centers on a group of childhood friends who are now in their seventies. As World War II drew to a close, the children discovered a series of underground tunnels that became their special, secret playground. Now, sixty years later, construction workers uncover a small tin box containing the skeletal remains of two hands—a man’s and a woman’s—in one of the tunnels. Because of the police investigation, the former friends reconnect. What happened to Lewis’s Uncle James who disappeared without a trace? Why did Michael’s mother abandon him? Old feelings, once buried, resurface and new relationships begin to form. Past secrets are revealed, and life-changing decisions are made.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
I’m usually very disciplined in my exercise routine, walking every morning, and writing. But the morning I started reading The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave, all my plans went out the window. I sat at the kitchen table and read until I finished it later in the afternoon. A masterful, suspense filled mystery with love and family at its core, packed full of twists and turns, The Last Thing He Told Me follows artisan Hannah as she searches for her husband, Owen, who mysteriously disappears one morning. Along with her stepdaughter, Bailey, who deeply resents Hannah and wants nothing to do with her, they discover that Owen has lied about everything—the man they both love isn’t who they thought he was. From their home in California to their quest in Texas, Hannah and Bailey discover one shocking truth after another. Un-put-downable.
Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St. Mary’s book #1) by Jodi Taylor
This action-packed time-travel thriller contains murder, romance, loads of twists and turns, lots of laughs, and a fascinating window on history. Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, where the historians don’t just research past events, they witness them. Amidst a clever imagining of historical events and what time-travel might actually look like is true friendship and loyalty—to the institute, their friends, and history itself. Highly recommended.
Jen’s Recommendations
My list is a collection of books that I can’t stop thinking about. Some are new, some are old, but all are worth diving into this summer.
A Shot in the Dark (Constable Twitten Mystery #1) by Lynne Truss
Looking for a laugh-out-loud mystery? Lynne Truss of the Eats, Shoots & Leaves punctuation bestseller fame delivers in her series set in 1950s Brighton. Constable Twitten arrives at a police station that is resting on its laurels after squashing its criminal element in a dramatic shootout years earlier. Newbie Twitten argues crime has returned to the seaside town (or, perhaps, never left), but his new colleagues don’t want to listen. It’s very British, very droll, and very funny.
The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Twisty, time travelly, and totally absorbing, this book is truly creative. Aiden Bishop is told he has eight days to solve a murder, and each day will be the same one on repeat, except that he’s inhabiting a different witness in each of those. Think Groundhog Day meets your favorite classic detective story. Turton’s writing is lush and the puzzle is gripping, but what I especially loved was experiencing characters through different eyes. Bishop brings his own memories and personality to his “hosts,” but he also is weighed down by their physical and mental traits. He feels one host’s body holding him back, while another’s quick temper gets the best of him. It’s a thought provoking and elegant read that’s perfect for a vacation.
The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley
Writers have been bringing new life to Jane Austen’s characters for years, and one of my favorites is Katherine Cowley’s perspective on the unlovable and overlooked middle sister in Pride and Prejudice. Cowley spins a delightfully believable story that’s fun and thoughtful.
The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
In the mood for a young adult book? I don’t read many, but I upped my intake after reading this one. It follows a young man named Matt living in the nation of Opium, a country between the United States and what was once called Mexico, that’s run by a despotic leader well into his hundreds. This is a dystopian world where clones are harvested for their organs, and Matt must come to terms with his own future after learning the truth about his birth. More crime story than mystery, I found this a gripping read.
Lida’s Recommendations
Like Carol, “Summer Reads” for me are anything I can escape into and forget the world around me for a while. I gravitate toward fun, light reads. But I’ve found that sometimes, stories which are a little more emotionally engaging provide great escape as well, as in The Venice Sketchbook.
Finlay Donovan is Killing It (#1 in the Finlay Donovan series) by Elle Cosimano
The title alone pulled me in, but I stayed for the quirky characters and the story. Fun and filled with twists and turns, the story opens with novelist and newly single mom Finlay reluctantly meeting with her literary agent about her long overdue novel. Finlay assures the agent that everything’s under control. Meanwhile, Finlay’s in the middle of a messy divorce, can’t pay her bills, nor reach her children’s sitter. Finlay bites off more than she can chew when a simple, overheard conversation leads her to pose as a contract killer. After all, Finlay could really use the $50K the job pays. A series of misunderstandings, close calls, and near misses propel the plot forward into a different kind of mystery with a different kind of heroine. Loved her sidekick Vero!
To the Nines (#9 in the Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich
This is my favorite in this popular mystery series because the focus is not only on heroine, former lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, but also on her two sidekicks, Lula and Connie. Usually playing a background role in the series, Connie proves that she can hold her own in this action-packed installment. The usual setting of Trenton, New Jersey, has been switched out for Vegas, which adds even more than the usual spice to the story. Plus, there’s an abundance of comic relief arising from the antics of these three ladies as they attempt to apprehend their target. A fun read for those seeking a wild adventure that doesn’t require too much thought.
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
There are some novels I want to take my time with and relish because the writing is so expert that I feel the need to pore over every word. This was one of them. Dual time-lines (the late 1920s and the German occupation during WWII) feature English women, great aunt Juliet (Lettie) and her grandniece, Caroline, and their involvement with Italian families. Although the story alternates between the two main characters, it’s so seamlessly woven together, it makes for a captivating read. Caroline is bequeathed antique keys from her great aunt with instructions to travel to Venice to find a mysterious legacy that her aunt intended for her. Vivid descriptions and fully formed characters made this book easy to dive into.
Hidden Beneath (#11 in A Maine Clambake Mystery) by Barbara Ross
I’m new to the Clambake Mystery series; a series that I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I wasn’t disappointed. Amateur sleuth Julia Snowden accompanies her mother, Jacqueline, to Chipmunk Island for a memorial service for Mom’s longtime friend, Ginny, who’d disappeared five years ago after going for a swim. Ginny was recently declared officially dead. As they arrive for the service, Julia questions why Jacqueline has never mentioned Ginny. As they poke around the island, answers and clues are revealed slowly and carefully, giving readers just enough to turn each page. The intrigue builds as we discover that Jacqueline is the executor of Ginny’s estate. Journals are found that reveal secrets which eventually lead to what really happened to Ginny. Easy, light reading with a strong cast of characters that are hard to forget.