Summer is in full swing! There are so many great book releases hitting bookshelves this month, which is perfect to start your holiday weekend. One of the great things about summer reading is discovering that book (or books) that allows you to break away from reality, whether it is for an hour or 20 minutes. And a lot is happening this summer that can cause anyone to take a break from the real world. But let’s not dwell on that…
This month’s releases perfectly define “escapism”. Cozy mysteries, edge-of-your-seat thrillers, heartwarming family fiction…there’s something for everyone this month! So imagine yourself on a beach, or maybe you are reading this post on a beach; wherever you are reading this, be prepared to encounter fascinating reads that will make the best out of your summer reading!
Featured Book of the Month
The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster by Shauna Robinson
One estranged family. One lost recipe. One last barbecue on the line. Mae is about to learn what happens when things go south…
Mae Townsend has always dreamed of connecting with her estranged Black family in the South. She grew up picturing relatives who looked like her, crowded dinner tables, bustling kitchens. And, of course, the Townsend family barbecue, the tradition that kept her late father flying to North Carolina year after year, despite the mysterious rift that always required her to stay behind.
But as Mae’s wedding draws closer, promising a future of always standing out among her white in-laws, suddenly not knowing the Townsends hits her like a blow. So when news arrives that her paternal grandmother has passed, she decides it’s time to head South.
What she finds is a family in turmoil, a long-standing grudge intact, a lost mac & cheese recipe causing grief, and a family barbecue on the brink of disaster. Not willing to let her dreams of family slip away, Mae steps up to throw a barbecue everyone will remember.
For better or for worse. (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
A Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy
Six strangers. One night. But how many survivors?When a group of six strangers who have only ever spoken on a creepy Deddit thread decide to meet IRL, they have one plan in mind: they are going to play The Midnight Game and summon the Midnight Man.Rules of the game are simple: Do not turn on the lights. Do not go to sleep. Do not leave the building.
And once you start the game, you must finish it–there’s no other way out… (Credit: Delacorte Press)
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Set again in the beloved Japanese bookshop and nearby coffee shop in the Jimbochi neighborhood of Toyko, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop deepens the relationship between Takako, her uncle Satoru, and the people in their lives. A new cast of heartwarming regulars have appeared in the shop, including an old man who wears the same ragged mouse-colored sweater and another who collects books solely for the official stamps with the author’s personal seal.
Satoshi Yagisawa illuminates the everyday relationships between people that are forged and grown through a shared love of books. Characters leave and return, fall in and out of love, and some eventually die. As time passes, Satoru, with Takako’s help, must choose whether to keep the bookshop open or shutter its doors forever. Making the decision will take uncle and niece on an emotional journey back to their family’s roots and remind them again what a bookstore can mean to an individual, a neighborhood, and a whole culture. (Credit: Harper Perennial)
Dandelion by Sabir Pirzada and illustrated by Martín Morazzo and Vanesa del Rey
When climate change and automation disrupt the lives of millions, a new civilization is formed in the skies — one that threatens the wealthy citizens who’ve been hoarding Earth’s meager resources for themselves.
From SABIR PIRZADA, writer of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel TV series, comes a bold vision of the future! (Credit: Image Comics)
Just Playing House by Farah Heron
This has to be a joke. Stylist Marley Kamal has waited years for the chance to be a private shopper for a major celebrity. But finding out that her first big client is the guy she went to prom with–and slept with and was promptly ghosted by–seems like the universe is mocking her. Because Nikhil Shamdasani is back, about to star in a major movie, and is more drop-dead hot than ever . . . at the worst possible time.
Marley’s only weeks away from an elective double mastectomy and breast reconstruction that’s supposed to save her life. But this surgery is going to change things in more ways than she can possibly imagine. For one, Nik is so eager to have her as his stylist, he’s offered to stay in her home and take care of her while she recovers. Now Marley is about to learn that as the door to her old life closes, something–or rather someone–else will enter . . . if she’s ready to let him in. (Credit: Forever)
Not About A Boy by Myah Hollis
Amélie Coeur has never known what it truly means to be happy.
She thought she’d found happiness once, in a love that ended in tragedy and nearly sent her over the edge. Now, at seventeen, Mel is beginning to piece her life back together. Under the supervision of Laurelle Child Services, the exclusive foster care agency that raised her, Mel is sober and living with a new family among Manhattan’s elite. It’s her last chance at adoption before she ages out of the system, and she promised, this time, she’ll try.
