A Most Murderous Summer: 31 Reads for July

Welcome to the height of summer! If you have a trip coming up, this month’s staff picks are a great place to source your vacation reads, especially if you like a mystery. Four of our thirty-one recommendations have the word “murder” in the title, and a handful more have murderous plots. Let’s skip past the examination of what that says about our staff and get straight to the books, shall we?

FICTIONRecommended by Lindsay Ordinary Love: A NovelMarie Rutkoski

This one’s for all my girls who have ever googled the words “compulsory heterosexuality.” Ordinary Love follows Emily, a woman on the precipice of finally leaving her abusive husband, as she reconnects with an old flame from her teen years and her own queer identity. One of the best love stories I’ve read this year–complicated, swoony, and heartfelt.

Recommended by Chelsea King of Ashes: A NovelS. A. Cosby

Equal parts crime story and family saga, Cosby’s latest novel is a fast-paced, heart-in-your-throat read. Roman Carruthers and his siblings will have you both cheering for them and groaning at their missteps. I devoured every page.

Recommended by Jennifer Bury Our Bones in the Midnight SoilV. E. Schwab

A wickedly luxurious tale of three women’s stories tangled in centuries of bloody immortality. What is life without love and love without hunger? This is a sapphic vampire love story like you’ve never experienced before.

Also loved by Naomi!

Recommended by Rae Ann The Fire Concerto: A NovelSarah Landenwich

A former concert pianist inherits a metronome with a dark past. A female musician murdered her teacher with it in 1885. Or did she? Truths uncovered about the metronome and the female composers of the past present an opportunity for second chances in this immersive story.

Read Rae Ann’s interview with Sarah Landenwich!

Recommended by Katie Palm Meridian: A NovelGrace Flahive

It’s the year 2065, the climate crisis is raging, and so are the octogenarians at the Palm Meridian, a queer retirement home in the part of Florida not underwater. Hannah has spent a decade here, but when she receives a terminal diagnosis she decides end things on her own terms surrounded by her beloved community and hoping the one who got away will return. This book is laugh out loud, deeply moving and so good.

Recommended by Patsy Bug Hollow: A NovelMichelle Huneven

A breezy 1970s road trip opens this novel; soon a sudden loss ensues, one that will ripple through generations. Huneven’s gentle yet unsentimental storytelling deftly captures the weight of grief, the messiness of family, and the unexpected ways lives stay connected. Worth a read; this one will stay with you.

Recommended by Ashby Welcome to Murder Week: A NovelKaren Dukess

3 in 1! Romance. Murder. Family mystery. Before she died, Cath’s mom booked spots for a murder week in England. Cath goes, makes new friends who become her detective team in the game, runs into a cute bartender, and stumbles onto secrets connecting her mom to the town. It’s an engaging romance. No, mystery. No, fiction. No, all 3.

Recommended by Rachel Notes on Infinity: A NovelAustin Taylor

Being compared to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a hard thing to live up to, but boy, did this exceed every expectation I had. Notes on Infinity is a heartbreaking meditation on the temporal nature of life.

Recommended by Rae Ann Everything’s Coming Up RosieCourtney Walsh

When a failing actor receives an offer to direct a regional theatre’s summer production, she jumps at the chance without reading the fine print. Upon arrival, she finds out the theatre is in a retirement community, but decides to stay. Her senior actors, a cute co-worker, and new friends may make her impulse decision worth it all in this sweet rom-com.

Recommended by Natalie Party of Liars: A NovelKelsey Cox

The chilling twists and turns will keep you guessing until the very end of this debut mystery from Kelsey Cox. The small cast of characters and multiple-POV narration make it perfect for fans of Lucy Foley. However, for my fellow homesick Texans, it is the Hill Country setting and H-E-B references that establish this as an absolute must read.

Recommended by Ashby A Most Puzzling MurderBianca Marais

Are you an enigmatologist? In this interactive mystery, you can be a detective AND puzzlemaster. Destiny gets more than she bargained for when she is hired by the Scruffmores. Set on a remote island in a creepy castle with a family full of secrets. To find the murderer, she has to solve puzzles. And you do too. Search for clues to solve the puzzles and the murder.

Recommended by RJ Julius Julius: A NovelAurora Stewart de Peña

Julius Julius is a satirical novel in three parts about an ad agency with ancient origins, where ghosts and dachshunds roam its cavernous halls. While often written with a dark or bittersweet sense of humor, it also contains unflinching reflections on serious cultural, capitalistic, and corporate realities. Strange, quick, and powerful.

