Best Friends by Rebecca De Winter
This book features two unreliable narrators, an old friendship, pregnancy, miscarriage, and lies. I found both of these women to be untrustworthy which I always enjoy in a thriller/suspense. Give me all of the unreliable narrators!
Here’s the scoop
She knows everything about you… and she’s about to share your deepest, darkest secret.
Alice has everything, I mean everything. A stunning suburban house, Instagram-perfect in its soft grey walls and textured neutrals. And then there’s her handsome husband, with his flat stomach and that sexy sleeve of tattoos he keeps hidden for his well-paid job in the city. The PTA mamas can’t stop staring at him, and who can blame them? And let’s not forget her three adorable, well-behaved children.
Meanwhile, here in Boston, I’m struggling to start a family with my husband Ollie. Our marriage is suffering, and I feel so isolated all the time. It’s hard not to compare myself to Alice, especially when we unexpectedly reconnect after two decades of silence. I can’t help feeling I’ve been dealt the inferior hand in life.
The worst thing is, I know Alice doesn’t deserve any of it. I was once her very best friend in the world, and I know the real Alice better than anyone else.
And here’s me thinking… I know where the bodies are buried, literally. Maybe it’s time to make her pay?
Coming out on July 18.
The Inheritance by Samantha Hayes
This domestic suspense book has everything you want in a book-remote lodge location, family, undercurrents of distrust, and an inheritance. From the first chapter, I was glued to the pages! I wondered how the story would unfold, who could I trust? What were the sisters hiding? This is told from multiple POV and did not disappoint.
My darling husband, Ray, is gone. My three beautiful daughters and I have come to Scotland to walk the trails we once enjoyed together, hold each other, and cry over our loss.
But the awful thing is, I feel relieved. Because now Ray is gone, I’m finally safe…Except for the terrible secret I tried so hard to bury – the real reason we’re here.
I pull one of my daughters aside and tell her the truth. Ray has left her nothing in his will. I see the shock, the pain, the confusion on her face.
I am terrified. My darkest secret is about to be exposed. I could never have imagined that one lie would lead to this. Trapped in this house together, emotions spiralling, truths coming out at last. Everything I’ve worked so hard to protect begins to unravel before my eyes…
I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but I’m not sure my family can survive the fallout from all our lies.
And my greatest fear is that someone’s secret is worth killing for…
This book will be published on August 8.
If you are a fan of true crime and haven’t read books by John Glatt, you must get this book! I began my true crime journey as a teenager who had read all the books that appealed to me in the teen section so my mother directed me to Ann Rule and Danielle Steel, which started a decades-long love for reading crime.
In Tangled Vines, author Glatt details the Murdaught family crimes, featuring crimes that captivated America quite recently.
Among the lush, tree-lined waterways of South Carolina’s low country, the Murdaugh name means power. A century-old, multimillion-dollar law practice has catapulted the family into incredible wealth and local celebrity—but it was an unimaginable tragedy that would thrust them into the national spotlight. On June 7th, 2021, prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the grounds of their thousand-acre hunting lodge. The mystery deepened only months later when Alex himself was discovered shot in the head on a local roadside.
But as authorities scrambled for clues and the community reeled from the loss and media attention, dark secrets about this Southern legal dynasty came to light. The Murdaughs, it turned out, were feared as much as they were loved. And they wouldn’t hesitate to wield their influence to protect one of their own; two years before he was killed, a highly intoxicated Paul Murdaugh was at the helm of a boat when it crashed and killed a teenage girl, and his light treatment by police led to speculation that privilege had come into play. As bombshells of financial fraud were revealed and more suspicious deaths were linked to the Murdaughs, a new portrait of Alex Murdaugh emerged: a desperate man on the brink of ruin who would do anything, even plan his own death, to save his family’s reputation.
Out on August 8.
The book that cemented my adoration for author Valerie Keogh was The Trophy Wife, which I thought was excellent. Since then I have read a few more and have enjoyed each one. There is something about how she writes her main characters that is kind of dark and I like it.
The Nurse did not disappoint!
Bullied, overlooked and under-appreciated, Lissa McColl learns at an early age to do very bad things. As a nurse, she is respected and valued for the first time in her life. But Lissa hates her job and the selfish, rude and inconsiderate people she has to deal with. But being underestimated in this job had its advantages. Lissa can get close to people, find out their secrets… sometimes with deadly results…
This book will be published on July 21.