But a casual relationship with a boy is turning into something she never intended for it to be, causing small cracks in her carefully constructed walls. Then the sister she has no memory of contacts Mel, unearthing complicated feelings about the past and what could have been.
As the anniversary of the worst day of her life approaches, Mel must weather the rising tides of grief and depression before she loses herself, and those close to her, all over again. (Credit: HarperTeen)
Gin Palace by Tracy Whitwell
Tanz can talk to ghosts, although she’d prefer it if she couldn’t. Struggling to make ends meet as an actress and wholly unsuited to supply teaching, Tanz is only one bad day away from a meltdown. And the babbling ghosts aren’t helping.
So when Tanz is offered a paid acting gig in her hometown, things start to look up. But Newcastle’s dead won’t stay quiet for long, and soon Tanz becomes haunted with visions of a mysterious Gin Palace guarded by a sinister figure. As Tanz starts to piece together a terrible tragedy, it becomes clear there’s no limit to what the poltergeist will do to keep his secrets his own.
Unfortunately, he’s never met anyone quite like Tanz before . . . (Credit: Pan Publishing)
1949 by Dustin Weaver
Expected Publication Date: July 9
By day, Detective Blank is a cop on the trail of a vicious serial killer in the year 1949. But when she sleeps, Blank lives a different life– two hundred years in the future. Is Detective Blank next on the killer’s list? Her dreams may hold the key to the case, if only she can remember them in time. The danger mounts and the suspense builds as the detective closes in, in this genre-bending sci fi-noir thriller.
For Detective Blank, to catch the killer will mean facing her greatest mystery–herself. (Credit: Image Comics)
Sounds Like a Plan by Pamela Samuels Young & Dwayne Alexander Smith
Expected Publication Date: July 9
Jackson Jones and Mackenzie Cunningham have a lot in common. They are both hard-working private investigators with their own firms in Los Angeles, each happily single, and very good at their jobs. But when they’re together, they are like oil and water.
After they find themselves working the same missing persons case, the idea of collaborating seems about as likely as a blizzard in Beverly Hills. But once it’s clear that they have been set up to take the fall for a murder, they have no choice but to join forces and make a plan that will expose the truth.
Bickering their way from Century City to Malibu and beyond, they find it increasingly hard to deny the sparks flying between them. But with a small army of mercenaries in hot pursuit and a killer intent on covering his tracks, there’s not a lot of time to sort through their complicated feelings. Told in alternating perspectives, this rollicking, romantic thrill ride makes for a swoon-worthy mystery. (Credit: Atria Books)
Carmilla: The Last Vampire Hunter by Amy Chu and Soo Lee
Expected Publication Date: July 9
Before Dracula, before Nosferatu, there was…CARMILLA.
In the second volume of this feminist tale of murder, monsters, and mystery layered with dark Chinese folklore, social worker turned vampire hunter Athena Lo has just lost everyone she loves–and it’s all her fault.
Hoping to put her life back together, Athena travels to San Francisco’s Chinatown on a quest to uncover the secrets of her mysterious family history. But her journey escalates into a nightmare when she’s violently introduced to a new, ruthless gang of Asian American vampires and its unlikely leader, who hold shocking truths. As she navigates this dangerous territory, Athena can’t escape the ghost of Carmilla…and neither can the vampires. Athena must decide–whose side is she on?
Inspired by the gothic novel that started the vampire genre, this queer, feminist murder mystery graphic novel is a tale of identity, obsession and fateful family secrets. (Credit: Berger Books)
London in Black by Jack Lutz
Expected Publication Date: July 9
Detective Inspector Lucy Stone’s life was changed forever when terrorists deployed a lethal nerve gas at Waterloo Station, killing 10% of London’s population. Lucy should have died – but she didn’t, all because of something she’ll spend the rest of her life atoning for.
Two years later, copy-cat strikes plague the city. When London’s most important scientist is brutally murdered, Lucy discovers he may have been working on an antidote to the chemical weapon. But time is running out. Will Lucy find the antidote – and catch the killer – before it’s too late? (Credit: Pushkin Vertigo)
I Shot The Devil by Ruth McIver
Expected Publication Date: July 9
FIVE WENT INTO THE WOODS. TWO NEVER CAME BACK.
