Forget The Salt Path scandal! Daily Mirror’s book expert Jessica Boulton picks the best new Chick Lit, Thrillers, Family Sagas and Murder Mysteries which deserve the space on your Kindle this summer
Plane tickets? Check. Swimwear? Check. The patience of a saint to get through airport security? Check. Yes, if you’re planning the perfect summer holiday, there’s only one other thing you need: A jolly good book. For when you’ve smugly beaten other hotel guests to a sunbed, there’s little more relaxing than a great page turner. So what new tomes deserve the precious space on your Kindle or a spot in your suitcase? Here, columnist Jessica Boulton takes you through the best of this summer’s new releases – whether you’ve a soft spot for romance, a love for crimes of passion, or prefer your beach reads bloodier than a tomato juice and vodka….
ROMANCE AND RELATIONSHIPS
The Layover, Beth Reekles, Sphere, Out Now
From the author of Netflix’s The Kissing Booth comes an enemies-to-lovers-style romp set in that favourite of romcom scenarios: The destination wedding, Three unhappy singletons are en route to the ‘wedding of the year’ – and they’re all dreading it: One’s in love with the groom, one’s the overprotective brother of the bride and the other is a maid of honour fed up of playing second fiddle. So when fate convenes to strand all three at an airport bar overnight, they get to talking, drinking and….plotting….
READ MORE: Lorraine star admits The Salt path scandal left readers feeling ‘duped’
Problematic Summer Romance, Ali Hazelwood, Sphere, Out Now.
The bestselling chicklit author Ali Hazelwood has become quite the talking point on social media and so-called ‘book tok’ thanks to her novel spin on romance tropes. Released on late May, her latest book puts Gen Z values under the microscope as Maya, 23, falls for her brother’s much older – and much richer – best friend. Everyone, including him, says a romance would be problematic. But when the two are forced to spend a week sharing a remote Italian villa at her brother’s wedding, Maya decides it’s time to ignore the red flags and follow her heart, not her head. Will she prove the naysayers wrong?
Paper Heart, Cecelia Ahern, HarperCollins, Out August 28
One of the biggest names in the genre, Cecelia Ahern was the bestselling author behind the weepy-but-ultimately-uplifting romance PS. I Love You, which later became a 2007 hit film with Anne Hathaway and Gerard Butler. Cecelia’s latest paperback release centres on wallflower Pip, who has been hiding from life, living a sheltered existence, until the stars – or rather an attractive local astronomer – opens her eyes to the world…
The Man I Loved Before, Georgina Cutler, Black & White Publishing, Out August 7
Get the tissues ready! This romance comes with a side serving of trauma. When Jenny loses the love of her life, Joe, in a freak accident, she thinks she will never recover. That is until…. she begins seeing Joe’s ghost. There’s only one thing wrong with their renewed relationship: He’s a little less solid than before. When Jen meets the infuriating new guy, Luca, who’s moved into Joe’s old flat, she takes an instant dislike to him. But slowly and surely he reminds her what it means to have fun. However the more Jen sees Luca, the less she sees Joe. So who will she choose?
Body Count, Julie Mae Cohen, Zaffre, Out August 14.
A chick-lit romance where the heroine is a serial murderer? Talk about a killer concept. Sure to be a hit with fans of Sky’s Sweetpea, this twisted tale, from an author whose sold a million books, centres on Saffy Huntley-Oliver, a millennial who’s fallen for a brilliant true crime podcaster Jonathan. There’s just one complication in their romance. Saffy’s got a secret passion project – killing men. Bad men. Like a a certain handsy children’s TV star….So will Saffy’s hobby be the nail in the coffin for their romance? Or can they love each other til death do they part? It may depend on whose death we mean.
MURDER MYSTERY
A Novel Murder, E.C. Nevin, Zaffre, out now
Where better to set a crime novel than at a crime writers’ convention? A Novel Murder’s delightfully-playful premise sees aspiring author Jane Hepburn joining big-name name authors at a quaint town’s festival, to try to get her big break. But when her literary agent turns up dead, Jane fears the writing’s on the wall for her career…..unless she can help police find the killer – and throw the book at him.
