List
Summer Reading Suggestions for Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, and Horror Readers
Looking for the next pulse-pounding read that you can't put down? From cozy mysteries to blood curdling reads, these books will have you on the edge of your seat.
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How to Have a Killer Time in DC
by Lumley, SamGet this itemOliver Popp is a 24-year-old autistic gay staff writer for Offbeat Traveler magazine, and he just got his first out-of-town feature assignment. There is an itinerary to follow, and Oliver is eager to show his boss that he can handle the responsibility. Upon arriving in DC, Oliver meets his freelance photographer Ricky Warner, who has an impulsive nature and would like to make some changes to their editor's planned to-do list. Everything really goes sideways when a software engineer Oliver knew in high school meets an untimely demise, and Ricky convinces Oliver that they should investigate. The two have great on-the-page chemistry, and this entertaining debut is a welcome addition to the cozy genre. Suggested by Sharon.
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Detective Aunty
2025 by Jalaluddin, UzmaGet this itemUzma Jalaluddin makes a smooth and seamless transition from romance to cozy mystery. Kausar Khan, a recent widow, receives a call from her grown daughter Sana, begging her to return to Toronto because she is the prime suspect of a murder. Kausar returns to the suburb and finds it has changed, and the killing is only the latest in a series of local unsolved crimes. With evidence mounting against Sana, Kausar turns to sleuthing to clear her daughter's name. Using her keen observational skills and ability to get people to confide in her, she searches for the truth. Kausar is a tenacious aunty who must come to terms with her past as well as her future. Recommended for fans of Robert Thorogood's Marlow Murder Club series, Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry books, and the TV show Mrs. Sidhu Investigates. Suggested by Rummanah.
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The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
2025 by Jones, Stephen GrahamGet this item"What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had." Made a vampire in 1870, Good Stab wages a bloody, futile campaign against the destruction of his Pikuni (Blackfoot) people and the bison herds they depend on. Decades later, he tells his story to Rev. Arthur Beaucarne. And then things really get scary. Denying his readers reassurance at every turn, Jones elevates historical horror to the level of art. Suggested by Andrew.
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Julie Chan Is Dead
2025 by Zhang, LiannGet this itemA young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade. This buzzy forthcoming debut thriller received a raving review from Publishers Weekly, which calls the book “a witty and insightful thriller about the pitfalls of influencer culture.” Suggested by Rummanah.
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Saltwater
2025 by Hays, KatyGet this itemA fast-paced, character-driven psychological suspense novel that is perfect for fans of The White Lotus, The Perfect Couple, and Lucy Foley. In 1992 Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah’s death is ruled an accident, and every year the family returns to prove it’s true. But on the 30th anniversary of Sarah’s death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them—the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died. Suggested by Rummanah.
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The Starving Saints
by Starling, CaitlinGet this itemCaitlin Starling's newest horror book is a combination medieval horror/dark fantasy novel that revels in nauseating fever-dream bacchanalia. Three women trapped in a besieged castle find themselves saved by what might be divine intervention—or a Faustian bargain. This fantastical, eat-or-be-eaten nightmare is not for the faint of heart (or weak of stomach)! Suggested by Amy G.
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You Are Fatally Invited
2025 by Pliego, AndeGet this itemAnd Then There Were None meets Clue meets Glass Onion. A group of mystery writers are invited to an isolated island for a retreat. Each of them is hiding secrets from their past, and someone is out for revenge. Suggested by Brenna and Andrew.
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King of Ashes
by Cosby, S. A.Get this itemS.A. Cosby returns with a much anticipated Godfather-inspired Black Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama. The film rights have been snatched up before the book was published and it is soon going to be adapted into a movie for Netflix. Booklist raves, "a fast-paced thriller that will have readers asking whether the ends justify the means if there is no end in sight . . . Reminiscent of the great tragedies, this is Cosby at his best. Will appeal to fans of Attica Locke, Jordan Harper, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia." Suggested by Rummanah.
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When the Wolf Comes Home
2025 by Cassidy, NatGet this itemThere’s a lot of twisty, action-packed slasher horror in this book, which makes the novel’s nuanced emotionality hit all the harder. It’s a terrifying, thoughtful, and exhilarating road-trip chase where Nat Cassidy puts family and the cycle of violence on full display. Suggested by Amy G.
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The Last Session
2025 by Bartz, JuliaGet this itemThis riveting locked room thriller is perfect for fans of Freida Macfadden. Social worker Thea learns that her new patient, a catatonic woman, is linked to Thea's traumatic past. The woman will lead Thea deeper into her own harrowing history and to a suspicious retreat center. Suggested by Rummanah.
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We Are Watching
2025 by Gaylin, AlisonGet this itemAn ordinary family learns that they are at the center of a bizarre conspiracy theory/mythology created by a cybercult. Gaylin points to previous instances of mass-derangement, but this book ends up being a slice of distinctly 21st Century paranoia, one that will have readers wondering what dark rabbit holes the people they see every day have gone down. Suggested by Andrew.