Erin Sloane was sixteen when high school senior Andre Villiers was murdered by his friends.
They were her friends, too, led by the intense, charismatic Ricky Hell. Five people went into West Cypress Woods the night Andre was murdered. Only three came out.
Ativan, alcohol, and distance had dimmed Erin’s memories of that time. But nearly twenty years later, an aging father will bring her home. Now a journalist, she is asked to write a story about the Southport Three and the thrill-kill murder that electrified the country. Erin’s investigation propels her closer and closer to a terrifying truth. And closer and closer to danger.
An unforgettable story of murder, trauma, and childhoods lost, I Shot the Devil is a taut, prize-winning debut novel from an electrifying new talent. (Credit: Blackstone Publishing)
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Expected Publication Date: July 9
Misha knows that chasing success in Hollywood can be hell.
But finally, after years of trying to make it, his big moment is here: an Oscar nomination. And the executives at the studio for his long-running streaming series know just the thing to kick his career to the next level: kill off the gay characters, “for the algorithm,” in the upcoming season finale.
Misha refuses, but he soon realizes that he’s just put a target on his back. And what’s worse, monsters from his horror movie days are stalking him and his friends through the hills above Los Angeles.
Haunted by his past, Misha must risk his entire future–before the horrors from the silver screen find a way to bury him for good. (Credit: Tor Nightfire)
A Greater Goal: The Epic Battle for Equal Pay in Women’s Soccer-And Beyond by Elizabeth Rusch
Expected Publication Date: July 9
With the passage of Title IX in 1972, the doors opened for young women to play sports at a higher level. But for the women on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, being able to compete at an international level didn’t mean fair treatment and fair compensation.
From economy-class airplane seats and inadequate lodging to minimal marketing and slashed wages, the women representing the United States at the Olympics, the World Cup, and other tournaments had reason to be fed up. They were expected to–and did–win, but they weren’t compensated for their talent and dedication. With the help of their union and in collaboration with the men’s team, they secured an equitable contract in 2022 that ultimately benefited both national teams as well as athletes of the future.
Elizabeth Rusch’s A Greater Goal chronicles how members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team fought to receive fair treatment and equal pay despite the intense pushback they received from U.S. Soccer, the governing body of soccer in the United States. With a narrative that includes player profiles and vignettes framed from team member perspectives, A Greater Goal illuminates the work, support, and grit needed to be treated with equality in a world that often undervalues the contributions of women. (Credit: Greenwillow Books)
The Day He Never Came Home by Andrew DeYoung
Expected Publication Date: July 9
Regan Peters knows her husband John wants to give her and their children a good life. The long hours he puts in as a financial advisor prove his dedication, and despite how mysterious he is about his past, that’s been enough for her to get through the hard days. Until the FBI shows up at their door, and Regan learns that her husband has been running a Ponzi scheme, is mixed up with dangerous criminals, and has been living under an assumed identity all these years. Everything she thought she knew about her life has been a lie.
That includes the present John gifted her the day before he disappeared–a lake house, bought with cash, and put in her name only. With her life falling apart, Regan must make a split-second decision: does she tell the FBI about the house? Or does she buy some time to forge her own path to saving herself? But one compromise inevitably leads to another, and one dangerous secret builds on the next.
When her lies of omission to the FBI agents begin to raise questions, Regan becomes inextricably embroiled in John’s crimes, the true extent of which are just beginning to be revealed. Now that her comfortable life is clearly over, Regan is learning she is capable of far more than she ever imagined. She will do anything to protect herself, her children, and their future. Anything. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
The Wilds by Sarah Pearse
Expected Publication Date: July 16
Detective Elin Warner unravels the mystery behind the disappearance of a young woman in a propulsive new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium.
Since the dark events that scarred her childhood, Kier Templer escaped her hometown to live life on the road. She and her twin have never lost contact until, on a trip to a Portuguese national park, Kier vanishes without a trace.
Detective Elin Warner arrives in the same park ready to immerse herself in its vast wilderness – only to hear about Kier’s disappearance and discover a disturbing map she left behind. The few strangers at an isolated campsite close rank against Elin’s questions, and the park’s wild beauty starts to turn sinister.
