After the Fourth of July, summer always starts to fly by. But there is still plenty of good weather and long days ahead. And if you need a little help with finding books to finish your summer reading challenge. Check these out:
My picks for top books of the summer always include suspense
I don’t know about you, but I love a story with a mystery in the summer! I’m sharing a few of my favorites.
Things We Keep Hidden by Jill Lynn
The last time lifelong friends Payton, Isley and Clara were together, Clara broke their unwritten rule and brought up the one thing they never talk about. And now, more than twenty years after their friend Cece took her life, they must confront that night as the three women and their husbands—plus one unexpected guest—gather at Isley’s Breckenridge vacation home. With tension already simmering just below the surface of their relationship, they’re each left shaken when a cryptic note Tell the truth or I will.
Who is the message for and what does it refer to? The women fear it could be linked to the truth they’ve kept hidden since the night Cece died…or maybe it has something to do with one of the problems they’ve each brought with them.
Isley’s son is in rehab after narrowly avoiding jail time, spurring her to a reckless act of her own. Clara, usually so careful to follow rules, is haunted by the one night that she didn’t. And Payton has been in denial regarding her husband’s so-called “plan” for their marriage.
As the weekend unfolds, all three will revisit the bonds they share and the challenges that have shaped their lives. And by the trip’s end, a truth that shocks them all will be revealed.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).
But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.
Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.
Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
Alice isn’t like the other Storm siblings. While the rest stayed to battle for their parents’ approval, attention, and untold billions, she left, building her own life beyond the family’s name and influence. Nothing could induce her to come back, except the shocking death of her larger-than-life father. Now back on the family’s private island off the Rhode Island coast, she plans to keep her head down, pay the last of her respects, and leave the minute the funeral is over.
Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his widow and their grown children a final challenge–an inheritance game designed to humiliate, devastate, and unravel the Storm family in ways both petty and life-altering. The rules of the game are clear: stay on the island for one week, complete the tasks, receive the inheritance.
One week on Storm Island is an impossible task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting dysfunctional chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s incessant mansplaining. Her sister-in-law’s unapologetic greed. Her younger sister’s obsession with “vibes”. Her mother’s penchant for stirring up competition between her children. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s enigmatic, unfairly good-looking, second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape the week unscathed.
Summer Camp Cold Case by Rachelle Paige Campbell
She can’t remember what others are dying to forget…
Twenty years ago, a tragedy shattered Emma Lynde’s world when her twin sister died as a counselor at summer camp. Emma has returned for a reunion, ready to confront her worst nightmares and regain her lost memories. Sheriff Daniel Goodwin wanted a chance to see Emma again, after he solved her sister’s cold case. Emma’s return forces him to adjust his timeline and, with a killer tying up loose ends, he must act before she becomes the next victim. Can he get justice and a second chance with the one who got away?
Rachelle Paige Campbell 