Time to start that holiday checklist. Whether you are planning to bask on a poolside sun lounger, soak up the views from a rooftop terrace or enjoy the warm glow of a campfire in the great outdoors, no relaxing getaway is complete without a decent book to escape into.
Here, we round up some of the most gripping summer reads for 2024, from twisty thrillers and cosy crime to locked-room murder mysteries and suspense-packed tales.
The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus, £22, out July 18)
There is already a lot of buzz building about this upcoming offering from Chris Brookmyre, variously billed as a “cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly” and a “genre-splicing rollercoaster”.
The Cracked Mirror does exactly that, seeing two worlds collide as it brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo who find themselves at the heart of a compelling whodunnit involving a dead writer and mysterious wedding invitation.
Penny Coyne is the quintessential “little old lady” in a twinset and tweed, an octogenarian with a razor-sharp mind she puts to good use solving murders in her well-to-do Perthshire village. Johnny Hawke is a tough and cynical LAPD homicide detective. You are going to fall in love with them. And this book.
In A Place Of Darkness by Stuart MacBride (Bantam, £20, out June 20)
Stuart MacBride has become synonymous with superb storytelling, fearless imagination and dry wit in his galloping crime thrillers.
It’s all go in the fictional town of Oldcastle where Angus MacVicar, an ambitious detective constable, has bagged his dream job, transferred out of uniform to work on Operation Telegram, a large-scale murder investigation into the so-called “Fortnight Killer”.
Every two weeks a new couple is targeted. One victim is left at the scene, their bloodied corpse bearing a cryptic message, while the second victim disappears without trace. With 12 days having passed since the killer last struck, the clock is ticking.
Murder at the Monastery by the Reverend Richard Coles (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £22, out now)
If you’re a fan of the cosy crime genre - think Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club - the Canon Clement Mystery series by the Reverend Richard Coles should be up your street.
The action centres around Champton, a village that could rival Agatha Christie’s St Mary Mead and the TV murder hotspot of Midsomer for its ever-growing body count.
This third instalment sees the titular Canon Daniel Clement, following a private humiliation, retreating to the refuge of the monastery where he was a novice. He doesn’t get peace for long. A grisly death in the grounds initially seems like an accident, yet Daniel suspects foul play.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley (HarperCollins, £18.99, out now)
Since her Scottish-based debut The Hunting Party in 2018, Lucy Foley has carved a stellar reputation for penning top drawer locked-room murder mysteries and thrillers, unfolding against a backdrop of glittering yet darkly brooding locations.
The Midnight Feast continues that theme, set at the extravagant opening of The Manor, a luxury retreat with faux rustic and earthy vibes, where “rich people like to pretend they’re roughing it when really they’re tucked up in super kings with their own outdoor bath and rain shower”.
But all is not as it seems. The nearby woods are an ancient place where locals refuse to go after dark. Secrets lurk in the shadows. As a lavish summer solstice party begins, masks begin to slip and old adversaries creep closer, seeing the past and present collide in explosive fashion.
The Winner by Teddy Wayne (The Borough Press, £16.99, out now)
Testament to its star quality, months before this page-turning thriller even hit bookshops, the rights were snapped up by Columbia Pictures for a big screen adaptation. Early reviews have drawn comparisons with The White Lotus, The Talented Mr Ripley and The Graduate.
Conor O’Toole takes a summer job teaching tennis at Cutters Neck, a wealthy gated community in Massachusetts. But there is more at stake than first meets the eye. Conor is drowning in law school debt and needs to find a way to pay for his chronically ill mother’s medical bills.
His simple plan becomes eye-wateringly complicated when he finds himself embroiled in a steamy affair and leading a double life. Sex, class, power and money are among the overarching themes in this mesmerising read skewering the ugly side of the American Dream.
The Summer Party by Kate Gray (Mountain Leopard Press, £18.99, out July 4)
Your Spidey sense will be tingling from the opening pages of this locked-room thriller. An office party taking place at a posh island resort where a 19th-century sea fort has been converted into a swanky boutique hotel.
On the surface the team at Flavour, a creative design agency, are a close-knit bunch. One big happy family. Everyone is looking forward to letting their hair down as the sun shines and the champagne flows.
Yet soon the cracks begin to show as malicious gossip spreads and harsh home truths are imparted. But this runs far deeper than typical workplace drama. There is a list of names. And someone is hellbent on seeking revenge for a heinous cover-up.
The Wilds by Sarah Pearse (Sphere, £16.99, out July 16)
Sarah Pearse has a knack for making the setting of her novels more than simply a convenient backdrop, but rather a character that is central to the developing plot.
With previous books having utilised a former sanatorium-turned-hotel on a remote mountain and a secluded island wellness retreat, her latest novel takes place amid the vast and rugged wilderness of a national park.
Fans of Pearse’s work will be familiar with the intrepid Detective Elin Warner. While holidaying in Portugal, she finds herself inadvertently embroiled in a missing person’s case. A woman with a troubled past has vanished from a campsite, leaving behind only a disturbing map.
What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena (Bantam, £18.99, out July 18)
Shari Lapena is a doyenne of the domestic thriller, with her newest novel another masterclass in the genre. Picture the scene: an idyllic, rural Vermont town where everyone knows everyone and residents feel safe enough to leave their doors unlocked. Or so they believe.
A farmer tending his crops sees vultures circling. In a nearby field, he finds the body of a teenage girl. Diana Brewer should be at home, asleep in her bed. Instead, her young life has been cruelly snuffed out by person - or persons - unseen.
In a poignant homage to The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, the ghost of Diana looks on, trying to piece together shattered fragments of her memories and figure out who killed her. As fear and paranoia sweep Fairhill, a roll call of monstrous suspects emerges, some hiding in plain sight.
Lucky Girls by Liv Webbe (Headline, £10.99, out June 20)
“An island is an excellent place to hide,” reads a line in the opening pages of this sun-soaked debut thriller. A wedding at a beautiful French holiday resort. When Dee arrives, she’s hoping to put to rest a suffocating event from her past.
Bride-to-be Willa is at the heart of the sparkling festivities, yet beneath her well-poised and polished veneer, she too is hiding something seismic and can’t wait for the sham to be over.
As the big day looms, Pandora’s Box bursts open. Lies. Misunderstandings. Half-truths. Shaky allegiances. Veiled threats. A cast of Machiavellian characters. Two people will end up dead, but who is responsible and what is their motive? Buckle up.
The End of Summer by Charlotte Philby (The Borough Press, £16.99, out June 20) “Mum, is it true?” With those four words, Judy McVee knows her past has finally caught up with her. As she stands in her Languedoc farmhouse, listening to the stricken voice of her daughter drifting down the line from London, a police car arrives at the front door.
Decades earlier, Judy had hatched a plan, determined to land herself an affluent husband and leave behind the hardships of her early life. In her crosshairs was a rich, young widower - yet she never banked on falling in love with him.
This pacy and elegant thriller proffers glamorous locations and suspense-laden twists galore as it moves from New York to Cape Cod, the South of France to London, traversing the decades from the mid-1980s to the present day.
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