Elin must untangle the clues to find out what really happened to Kier. But when you follow a trail, you have to be careful to watch your back… (Credit: Pamela Dorman Books)
House of Shades by Lianne Dillsworth
Expected Publication Date: July 16
London, 1833.
Doctress Hester Reeves has been offered a life-changing commission.
But it comes at a price. She must leave behind her husband and their canal-side home in Kings Cross and move to Tall Trees–a dark and foreboding house in Fitzrovia.
If Hester can cure the ailing health of its owner, Gervaise Cherville, she will receive payment that will bring her everything she could dream of.
But on arriving at Tall Trees, Hester quickly discovers that an even bigger task awaits her. Now she must unearth secrets that have lain hidden for decades – including one that will leave Hester’s own life forever changed. . . . (Credit: Harper)
Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead
Expected Publication Date: July 16
Victor Silvius has spent nine years as an inmate at The Grange, a private sanatorium, for the crime of attacking judge Sir Giles Drury. Now, the judge’s wife, Lady Elspeth Drury, believes that Silvius is the one responsible for a series of threatening letters her husband has recently received. Eager to avoid the scandal that involving the local police would entail, Lady Elspeth seeks out retired stage magician Joseph Spector, whose discreet involvement in a case Sir Giles recently presided over greatly impressed her.
Meanwhile, Miss Caroline Silvius is disturbed after a recent visit to her brother Victor, convinced that he isn’t safe at The Grange. Someone is trying to kill him and she suspects the judge, who has already made Silvius’ life a living hell, may be behind it. Caroline hires Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard to investigate.
The two cases collide at Marchbanks, the Drury family seat of over four hundred years, where a series of unnerving events interrupt the peace and quiet of the snowy countryside. A body is discovered in the middle of a frozen pond without any means of getting there and a rifle is fired through a closed window, killing a man but not breaking the glass. Only Spector and his mastery of the art of misdirection can uncover the logical explanations for these impossible crimes. (Credit: Mysterious Press)
I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
Expected Publication Date: July 16
1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton–and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic. (Credit: S&S/Saga Press)
The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Expected Publication Date: July 16
Killer clowns, a hungry hedge maze, and rich kids who got bored. Friendly cannibals, impossible slashers, and the dead who don’t stay dead….A museum curator who despises “diasporic inaccuracies.” A sweet girl and her diary of happy thoughts. An old house that just wants friends forever….These stories are filled with ancient terrors and modern villains, but go ahead, go into the basement, step onto the old plantation, and open the magician’s mystery box because this time, the white guy dies first.
Edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker, including stories from bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming contributors: Adiba Jaigirdar, Alexis Henderson, Chloe Gong, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, H. E. Edgmon, Kalynn Bayron, Karen Strong, Kendare Blake, Lamar Giles, Mark Oshiro, Naseem Jamnia, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Terry J. Benton-Walker. (Credit: Tor Teen)
The Body In The Backyard by Lucy Score
Expected Publication Date: July 16
Her spray-tanned, self-absorbed news anchor ex-husband careening back into her life was not on this psychic detective’s bingo card.
But not only does Griffin Gentry show up unexpectedly at Riley Thorn’s door–the real shock is that he’s begging for her help. However, Riley’s hot private investigator boyfriend Nick Santiago refusing to take the job is…well, less of a surprise.
Too bad for Nick that his octogenarian business partner overrules him and decides to take the lead on Griffin’s case. And when a dead body makes it clear someone really is out to get Riley’s ex, the mile-long suspect list puts all hands on deck at Santiago Investigations. Even the wrinkly, retired ones.
It’s only a matter of time before Griffin brings danger directly to Riley’s doorstep. And with she and Nick busy interviewing suspects, their elderly roommates are wreaking havoc in the surveillance department. Can Riley block out the chaos and focus on her psychic visions long enough to narrow down the list of suspects, or will Griffin Gentry’s karma be the downfall of them all? (Credit: Bloom Books)
The Drowning House by Cherie Priest
Expected Publication Date: July 23
A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers–but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all.
Now they’ll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place–and on the way they’ll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he’s bringing back to Marrowstone Island. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
Jewel Me Twice by Charish Reid
Expected Publication Date: July 23
Love can catch you red-handed.