Recommended by Raegyn The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy #1)Antonia Hodgson

The King’s dead…

Recommended by Rachel The Secret Romantic’s Book of Magic: Twelve Spellbinding Romantasy StoriesOlivie Blake, Kelley Armstrong, Katherine Arden, Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Tasha Suri, Melissa Marr, Megan Bannen, A.G. Slatter, A.C. Wise, Kelly Andrew, Kamilah Cole, Eliza Chan

An anthology of love and magic in its many forms. With stories from Olivie Blake, Katherine Arden, Tasha Suri and more! There is something here for every fantasy reader to love!

Recommended by Kim Murder Takes a Vacation: A NovelLaura Lippman

A new mystery by Laura Lippman with a cozy vibe and a plus-size main character who isn’t self-deprecating about her weight or trying to change it. Other authors, take note! Mrs. Blossom is a widow in her sixties who wins the lottery, books a cruise in France with her bestie, meets a man (!!) and helps solve a murder. It’s French, fat positive and fabulous.

Recommended by Sarah Rental House: A NovelWeike Wang

A sharp and incisive novel about the complexities of marriage, family, race, and class. It’s dry and darkly funny, with profound insight to match. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you’ll feel like a fly on the wall of a very real family dealing with very timely issues.

Recommended by Ashby The Listeners: A NovelMaggie Stiefvater

I consumed this book. A luxury hotel is repurposed to house Axis diplomats as WWII commences. Hoss, the hotel manager whose accent goes back to coal mines, has to work with FBI agent Tucker who came from coal too. And what does Hoss ask her staff to do? Provide luxury to their enemies. Stiefvater expertly crafts characters, places them in a time and place, and moves them across the pages.

Recommended by Chelsea Murder on Sex Island: A Luella van Horn MysteryJo Firestone

Sex Island is a reality show with a missing contest problem. In steps Luella van Horn (alter ego for divorced social worker Marie Jones) as the newest contest and undercover private investigator hired by production to find the missing cast member. A perfect summer read for fans of reality TV, and the author’s audiobook performance truly adds to the hilarity. I genuinely laughed out loud so many times.

Recommended by Cheryl Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell: A NovelGillian French

A woman is willing to gamble with her safety, her marriage and her family to solve the mystery of her sister’s disappearance 16 years ago. Throw in a stalker who knows a lot of details and you have a thriller.

Recommended by Kathy The Doorman: A NovelChris Pavone

A thriller, yes, but so much more. Chris Pavone skewers the rich, conservatives, liberals, in this delicious sendup of New York City. And it’s such fun to read about that!

Recommended by Aly RickyWhitney Collins

This collection of short stories is all about love. Good, bad, and everything in between. It will make you laugh, it will make you think. Perfect quick read for the beach this summer.

Recommended by Rae Ann The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau: A NovelKristin Harmel

A priceless bracelet stolen in WWII resurfaces present day. A professional jewel thief knows it’s the key to discovering her sister’s fate in this amazing story.

Recommended by Treva The Letter Carrier: A NovelFrancesca Giannone

Family dynamics can get messy, especially when secrets are left untold. Set in Italy beginning in the 1930s, this story follows the lives of Anna and her family. Anna is not one to conform to what the world expects, especially when she takes a job as a letter carrier, befriends the local “crazy” woman, and starts to wear pants (*gasp*). Follow along as the family navigates the challenges of life.

NONFICTION & POETRYRecommended by Rachel The Möbius BookCatherine Lacey

The Mobius Book defies genre, reality, time, and space. A somewhat fictional memoir, Catherine Lacey invents characters to make sense of her recent history of heartbreak and loss. Every page brings a new perspective and revelation. And with no beginning or end, you can sit in this interstitial literary space forever.

Recommended by Ashby The Wonder of Seashells: Discover the Meaning & Magic of the Ocean’s TreasuresMelissa Hobson

I hunt for imperfect shells, interested in their stories. This book is all about their stories revealing the magic of shells: rare shells, homes shells provide, ones more valuable than rubies, one auctioned for big money. The illustrations are gorgeous and the accompanying text is a flurry of facts.

CLASSICS & BACKLISTRecommended by RJ Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: StoriesKevin Wilson

This story collection is full of powerful gems faceted by human connection and loneliness. Kevin Wilson’s writing is, as always, like nothing else I’ve ever read, but exactly like everything I’ve ever felt.