Another favorite true crime author is Gregg Olsen and I was beyond excited to see his new book, American Black Widow. This is actually a reprint of a book he previously wrote Confessions of an American Black Widow and also published as Bitch on Wheels. No matter what the title or what year it came out, its a solid true crime book and worth your time to read.
Colorado, 1976. When Reverend Mike Fuller and his beautiful wife Sharon arrive in the sleepy town of Rocky Ford, local residents think something’s off about the new couple. The God-fearing minister is gruff and cold, while charismatic Sharon has her husband wrapped around her finger.
It isn’t long before Sharon is charming her husband’s congregation, and finds herself in a tryst with local, married optometrist Perry Nelson. After the affair ends both their marriages, Sharon and Perry tie the knot. But shortly afterwards, Perry disappears. When his body is shockingly discovered the bottom of a canyon, his death is ruled an accident, allowing grieving widow Sharon to claim his substantial life insurance.
Trying to move on from the tragedy, Sharon soon remarries fireman Glenn Harrelson. But when the charred remains of Glenn’s body are discovered with two bullet holes in his skull, the police can’t help but question if both men dying in such mysterious circumstances is one coincidence too many…
Shocking, sensational and gripping, this is the true story of the black widow Sharon Nelson, a must-read tale of greed, sex and murder in a sleepy Colorado town that will have true crime fans of The Staircase, American Mother and Making a Murderer hooked from start to finish.
You can read this story now.
If you read The Runaway Orphans, you’re going to want to read The Lost Orphan. I am a big fan of good historical fiction so settling in with this excellent novel was a treat. It’s emotional and heartbreaking in the best way. If you enjoy historical World War II stories, this needs to be on your To Be Read list immediately.
Three sisters are torn apart by war. Can fighting for peace bring them together again?
December 1941: Evacuated from the threat of German bombs, sisters Amelie and Mireille have grown up under the storm clouds of war.
Now they have joined the fight against Hitler, with Amelie training as a nurse to save wounded soldiers, and Mireille enlisted to help the Air Force wage war in the skies over Europe.
But as each sister fights for peace, they are still haunted by the memory of their missing sister who was snatched away from them at the beginning of the war.
As Mireille is recruited for a special forces role behind enemy lines in France, she puts her life on the line for the Allies. But could she also finally have a chance of reuniting her sisters, once the war is over?
Look for it on August 3
I have read and enjoyed every book Amber Garza has written lately. She is now an automatic read for me when I see that she has a new book coming out. In A Quiet Town is her latest and it was very good. This was one of those books you can read in a single afternoon because it moves so quickly.
Tatum hasn’t seen her daughter, Adrienne, in years, not since Tatum’s husband—the pastor in their small California town—all but disowned her. When she finally gathers the courage to secretly reconnect with Adrienne, Tatum’s thrilled she’s even willing to talk to her. But then—Adrienne disappears.
Tatum tries desperately to get the police or her husband to take her daughter’s disappearance seriously, but no one will listen, until a mysterious man shows up claiming to be Adrienne’s fiancé. It’s a relief to finally have someone who believes her, someone who’s trying as hard as she is to find out where Adrienne is. But can she trust that this stranger is who he says he is? And can she find her daughter before it’s too late?
Don’t miss it! Published on August 8.
The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein was so rich in details, I cannot imagine her research process. The story which is based on true events, is dark and heavy but compelling. If you want to settle in for a day of reading and becoming completely absorbed in a story about women and mental illness during the 1800s in Paris, get this immediately.
When Josephine arrives at the Salpêtrière asylum, she is covered in blood, badly bruised, and suffering from amnesia. She is quickly diagnosed with what the Paris papers are calling “the epidemic of the age”: hysteria, a disease is so baffling and widespread that Doctor Jean-Martin Charcot, the asylum’s famous director, devotes many of his popular public lectures to the malady. Charcot often uses hypnosis to prompt his patients to reproduce their hysterical symptoms, and to his delight, Josephine proves extraordinarily susceptible to this unconscious manipulation. He is soon featuring the young woman on his stage, entrancing her into fantastical acts and hallucinatory fits before enraptured audiences and eager newsmen—many of whom feature her on their papers’ front pages.