He was her partner–both in crime and between the sheets. It’s been five years since professional thief Celeste St. Pierre laid eyes on Magnus Larsson. These days, she runs a Manhattan antique store, but her talent for stealing beautiful, shiny things hasn’t faded. And as a chance reunion over a locked safe proves, neither has the heat between her and the gorgeous, ice-cool Magnus.
For Magnus, only one thing beats the thrill of getting away with robbery–and that’s the woman he’s tried hard to forget. Their last job together ended in disaster. But if they’re going to honor their mentor’s last wishes to pull off the theft of the century, they’ll have to temporarily put their grudges behind them.
Crisscrossing Europe on a real-life treasure hunt, Celeste and Magnus quickly rediscover how well they work together. The higher the stakes, the hotter the sexual tension. But one slipup and it won’t be only jewels on the line, but a future that, just maybe, has been the ultimate prize all along…(Credit: Canary Street Press)
Charlotte Illes Is Not A Teacher by Katie Siegel
Expected Publication Date: July 23
For fans of “Poker Face,” “Knives Out,” Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan Series, and anyone seeking to satisfy their Harriet the Spy, Encyclopedia Brown, or Nancy Drew nostalgia!
Mention “returning to the scene of a crime,” and people don’t usually picture a middle school. But that’s where kid detective Lottie Illes enjoyed some of her greatest successes, solving mysteries and winning acclaim–before the world of adult responsibilities came crashing in . . .Twentysomething Charlotte is now back in the classroom, this time as a substitute teacher. However, as much as she’s tried to escape the shadow of her younger self, others haven’t forgotten about Lottie. In fact, a fellow teacher is hoping for help discovering the culprit behind anonymous threats being sent to her and her aunt, who’s running for reelection to the Board of Education.
At first, Charlotte assumes the messages are a harmless prank. But maybe it’s a good thing she left a detective kit hidden in the band room storage closet all those years ago–just in case. Because the threats are escalating, and it’s clear that untangling mysteries isn’t child’s play anymore . . .(Credit: Kensington Publishing Corporation)
The Bluestockings: A History of the First Women’s Movement by Susannah Gibson
Expected Publication Date: July 23
In England in the 1700s, a woman who was an intellectual, spoke out, or wrote professionally was considered unnatural. After all, as the wisdom of the era dictated, a clever woman–if there were such a thing–would never make a good wife. But a circle of women called the Bluestockings did something extraordinary: coming together in glittering salons to discuss and debate as intellectual equals with men, they fought for women to be educated and to have a public role in society.
In this intimate and revelatory history, Susannah Gibson delves into the lives of these pioneering women. Elizabeth Montagu established one of the most famous salons of the Bluestocking movement, with everyone from royalty to revolutionaries clamoring for an invitation to attend. Her younger sister, Sarah Scott, imagined a female-run society and created a women’s commune. Meanwhile, Hester Thrale, who also had a salon, saved her husband’s brewery from bankruptcy and, after being widowed, married a man she loved–Italian, Catholic, and not of her social class. Other women made a name for themselves through their publications, including Catharine Macaulay, author of an eight-volume history of England, and Frances Burney, author of the audacious novel Evelina.
In elegant prose, Gibson reveals the close and complicated relationships between these women, how they supported and admired each other, and how they sometimes judged and exploited one another. Some rebelled quietly, while others defied propriety with adventurous and scandalous lives. With moving stories and keen insight, The Bluestockings uncovers how a group of remarkable women slowly built up an eviscerating critique of their male-dominated world that society was not yet ready to hear. (Credit: W. W. Norton & Company)
Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan
Expected Publication Date: July 23
Bailey Briggs adores her year-round Halloween-themed town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon. But when she takes over her grandfather’s beloved bookshop, Lazy Bones Books, she accidentally discovers the town’s secret dark side . . .
