Everyone has their own definition of fun. If you’re quote-unquote normal, it probably involves puppies and kittens, rom-coms and meet-cutes, something lighthearted to ease the stress of daily life. But for the delightfully twisted, there is nothing more fun than fictional murder and mayhem – and the thrill that comes with figuring out whodunit.
Nothing flies faster than the pages of a good thriller, which makes it perfect summer reading fare. Here are 10 thrilling suspense novels coming out this summer – featuring serial killers, true crime, torrid affairs and death by crossbow – we can’t wait to read with the lights very much on.
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‘All the Sinners Bleed’
By S. A. Cosby (Flatiron), out June 6
Former FBI agent returns to his Southern hometown and becomes the first Black sheriff in his county’s history. That’s hard enough, but it gets a whole lot harder when Titus discovers a serial killer targeting Black children and hiding in plain sight.
“All the Sinners Bleed” at Amazon for $23.79
“All the Sinners Bleed” at Bookshop for $26.03
‘The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard’
By Kate Robards (Crooked Lane Books), out June 20
When Willa is found dead in her apartment, her sister Sawyer knows it can’t be the suicide it appears to be. She becomes even more convinced of foul play when she discovers that her sister was writing a true-crime book about the decades-old disappearance of a child that rocked a small-town community.
“The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard” at Amazon for $13.99
“The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard” at Bookshop for $27.89
‘The Only One Left’
By Riley Sager (Dutton), out June 20
Suspense master Sager (“The House Across the Lake,” “Survive the Night”) returns with a gothic thriller about a home health aid assigned to care for 70-something Lenora, mute and in a wheelchair after a series of strokes. She’s the same Lenora accused of killing her family in a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier, and it’s clear there’s more to the tale than people know.
“The Only One Left” at Amazon for $23.80
“The Only One Left” at Bookshop for $26.04
‘An Evil Heart’
By Linda Castillo (Minotaur), out July 11
Who would kill a 20-year-old Amish man from an upstanding family with a crossbow and leave his body on a dirt road? Aden Karn was well loved, but as police chief Kate Burkholder investigates, she begins to hear whispers of his dark side.
“An Evil Heart” at Amazon for $14.99
“An Evil Heart” at Bookshop for $26.04
‘All the Demons Are Here’
By Jake Tapper (Little, Brown), out July 11
The popular CNN anchor is also a novelist. His latest thriller, set in 1970s America, follows Ike and Lucy, children of Senator Charlie and Margaret Marder. As the story unfolds, Ike, an AWOL and disillusioned U.S. Marine, and ace reporter Lucy, who’s in tight with the wealthy conservative tabloid owners she works for, careen toward a violent confrontation.
“All the Demons Are Here” at Amazon for $14.99
“All the Demons Are Here” at Bookshop for $26.97
‘Everyone Here Is Lying’
By Shari Lapena (Pamela Dorman), out July 25
The author of “Not a Happy Family” and “The End of Her” returns with a new page-turner. Family man William Wooler is hiding a secret – an affair, and one that ended badly the same day his 9-year-old daughter Avery goes missing.
“Everyone Here Is Lying” at Amazon for $14.99
“Everyone Here Is Lying” at Bookshop for $26.97
‘What Never Happened’
By Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer), out Aug. 1
Coco’s got a good gig as a professional obituary writer in Catalina Island, where the elderly population keeps her business flush. But as Coco learns more about the deaths she’s writing about, she realizes they’re eerily similar – and not of natural causes.
“What Never Happened” at Amazon for $4.99
“What Never Happened” at Bookshop for $15.80
‘Just Another Missing Person’
By Gillian McAllister (Morrow), out Aug. 1
Twenty-two-year-old Olivia goes missing, last seen entering a dead-end alley. The clock is ticking, but the detective investigating the case is up against an impossible moral choice: Find Olivia or frame somebody for the murder to protect her family from the culprit.
“Just Another Missing Person” at Amazon for $14.99
“Just Another Missing Person” at Bookshop for $27.90
‘Delicate Condition’
By Danielle Valentine (Sourcebooks Landmark), out Aug. 1
Anna Alcott wants to start a family so badly she’s undergoing grueling IVF to make her dreams a reality. But as mistakes and confusions mount, Anna begins to suspect someone is intentionally trying to keep her from getting pregnant. Nobody, not even her husband, will believe someone is playing twisted games with her.
“Delicate Condition” at Amazon for $27.99
“Delicate Condition” at Bookshop for $26.03
‘None of This Is True’
By Lisa Jewell (Atria), out Aug. 8
Popular podcaster Alix Summer finds an interesting new subject in Josie, her “birthday twin” who was born on the same day, they discover, when the friendly strangers run into each other while celebrating at a local pub. But as they record together and Josie further infiltrates her life, Alix begins to suspect Josie is hiding dark secrets.
“None of This Is True” at Amazon for $14.99
“None of This Is True” at Bookshop for $26.04