Laure, a ward attendant assigned to care for Charcot’s new favorite, knows that Josephine’s diagnosis is a godsend. Life in the Salpêtrière’s Hysteria ward is far easier than in its dreaded Lunacy division, from which few inmates ever return. But as Josephine’s fame grows, her memory starts to return—and with it, images of a terrible crime she’s convinced she’s committed. Haunted by these visions, and ensnared in Charcot’s hypnotic web, she starts spiraling into seeming insanity. Desperate to save the girl she has grown to love, Laure begins to plot their escape from the Salpêtrière and its doctors. First, though, she must confirm whether Josephine is truly a madwoman, doomed to die in the asylum—or a murderer, destined for the guillotine.
Both are dark possibilities—but not nearly as dark as what Laure unearths when she sets out to discover the truth.
I seem to gravitate towards books where women are sent to insane asylums against their will and can also recommend The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman and Woman 99 by Greer Macallister.
This one is out on July 18.
If you read the incredible novel, Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, you know her writing is next-level fantastic. I was so eager to get my hands on Happiness Falls, her latest, a gripping story that weaves in elements of science and philosophy.
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut, Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing-person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another.
If you haven’t read Miracle Creek, get it right now and read it. Happiness Falls comes out on August 29.
Like many people, I will read whatever Lisa Jewell writes, I don’t even need to read a synopsis. So when I got a sneak peek at None of this is True, I went in not knowing a thing about it. As I hoped, it was excellent. For those who read and love Lisa’s books, you will not be disappointed!
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
This is out now so go grab it! Go!
Another author whose books are an automatic must-read is Sandie Jones, her latest is The Trade Off. I found this to be suspenseful and I couldn’t stop reading, I wanted to know what was going to happen! You know the books that keep you up late, turning the pages? That’s what this was, and I loved it.
My favorite books are those whose plots haven’t been done again and again. I like to see something that is fresh and new and this delivered.
For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop—getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on.
For Jess, The Globe’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn.
And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible.
Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, but she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.
RISK or REWARD. JUSTICE or REVENGE. INNOCENCE or GUILT.
Published on August 15.
One trope that I always enjoy is the high-seas murder mystery, a locked room mystery out on the ocean. The Last One by Will Dean is about a woman who is basically abandoned on a ship, the only person on a boat previously occupied. I’ve been on many cruises and cannot begin to fathom what would happen if I woke up to find I was totally alone. Interesting concept, isn’t it?
It’s a suspenseful read as you follow Caz’s journey and the story plays out. I enjoyed the writing style and absolutely loved Will’s book, First Born. I’m looking forward to whatever he writes next.
When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love, Pete. On their first night they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends, but when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing.
And when she walks out into the corridor, all the cabin doors are open. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew, nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.
Out on August 8.
If you are a true crime addict as I am, you’re going to want to get your hands on Behold The Monster by Jillian Lauren. Can you imagine having any kind of relationship with a killer? I cannot, therefore I will read books like this and live vicariously through the author’s experiences.
He was sitting right across the table…and he would have killed her if he could. Jillian Lauren had no idea what she was getting into when she wrote her first letter to prolific serial killer Samuel Little. All she knew was her research had led her to believe he was guilty of many more murders than the three for which he had been convicted. While the two exchanged dozens of letters and embarked on hundreds of hours of interviews, Lauren gained the trust of a monster. After maintaining his innocence for decades, Little confessed to the murders of ninety-three women, often drawing his victims in haunting detail as he spoke. How could one man evade justice, manipulating the system for more than four decades? As the FBI, the DOJ, the LAPD, and countless law enforcement officials across the country worked to connect their cold cases with the confessions, Lauren’s coverage of the investigations and obsession with Little’s victims only escalated.
Lauren delivers the harrowing report of her unusual relationship with a psychopath–but this is more than a deep dive into the actions of Samuel Little. Lauren’s riveting and emotional accounts reveal the women who were lost to cold files, giving Little’s victims a chance to have their stories heard for the first time.
This book gives information and details about Sam’s victims, which is not easy to read. It’s out now!
This book is for those who enjoy shows like Downton Abbey, a glimpse into those who help the upper class, making sure their lives run smoothly. The House Keepers by Alex Hay centers around Mrs. King, a housekeeper in charge of running a huge home with servants and making sure everything ticks along like clockwork. But what happens when a woman like Mrs. King wants to get revenge on the people who employed her after being let go from her position?
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she’s made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows.
When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs. King’s predecessor, with her own desire for vengeance.
Their plan? On the night of the house’s highly anticipated costume ball—set to be the most illustrious of the year—they will rob it of its every possession, right under the noses of the distinguished guests and their elusive heiress host. But there’s one thing Mrs. King wants even more than money: the truth. And she’ll run any risk to get it…
After all, one should never underestimate the women downstairs.