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Hungerstone
2025 by Dunn, KatGet this itemThis historical horror is a sapphic retelling of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, where a married woman in Victorian England is being preyed on by a vampire. Themes of womanhood and queer desire prevail in this steamy and menacing novel. Suggested by Aubree.
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The Museum Detective
2025 by Phillips, Maha KhanGet this itemInspired by a real, unresolved true crime and set in Karachi, Pakistan, this book introduces readers to archeologist Gulfsa "Gul" Delani as she investigates whether the gilded mummy of a young woman is a historical treasure. The shocking answers are a lot closer than Gul suspects. For fans of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan, Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway, or Nilima Rao's Akal Singh. Suggested by Andrew and Rummanah.
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Strange Pictures
2025 by UketsuGet this itemMysterious Youtuber and Japanese literary superstar Uketsu invites you to join in on the mystery in this book. Hand-drawn pictures, interconnected stories, and a vibe that is quirky, cozy, yet creepy make this a great choice for anyone who's looking for something a little different in their mysteries. Suggested by Paul.
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The Staircase in the Woods
2025 by Wendig, ChuckGet this itemTwenty years after a childhood friend vanished on a mysterious staircase in the woods, a group of former high school friends reunites to uncover the truth, facing the dark secrets and horrors that await beyond the staircase. Stranger Things meets Stephen King’s It in the latest disturbing and suspenseful horror novel by Chuck Wendig. Suggested by Rummanah.
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She Doesn't Have a Clue
2025 by Moke, Jenny ElderGet this itemWhen Kate Valentine, author of the bestselling Loretta Starling mystery series, decides to attend the wedding of her editor (and ex-fiancé), her sleuthing skills are put to the test. An entertaining and light read that delivers satisfyingly on the rom-com cozy mystery hybrid. The dialogue sparkles with humor and the characters are delightful. Suggested by Rummanah.
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Eat the Ones You Love
2025 by Griffin, Sarah MariaGet this itemA queer Little-Shop-of-Horrors set in a dying Irish mall, this dread-filled workplace horror novel is not one to miss. The main narrator, a carnivorous plant with a possessive hunger for the florist who tends to him, is grotesquely fascinating in his alien single-minded obsession. Suggested by Amy G.
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The Case of the Missing Maid
2025 by Osler, RobGet this itemOut to prove herself as the Prescott Detective Agency’s first female operative, Harriet Morrow is determined to do more than go through the motions when an eccentric client insists her maid, Agnes, has met with foul play. What the bicycle-riding sleuth hadn’t counted on was that Agnes’s sister awakened feelings she’d kept tightly under wraps, nor being introduced to the places in 1890's Chicago where the LGBTQ+ community congregates. The start of a new historical mystery series with abundant local appeal. Suggested by Andrew.
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Direct Descendant
2025 by Huff, TanyaGet this item‘Cozy horror’ might read like an oxymoron, but it’s the perfect descriptor for Tanya Huff’s newest standalone, a small-town sapphic eldritch horror. Readers of T. Kingfisher will find a lot to enjoy in the blend of humor, darkness, and warmth. Suggested by Amy G.
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Alter Ego
2024 by Segura, AlexGet this itemNothing could make Annie Bustamante work on another comic book—unless it's the chance to finally do right by The Legendary Lynx, a female superhero the world had already forgotten when Annie discovered her as a child. Trouble is, those who try to untangle the mystery of The Lynx’s origins (and ownership) have a way of ending up dead. More a thematic companion to Secret Identity than a straight sequel, this book is another love letter to comics and the people who make them, punctuated by more of Sandy Jarrell’s full-page illustrations. Suggested by Andrew.
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Immaculate Conception
by Huang, Ling LingGet this itemIn art school, Enka forms a deeply codependent bond with her friend Mathilde, fueled by her admiration and envy of Mathilde’s success. After growing apart, the two adults choose to use a new technology to inextricably connect each other’s minds, bringing them into an all-encompassing and irreversible evolution of their old closeness. Unsettling and disturbing, the book provokes the reader with questions about wealth, bodily autonomy, and whether art can ever be truly original to its creator. Suggested by Amy G.
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Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
2025 by Baker, Kylie LeeGet this itemCora Zeng, a crime-scene cleaner in New York City's Chinatown, witnesses her sister's murder by a killer who yelled "bat eater." Despite her efforts, she can't shake the dread as bat carcasses appear at crime scenes and all her recent cleanups involve East Asian women. Cora will soon learn you can't ignore hungry ghosts. Recommended for fans of supernatural and social horror, this adult debut shines a light on anti-Asian hate and harassment. Suggested by Rummanah.
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The Queens of Crime
2025 by Benedict, MarieGet this itemIn 1931, Dorothy Sayers recruits fellow writers Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh to solve a sensational murder. But will what initially seems like one of their whodunits put them in danger? Marie Benedict’s first mystery shows the same knack for revivifying her real-life characters as her historical fiction. A treat regardless of whether you’ve ever read a single “Golden Age” detective story. Suggested by Andrew.
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