A Deadly Night At The Theatre, Katy Watson, Constable, out this week
Posy Starling, Caro Hooper and Rosalind King are some of TV and the West End’s finest actresses. Yet not only have they all played the same fictional detective – TV’s Dahlia Lively – but they’ve all let the role go a little to their heads.. The fifth standalone story in the Three Dahlias series, this Agatha Christie-style mystery sees the women once more forced to turn Sherlock for real after Caro’s hunky west end co-star is found dead in a theatre dressing room – with a blood-drenched Posy[italic] standing over him. Will her fellow Dahlias believe her claims of innocence before the real killer enjoys an encore?
Game, Set & Murder, Judy Murray, Orion, released July 3
Think Sex And The City meets Desperate Housewives on a day out at Wimbledon…Yes, Judy Murray is back with her second murder mystery, once again set in the world of tennis. This time, close friends Kristin, Vee, Bibi and Hailey are sipping prosecco at Surrey’s posh Royal Oaks Tennis Club, when their charming coach Jeremy keels over – thanks to some poisoned sponge cake.
Soon it’s clear: one of these glamourous women had the balls to catch out their coach. But who served him his just deserts? And what other backhanded shenanigans are happening at the exclusive club?
The Magus of Sicily, Philip Gwynne Jones, Constable, out now
A murder mystery in sun-drenched Sicily? Characters who all have something to hide? And a lingering sense of unease? If this book isn’t popular with fans of The White Lotus, something is definitely awry. This sumptuously-set mystery begins with trainee journalist Nedda Leonardi desperately trying to find a scoop at a local town festival. But she gets a splash in more ways than one when local dancers dive in the glistening Ionian Sea… and return with a corpse. Nedda’s soon out of her depth but finds an unlikely partner-in-solving[ital]-crime – a retired grifter, trying to leave his con man past behind until he becomes a suspect. Together, the oddball pair set out to uncover the real story.
ACTION THRILLER
The Daughter, T. M. Logan, Zaffre, out this month in paperback
A mum’s worst nightmare: Lauren goes to pick her daughter up from university, knocks on her door and comes face to face…with a stranger. At first, she presumes she has the wrong room but then she realises the terrible truth. Her daughter Evie is not there. And she hasn’t been for a long time. The discovery sparks a heart-in-mouth race to uncover what’s happened before it’s too late. If, indeed, it’s not too late already.
Deadline, Steph McGovern, Macmillan, was released July 3
Following her years hosting Steph’s Packed Lunch and a stint in the Costa Rican jungle on Bear Grylls’ Bear Hunt, the former BBC broadcaster is now onto her third act – as a novelist. Her debut tome is set in a familiar world but the premise is still deliciously tantalising: a TV host is just about to go live, interviewing the most powerful man in the country, when she gets a message through her earpiece. Kidnappers have taken her family. Now she must do exactly what they say, on Live TV, if she ever wants to see them again.
Death of An Officer, Mark Ellis, Headline Accent, Out Now
Prefer your thrillers with a period era twist? Mark Ellis has released the latest is his Frank Merlin detective series, set in the shadowy world of wartime London 1943. A local murder sparks an investigation into a wide-scoping mystery featuring the disappearance of a US officer in possession of invasion plans, dodgy MPs, even dodgier police and a seedy underworld of Cockney gangsters, brothels and blackmail.
DRAMA/PSYCHOLOGICAL
Dear Future Me, Deborah O’Connor, Zaffre, out now
Talk about an intriguing set-up: this psychological thriller begins in 2005 as a group of students each writes a letter to their future selves, sharing their fears, dreams, mistakes and heartaches. Of course, they should have known better. For unlike the contents of a normal time capsule, these students’ secrets don’t stay buried for long. Two decades on, their private notes begin dropping through their letterboxes – and the unearthed truths begin to change their lives for ever.
These Summer Storms, Sarah Maclean, Ballantine Books, released this week
Missing Succession? Loved Amazon’s adaptation of We Were Liars? Then this should be the perfect lazy day read. Alice Storm is the surprisingly-grounded daughter of an eccentric billionaire tech genius. But when he dies suddenly, she forced to return to the family’s private island off the coast of New England – with some of the oddest, most dysfunctional and competitive people she knows: her siblings. Then there’s the biggest surprise: Alice’s puppet master father has left his children one last test. To receive their inheritance they must spend a week on the island completing a list of very specific challenges….
What’s you beach read recommendation? Share in comment or message me on Instagram/X @JessicaBoulton
