Six new mysteries for summer reading, including ‘Counterfeit,’ ‘Aurora’
Thank goodness for summer days when the light lasts longer, the drinks are cooler, and the porch chairs more comfortable because these mysteries and thrillers are unputdownable. So tolerate the mosquitoes and keep reading.
“More Than You’ll Ever Know”
(Morrow), by Katie Gutierrez In this exquisitely written, seductive novel, true crime journalist Cass Bowman is obsessed with the weird, the obsessive, the “chiaroscuro of the macabre and the mundane” of the genre. While researching a story, Cass discovers Delores “Lore” Rivera, from Laredo, Texas, a “rare female bigamist,” whose two lives collided twenty years before when one husband shot the other in a motel room, the bullet “like a golden teardrop.” Cass needs to know more. You will too. “Aurora” (Harper), by David Koepp It’s been a bad year for Aubrey. Her shifty husband abandoned her, leaving her to raise his teenage son. Then, wouldn’t you know, the power goes out. Not just in her cul-de-sac in Aurora, Ill. Everywhere. A massive geomagnetic storm plunges the world into “the Stone Age.” But Aubrey’s a compassionate, practical person and she rises to this apocalyptic occasion. Despite the epic scale of this captivating novel’s premise, Pewaukee native Koepp keeps readers close to Aubrey while she and her neighbors work to rebuild their community. The monsters in this novel are human, and, wouldn’t you know, they’re coming for Aubrey.
“Miss Aldridge Regrets” (Berkley),
by Louise Hare Set on the Queen Mary as it crosses the Atlantic in 1936, deceptions, seductions, and revenge flow like champagne. Lena Aldridge, a talented but penniless London nightclub singer, is travelling for a part on Broadway. But Lena has secrets. She’s the mixed-race daughter of a Black American piano player, a single father who adored her, but she’s passing as a “European protégé” on the ship. Is it fate, or something more sinister, that finds Lena seated at the dinner table of the American Abernathys, a family whose dysfunction is as excessive as their wealth? Oh, trust me, it’s something way more sinister.
“The Goldenacre” (Soho Crime), by
Philip Miller “All the savage sorrow of the world” flows from greed and greed’s at the center of this art mystery that’s as dark as the “brooding bulk” of St. Giles’ cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the story is set. Thomas Tallis, a lonely anxiety-driven man, is sent to authenticate the provenance of an obscure Charles Rennie Mackintosh painting, The Goldenacre. Shona Sandison is a journalist, dangling on the craggy precipice of the profession. A series of murders throws them together. “Privileged lies often remain unquestioned,” a character notes. This thriller uncovers many. “Harlem Sunset” (Berkley), by Nekesa Afia Set in 1920s Harlem, this second book in Afia’s wonderful historical series featuring dancer and amateur detective Louise Lloyd is as absorbing as the first. In this one, Louise has a new job as manager of the Dove, one of Harlem’s “hottest spots.” She has a place of her own with her lover of many years, Rosa Marie. Finally, Louise can “exhale for the first time in a while.” The respite doesn’t last long. When a friend from Louise’s past is murdered in the club after a night of drinking, once again Louise is tangoing with a murderer. As the investigation progresses, Louise is forced to face more than the “black hole” that is her memory of the night of the murder.
“Counterfeit” (Morrow), by Kirstin
Chen Chen’s fabulous novel is a cautionary tale (sort of) about two well-educated Asian-American women taking on the world of high-end purse “super fakes” and winning (sort of ). When the average Birkin bag can sell for up to 200K (feel free to gasp), a Louis Vuitton for up to 10k (cheap by comparison), you’d think someone would have attempted the elaborate scam before now. The novel is presented as Ava’s confession for the “bushel of lies” she’s been carrying (like a purse) and her decision to “face the consequences” (sort of).