Best Summer Reads 2016: Mystery & Thriller

24 May 2016

Are you going on a relaxing vacation for Memorial Day, but you want to add a little excitement to your trip? Mystery and thriller books are the perfect way to add a bit of adventure to your vacation without leaving the comfort of your poolside lounge chair. Last year, books like Girl on the Train and Finder’s Keepers gave us the most thrills during our summer vacations. Many fantastic books have already been released this year, so here are some of our favorite “best summer reads 2016” of the mystery/thriller genre.

Best Summer Reads 2016: Mystery & Thriller

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The Last Mile

David Baldacci

If you’re looking for action thrillers, look no further than The Last Mile. This book is part of Baldacci’s Amos Decker series, and it follows the newly appointed FBI agent as he tries to solve a complicated criminal case. Decker meets a convicted murderer named Melvin Mars, and both men have endured eerily similar life tragedies. In addition to being entertaining, the Associated Press said that The Last Mile addresses deeper subject matter such as racism, father-son relationships, and capital punishment.

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15th Affair

James Patterson

This book is the 15th installment of Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series. The series starts off with a group women who work together to solve crimes in San Fransisco, and this book continues their crime fighting escapades. An “explosive tragedy” just hit San Fransisco, and Lindsay enlists the help of the Women’s Murder Club to figure out what happened. Amazon readers have been raving about this addition to the series, saying that it was engaging from start to finish. James Patterson is one of the world’s top bestselling authors, so the 15th Affair will not disappoint!

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Extreme Prey

John Sandford

Extreme Prey continues the exciting story of the Prey Series, following detective Lucas Davenport on his newest crime fighting adventures. He’s now no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA, so he decides to help his friend run for governor. But trouble seems to follow Davenport wherever he goes, and they discover that they are being followed by an armed gunman who wants to kill the governor. Bestselling thriller author Stephen King said that missing out on Sanford’s books could mean “missing one of the great summer-read novelists of all time.”

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Troublemaker

Linda Howard

Hailed as the “queen of romantic suspense” by Booklist, Linda Howard brings us another exciting and fast-paced thriller novel. The story follows military operative Morgan Yancy and police chief Bo Maran as they attempt to figure out who is hunting them down. There may be a romantic element to the story, which only makes the novel that much more enthralling. RT Book Reviews listed Troublemaker as a top pick, and they said it has a “slow-burn passion and dangerous action a reader could ask for.”

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Hide Away

Iris Johansen

Hide Away is the most recent addition to Johansen’s Eve Duncan series. Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor, and she is currently trying to protect a young girl from the ruthless enemies that are after her. Reader to Reader has praised Johansen on her “talent in character development, impeccable plotting, and remarkable depiction,” and those strengths definitely live on in her newest novel. The next book in the series, Night and Day, is coming out in July, so reading Hide Away over your Memorial Day weekend will give you plenty of time to catch up!

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Don’t You Cry

Mary Kubica

Don’t You Cry is a psychological thriller, and fans of Gone Girl are sure to love it. A young woman from downtown Chicago disappears, which leaves her friends confused and scared for her safety. At the same time, a mysterious girl appears in a small Michigan coffee shop and wickedly charms a young boy who works there. Author Kimberly McCreight hailed Don’t You Cry as a “wickedly smart page-turner,” and Kirkus Reviews said that Kubica is a “master of suspense.”

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Jane Steele

Lyndsay Faye

Fans of Jane Eyre will love this entertaining retelling of a classic story. Jane Steele is a sensitive orphan with a murderous past, and she has dreams of completely possessing the new master of her childhood home, Mr. Charles Thornfield. This satirical romance is filled with thrilling events and dark humor, and Cosmopolitan said that it reminded them of the TV series Dexter.

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The Steel Kiss

Jeffery Deaver

Continuing on the Lincoln Rhyme series, The Steel Kiss is filled with excitement and unexpected plot twists. Forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are on the trail of a brilliant killer who uses common household objects as his killing weapons. The New York Times Book Review said that this addition to the series is “darkly witty” and “unsettling,” and Deaver has been praised for his ability to weave deception and manipulation throughout his stories.

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All Things Cease to Appear

Elizabeth Brundage

Previously listed as People Magazine’s Book of the Week, All Things Cease to Appear is both a murder mystery and psychological thriller. George Clare returns home from work one day to find his wife dead and his young daughter alone. He is immediately targeted as the primary suspect, but this mystery is much more complex than it seems at face value. Authors and readers alike have praised this novel for painting a intricate picture of marriage and deception.

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Perfect Days

Raphael Montes

Originally published in Brazil, Perfect Days is a psychological thriller that is reminiscent of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Teo Avelar is a young medical school student with a bit of a crazy side. He kidnaps a beautiful young woman with whom he becomes obsessed and takes her on a road trip across Brazil. The Chicago Tribune said that Perfect Days “may be the most original and viscerally explicit novel you’ll read this year.”

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