Recommended by Elizabeth Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A NovelMaria Semple

This book was published over 10 years ago, and I still find myself consistently recommending it to anyone in search of a warm, witty, and adventurous novel. Perhaps not a conventional beach read, but it’s one that I guarantee will have you laughing across pages and flying through it. If you haven’t met Bernadette yet, now is the time!

Recommended by Treva How to Age Disgracefully: A NovelClare Pooley

These characters are quirky, but so lovable! You will laugh out loud at some of the situations in which the characters find themselves. A good reminder that “old” people are not always as old in mind and spirit as we sometimes assume. This was a fun book that spans the generations in a series of mishaps and triumphs.

Recommended by A.J. The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our TimeKeith Houston

If you’ve ever had a question about *literally* any part of a book, I’ll bet the farm that Houston answers it here more thoroughly than you could’ve imagined, and will make you laugh in the process. Out in paperback almost a decade after it was originally published, this wonderful title covers it all–paper, ink, binding, printing presses, papyrus, vellum, et cetera ad nauseam.

Recommended by Naomi Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a NationKristin Kobes Du Mez

This book may or may not have taken me three months to finish, but it was worth it! Du Mez skillfully illustrates the why’s and how’s of American Evangelism, covering how 75 years’ worth of misogyny, militarism, and masculine ideals formed the Religious Right that we know today. I think everyone should read this book.

First Editions Club: July Selection The Satisfaction Café: A NovelKathy Wang

I recently bailed out on a novel I didn’t like after reading fifty pages (the writer had a good reputation, which is the only reason I went that far). A friend later told me I was wrong, the book was excellent, except for the first hundred and fifty pages. Call me impatient. I cannot wade through a hundred and fifty bad pages to get to a great book.

The greatness of The Satisfaction Café is there on page one: Joan Liang, married at twenty-five, stabs her husband of six weeks. It was an accident (sort of). She wasn’t sure why she’d ever thought marriage would be so special.

The marriage might not have been special but the novel is. From that original mishap, Kathy Wang follows Joan for the rest of her life, even though Joan is not the character any of the other characters (her parents, her second husband, her children, her friends) would have pegged as central to the story. With quiet perseverance, Joan continually picks herself up from life’s disappointments and moves ahead in her own direction, perfectly satisfied to be secondary and supporting.

What Joan should not be is underestimated, nor should the book, which is both funny and brilliantly crafted. Think Carol Shields’ The Stone Diaries or Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread. This is a novel both deep and wide, tracing the arc of a single life and then showing how that life ripples out across time. At every turn Joan proves to be more insightful and more necessary than people believed her to be, the result of which is this insightful, necessary and beautiful novel.

Enjoy.

Ann Patchett

More about our First Editions Club: Every member receives a first edition of the selected book of the month, signed by the author. Books are carefully chosen by our staff of readers, and our picks have gone on to earn major recognition including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Plus, there’s no membership fee or premium charge for these books. Build a treasured library of signed first editions and always have something great to read! Makes a FABULOUS gift, too.

Love, Parnassus: July Selection Only Lovers in the BuildingNadine Gonzalez

After her legal career comes to a sudden and humiliating end, Liliane Lyon books a restorative summer rental at The Icon, a quintessential Art Deco building in Miami Beach, where her only plan is to bask in the sun, read, and sip cocktails. But soon she’s enchanted by the colorful community, including university professor Benedicto Romero–resident tortured poet, whose sole intention for sabbatical is to indulge in brooding introspection.

When they discover a shared passion for romance novels, Lily and Ben are soon spending hours reading together by the pool, the spark between them unwittingly giving the other residents the impression that they’re experts in matters of the heart…no matter that IRL their disastrous love lives bear little resemblance to the stories they’re reading.

But while Ben and Lily can pinpoint a trope a mile away and give excellent advice to others, they can’t make sense of the sizzling chemistry between them, and the suggestion of a professional podcast suddenly forces them to consider the long-term. So what if it means working even closer together So what if their banter makes Lily’s head spin It’s the summer of taking chances, but a word to the wise: Miami isn’t the place for growth and rebirth. It’s the place to get messy.

The Love, Parnassus box is a monthly subscription box for romance readers curated by the experts at Parnassus Books. Each month you will receive a first edition book (which is sometimes signed), a letter from the author, a custom sticker, and a bookmark to track your reading. The Love, Parnassus selection will focus on debut and new-to-you romance authors. Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite romance reader for 3, 6, or 12 months.