Breeze through thrillers this summer
Following are a few of this year's mysteries and thrillers that will be sure to keep you on the edge of your lawn chair this summer.
Arsenic and Adobo Mia P. Manansala
Even though I tend to write dark, hard-boiled stories in which people get hit in the face with tools, I love to read a well-written and quirky, cosy mystery. Manansala has created just that with her debut novel, a tale full of eccentric characters, humorous situations and an oh-so-tricky mystery. Check this one out for the poetic prose and the mouth-watering recipes that are integral to the plot.
Dead of Winter Stephen Mack Jones
Jones's latest entry in the critically acclaimed August Snow series, which introduced us to the eponymous Michigan detective, is a P.I. story with an eye toward social issues and a firm grasp on the tropes of the genre, making it fresh and familiar at the same time.
The Other Black Girl Zakiya Dalila Harris
The Other Black Girl is a thriller that begins with a tried-and-true formula: a rivalry in the workplace. However, Harris adds her own spin to the premise while deconstructing the fine line many Black Americans have to navigate in corporate America. Her style is easy to digest but will force you to contemplate its potent subtext.
Bath Haus P.J. Vernon
This is the perfect novel for those looking for the proverbial “beach read.” Suspenseful, sensual and exceedingly clever, this thriller is the literary equivalent of sipping a glass of white wine while listening to your neighbours have a lovers' spat before one of them picks up a knife. Vernon has an electric style that leaps off the page.
Runner Tracy Clark
Clark's fourth Cass Raines novel finds the tough and determined Chicago P.I. on the trail of a runaway foster child who has secrets that are explosive enough to get her and Cass killed. Clark has a unique voice in the P.I. genre, one that is articulate, daring and ultimately hopeful.
Survive the Night Riley Sager
Set during the height of the Grunge era, Survive the Night follows a young college student travelling cross-country with a man who may not be who he says he is. Two strangers thrown together by chance will confront the darkness that lives in that strange space between what we think we know and what we can prove.