45 HOT SUMMER BOOKS ESSENTIAL HOLIDAY READING
SUSPENSEFUL CHILLER
INTO THE WATER BY PAULA HAWKINS (DOUBLEDAY) AFTER THE DEATH OF HER SISTER, JULES RETURNS TO THE VILLAGE TO CARE FOR HER TEENAGE NIECE. BUT ALL IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS AND JULES IS DRAWN INTO THE
SECRETS AND TROUBLED RELATIONSHIPS OF THE TOWN. A STYLISH FOLLOW-UP TO The Girl on the Train.
LOVE STORY
THE MUSIC SHOP BY RACHEL JOYCE (DOUBLEDAY) MUSIC-SHOP OWNER FRANK’S LIFE CHANGES WHEN ILSA BRAUCHMAN ASKS HIM TO TEACH HER ABOUT MUSIC. I LOVED THIS MOVING NOVEL ABOUT THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC.
TIME TRAVEL
HOW TO STOP TIME BY MATT HAIG (CANONGATE) TOM HAZARD AGES SLOWLY. HE’S LIVED OVER 400 YEARS, BEEN GIVEN A NEW IDENTITY EVERY EIGHT, BUT STILL MOURNS HIS FIRST LOVE ROSE AND LONGS TO FIND HIS DAUGHTER MARION, WHO SUFFERS FROM THE SAME CONDITION. CLEVER, CHARMING, COMPASSIONATE.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN
BY NICCI FRENCH (MICHAEL JOSEPH)
WHEN A DECOMPOSING BODY IS FOUND UNDER HER FLOORBOARDS, PSYCHOTHERAPIST FRIEDA KLEIN IS INVESTIGATED BY THE POLICE.
PAST SECRETS
THE PARTY BY ELIZABETH DAY
(4TH ESTATE) MARTIN GILMOUR KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT BEN FITZMAURICE THAT HE HAS NEVER TOLD A SOUL. ON BEN’S 40TH BIRTHDAY, MARTIN AND HIS WIFE ARE INVITED TO THE PARTY WHERE THINGS COME TO HEAD. TENSE, DARK AND THOROUGHLY GRIPPING.
WHETHER YOU’RE HEADING FOR THE BEACH OR JUST THE BACK GARDEN, BOOKS EDITOR FANNY BLAKE HAS THE PERFECT CHOICE TO GUARANTEE A GREAT ESCAPE
COMPELLING THRILLER
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (Century) LAUREL’S 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED 10 YEARS AGO. WHEN SHE FALLS FOR FLOYD, HIS YOUNG DAUGHTER PROVOKES UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FROM THE PAST. THE UNRAVELLING OF WHAT HAPPENED SHOWS JEWELL ON TOP FORM.
COMIC NOVEL
BEST LAID PLANS BY KATHY LETTE (BANTAM) THE SEQUEL TO HER NOVEL, The Boy Who Fell to Earth, PICKS UP WITH LUCY AND HER 20-YEAR-OLD AUTISTIC SON MERLIN, WHO’S DESPERATE TO LOSE HIS VIRGINITY. CUE PLENTY OF LETTE’S FAST-PACED, PUN-TASTIC ONE-LINERS.
INVOLVING READ
UNDER THE SUN BY LOTTIE MOGGACH (PICADOR) LIFE ON A SPANISH FINCA IS FAR FROM THE IDYLL ANNA IMAGINED. WHEN A BUSINESSMAN RENTS THE PLACE, THEN A BODY WASHES UP ON THE BEACH, THINGS TAKE ANOTHER TURN. A BEAUTIFULLY OBSERVED, ENTHRALLING READ.
FAMILY DRAMA
THE SUNSHINE SISTERS BY JANE GREEN (MACMILLAN) WHEN RONNI IS DIAGNOSED WITH A TERMINAL ILLNESS, SHE ASKS HER THREE DAUGHTERS TO HELP HER TAKE HER LIFE. WILL THIS BE THE FINAL STRAW IN THEIR ALREADY DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIPS? A MOVING TALE OF LOVE AND LOSS.
PULSE-RACING THRILLER
TWO NIGHTS BY KATHY REICHS (HEINEMANN) REICHS’ FIRST STANDALONE THRILLER INTRODUCES SUNDAY NIGHT, EX-COP AND EX-MARINE, A WOMAN ON THE RUN FROM HER OWN PAST. THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE CASE OF A MISSING GIRL BRINGS HER UP AGAINST HER OWN DEMONS. A WHITE-KNUCKLE RIDE OF A THRILLER.