Summer Mystery & Thriller Reading Recommendations

Does summer mean digging into a great mystery or getting wrapped up in a spine-tingling thriller? Then you’ve come to the right place because we’ve found some great summer mysteries and thrillers just for you!

No Time Left by David Baldacci. This 99-cent Kindle Single became available for download on May 2, 2011. It’s an original Baldacci cloak-and-dagger short story that you can only get if you have a Kindle. If you love his bestselling novels, this is a no brainer. To read our review of Baldacci’s April 2011 novel, The Sixth Man, click here.

Tough Customer by Sandra Brown. Due out on June 21, 2011 but available now for pre-order. Tough Customer reintroduces Dodge Hanley, the investigator from Smash Cut, in an all new adventure. This is going to thrill Brown’s fans, who have clamored for his return.

No Rest for the Dead, an anthology edited by Sandra Brown, R.L. Stine, Lisa Scottoline and Jeffrey Deaver. Due out on July 5, 2011 but available for pre-order now. This anthology features 25 bestselling mystery authors, who weave together this serial novel. It’s an excellent way to find new mystery authors whose novels you might enjoy, and I’m really looking forward to reading it!

Hush by Nancy Bush. Due out on June 28, 2011 but available for pre-order now. This complex novel features teenage friends who tell their darkest secrets on a beach trip, a tragic accident and a reunion 12 years later that ends in horror. Piqued your interest? Nancy Bush and her sister, Lisa Jackson, write compelling thrillers. It’s no accident that they make the bestseller lists.

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovitch, Book #17 in the Stephanie Plum series. Due out on June 21, 2011 but available for pre-order now. I’m a huge Stephanie Plum fan. These fun novels and their ditzy characters make me laugh so hard that anyone within a block of my house thinks I’ve lost my mind. If you haven’t read the series, you could still pick up this one and enjoy it. Be warned though because, if you do, you’ll have to go back and read them all because you’ll be as hooked as I am. Given how much fun they are, that will be a pleasure to do.

Burn Notice: The Bad Beat by Tod Goldberg. Due out on July 5, 2011 but available now for pre-order. If you’re not familiar with Tod’s Burn Notice series or the Burn Notice USA Network TV series, check out my article on his author panel at the 2011 LA Times Festival of Books. This series of novels takes place in Miami, where Michael Weston is a spy without a country. I haven’t read them but the fans at LA Times Festival of Books were very vocal about how wonderful they are, so I’m thinking I’ve really missed out. What I do know is Tod is one seriously funny guy and I can’t help but think his quirky sense of humor has to find its way into his books.

Wicked Lies by Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush. Due out on May 31, 2011 but available for pre-order now. If you’re not familiar with Lisa, check out my article about her author panel discussion at this year’s LA Times Festival of Books. In Wicked Lies, Justice Tumbull, a psychopath, plans his escape from Halo Valley Security Hospital because he is bent on destroying Laura Adderley. When he escapes, there will be no place safe for Laura to hide from him and from his knowledge of her connection to a vicious murder 20 years ago.

Pirate King by Laurie R. King, the latest in the Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series. Due out on September 6, 2011 but available for pre-order now. Laurie King ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite authors. I read her stand-alone novels and her San Francisco detective series before reading this series. I admit I was skeptical about this series because I didn’t think anyone but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could do Sherlock Holmes justice – I was wrong! Pirate King centers on London’s fledgling silent-film industry. Scotland Yard sends Mary to go undercover in the film company to investigate criminal activity rumors. This one looks like it will be just as suspenseful as we’ve come to expect of this series. I’m counting the days until I can read it! Note: If you haven’t read the escapades of Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes, you can read this one and see if it interests you. Then you’ll be hooked and you’ll need to start with the first one next because it is a chronological series. Enjoy!

10th Anniversary by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. Just published on May 2, 2011 so here’s one you can read now! This is part of the Women’s Murder Club series, which I hate to admit I haven’t read. James Patterson is such a prolific author that I’ve only read a scattering from his different series (slap my wrist – seriously I’m ashamed to admit it). I’ve been thrilled with the Patterson novels I’ve read, and this is a series I really need to read. If you’re a fan of the Women’s Murder Club series, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you why they’re bestsellers.

Acceptable Loss by Anne Perry, in the William Monk series. Due out on August 9, 2011 but available now for pre-order. I can’t top what the New York Times Book Review said about Anne Perry’s novels, “Give her a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens’ eyes pop.” I love the William Monk series! The research is excellent and so is the writing. The characters are very well developed and keep me coming back for more. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the previous books in this series – just pick this one up and fall in love with William and Hester Monk.

Please note: If you want to read earlier books in any series mentioned, and are having a hard time finding them, check out Powell’s Books“>. I’ve found lots of gently used hard-to-find or out-of-print books through them at great prices.

Also, if you don’t see the kind of books you like to read in today’s list – no worries! This whole week is Summer Reading Week at PopcornReads.com, and we’ve got something for just about everybody!  Just click on the link below to go to an already published list, and/or come back tomorrow to check out Saturday’s list.

Tuesday featured 2011 Summer SciFi/Fantasy Fiction

Wednesday featured 2011 Summer Young Adult Fiction

Thursday featured 2011 Movies based on Books or Graphic Novels

Saturday will feature General, Historic and Southern Fiction

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Tagged as: 10th Anniversary, 2011 mystery & thriller summer reading, Acceptable Loss, Anne Perry, Burn Notic: The Bad Beat, David Baldacci, fiction, Hush, James Patterson, Janet Evanovitch, Jeffrey Deaver, Laurie R. King, Lisa Jackson, Lisa Scottoline, Maxine Paetro, mysteries & thrillers, Nancy Bush, No Rest for the Dead, no time left, Pirate King, R.L. Stine, Sandra Brown, Smokin' Seventeen, summer reads 2011, Tod Goldberg, Tough Customer, Wicked Lies