This entertaining read is out now.
The Block Party by Jamie Day is a domestic suspense with a timeline of the current day and one year ago. There are many characters and lots of drama, starting off you know there has been a death/murder but you need to read the story of how things unfolded and who was to blame.
It’s a good read, I was interested to see what happened to the characters. It’s not a nail-biting, page-turning suspense but more of a slower story that is still entertaining.
This summer, meet your neighbors.
The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandals utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other.
On the night of the annual Summer block party, there has been a murder.
But, who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold—discovering that the real danger lies within their own block and nothing—and no one—is ever as it seems.
Just came out! Get it now.
I love the title and the cover of I’m Not Done With You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto. That’s what grabbed my attention in the first place!
This book centers around the toxic friendship of Jane and Thalia, who were close friends back at Oxford. The problem now, many years later, is that Thalia is a famous writer and Jane is an author who is struggling. This is a dual timeline of the women’s friendship in their university days and the current day.
Jane is unhappy. A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house—a life—she’s never really wanted.
There’s only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane’s best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford. It was the only good year of Jane’s life—cobblestones and books and damp English air, heady wine and sweet cider and Thalia, endless Thalia. But then one night ruined everything. The blood-soaked night that should have bound Thalia to Jane forever but instead made her lose her completely. Thalia disappeared without a trace, and Jane has been unable to find her since.
Until now. Because there she is, her name at the top of the New York Times bestseller list: A Most Pleasant Death by Thalia Ashcroft. When she discovers a post from Thalia on her website about attending a book convention in New York City in a week—“Can’t wait to see you there!”—Jane can’t wait either.
She’ll go to New York City, too, credit card bill be damned. And this time, she will do things right. Jane won’t lose Thalia again.
A twisty, dark novel that is out on August 22!
Sarah Pekkanen’s newest, Gone Tonight, was not the super suspenseful story I had anticipated, its a slow-burning, carefully unfolding novel about a mother and daughter. Catherine is nurse, excited about the next stage of her career but her mother doesn’t exactly want Catherine to head out and make a life for herself. Or are there some secrets that Ruth doesn’t want Catherine to know? And is Ruth the only one with secrets?
Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it’s been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening.
Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother’s past or background. But when Ruth’s desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth’s carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.
Don’t miss this one! It’s out on August 1.
A favorite author since I read her early books, Megan Goldin’s newest novel Dark Corners doesn’t disappoint. This book brings back Rachel Krall, the true crime podcaster of the excellent book, Night Swim which I loved and highly recommend. Megan is an excellent writer and whatever she writes, I will read.
In Dark Corners, Maddison Logan (@JustMaddie) a popular social media Influencer goes missing after visiting an inmate in prison, and suddenly she disappears. The FBI calls Rachel for help who then goes undercover to find out what happened to Maddison.
I liked this book, I love Megan’s writing but there was something missing for me that her other books had. I can’t put my finger on it. That being said, still a good read.
Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his release date approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped—or worse. Is Maddison’s disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? And why was she visiting him in the first place?
When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.
When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail—identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey’s hand—the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet.
Out on August 8.
This book was a nice change of pace after all the heavy, dark, suspenseful, and true crime books that I like to read. Forever Hold Your Peace by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. This is contemporary women’s fiction with a premise I loved. It would make a fun movie and while I read it, I could see the scenes so clearly playing out as if on the screen!
When their newly engaged kids ask all four divorced parents to meet each other over brunch, everyone RSVPs yes–secretly hoping someone at the table will get to the bottom of the bottomless mimosas fast enough to say what they’re all thinking: that this engagement, coming after a whirlwind romance between two people barely out of college, is too much too soon.
But at that brunch it’s not the impulsive couple’s decisions that end up under the microscope, as it turns out June, mother of the bride, and Amy, mother of the groom, certainly do know each other–they’re ex-best-friends who haven’t spoken since their explosive falling out more than twenty-five years ago. Reeling from their unwanted reunion and eager to shift the spotlight off their past as decades-old secrets and rivalries come to light, the two moms battle it out for the prize of Most Enthusiastic About This Wedding.
But when their history—and their present-day shenanigans—threaten to crack the foundations of the happy couple’s future, June and Amy find themselves becoming unexpected allies in an all-hands-on-deck effort to get their kids (and themselves) a happily-ever-after two generations in the making.
This is out now!
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