Normally, spooky season is Bailey Briggs’ favorite time of year, and her Halloween-themed small town’s time to shine. But between managing Lazy Bones Books, working on her graphic novel-in-progress, and running the Spooky Season Literary Festival, Bailey hardly has a moment to enjoy Elyan Hollow’s spot-on seasonal vibes. Not to mention, at every turn she seems to be tripping over the contentious crew of Gone Ghouls, a ghost-hunting reality TV show currently filming around town. Bailey tries to stay focused on the Lit Festival, which is supposed to kick off Elyan Hollow’s annual Halloween Fair; instead, this year’s festival begins with a murder . . .It’s bad enough Bailey discovered the victim, but now, as a lead suspect with some (admittedly) damning evidence pointing her way, she’s got to clear her name! With the help of her librarian friend, Colby, and Jack Skeleton, her world-class bookshop dog (and the absolute bestest boy ever), Bailey sets out to solve a murder . . .As her investigation weaves through family secrets, professional rivalries, and town feuds, the list of suspects is growing fast . . . and unfortunately, so is the list of victims. If Bailey doesn’t find the killer soon, Elyan Hollow’s haunted reputation will get a little too real . . .(Credit: Kensington Cozies)
The Modern Fairies by Clare Pollard
Expected Publication Date: July 23
Why don’t they tell you it is the beautiful princess who becomes the evil queen; that they are just the same person at different points in their story?
At a safe distance from the intrigues of courtly life at Louis XIV’s Versailles, an intellectual crowd of mostly women have been gathering in a Parisian home to share what hostess Marie D’Aulnoy herself has christened contes de fées: fairy tales. Recently ousted from court and still raw from the death of his beloved wife, Charles Perrault finds companionship and creative camaraderie at the salon, where he eagerly joins the storytellers. Their hostess is impressive, fiercely intelligent, but somehow unreadable. She is harboring secrets of her own: sold off as a child in marriage to a brutal baron, imprisonment, scandal. Despite the vicious Versailles gossip, Marie has mysteriously been allowed to return to polite society and establish her salon in the heart of Paris.A devastating winter soon sweeps in, bringing with it all kinds of rumors and fears. A spate of poisonings at Versailles has led to several arrests, and no matter how high born the suspect, it seems no one is safe. Paranoia stokes the King’s insecurities, and there is a wolf among the salon’s members–someone more dangerous than any force they could conjure in their own tales, watching and waiting, reporting on the secret goings-on, and threatening to destroy them one by one. (Credit: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster)
A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death by V. M. Burns
Expected Publication Date: July 23
Thanks to Maddy’s social media savvy, Baby Cakes Bakery is becoming a huge success–so much so that she’s attracted the attention of her former nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Brandy Denton. When Brandy blows into New Bison like an ill wind and disrupts a vlog Maddy’s filming, their argument goes viral. After Brandy’s body is found at Baby Cakes, Maddy instantly goes from viral sensation to murder suspect.
As Maddy is still reeling from the murder, a stranger shows up in the bakery claiming to have been a friend of Octavia. He believes Maddy is in danger. When a second body washes up on the lake shore, it seems clear someone’s out to kill to keep a secret–and it may have to do with her great aunt.
Maddy rallies her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars; Sheriff April Johnson; and her veterinarian boyfriend Michael–not to mention her English mastiff Baby–to do some digging and root out whoever’s behind the killings . . .(Credit: Kensington Cozies)
Queen B by Juno Dawson
Expected Publication Date: July 23
It’s 1536 and the Queen has been beheaded.
Lady Grace Fairfax, witch, knows that something foul is at play–that someone had betrayed Anne Boleyn and her coven. Wild with the loss of their leader–and her lover, a secret that if spilled could spell Grace’s own end– she will do anything in her power to track down the traitor. But there’s more at stake than revenge: it was one of their own, a witch, that betrayed them, and Grace isn’t the only one looking for her. King Henry VIII has sent witchfinders after them, and they’re organized like they’ve never been before under his new advisor, the impassioned Sir Ambrose Fulke, a cold man blinded by his faith. His cruel reign could mean the end of witchkind itself. If Grace wants to find her revenge and live, she will have to do more than disappear.
She will have to be reborn. (Credit: Penguin Publishing Group)
Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright by Chris Riddell
Expected Publication Date: July 23
People are flocking to Ghastly-Gorm Hall from far and wide to compete in Lord Goth’s literary dog show. The esteemed judges are in place and the contestants are all ready to win. Sir Walter Splott is preparing his Lanarkshire Lurcher, Plain Austen is preening her Hampshire Blue Bloodhound and Homily Dickinson and her Yankee Doodle Poodle are raring to go.
But there’s something strange going on at Ghastly-Gorm – mysterious footprints, howls in the night and some suspiciously chewed shoes. Can Ada, the Attic Club and their new friends the Vicarage sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne) work out what’s going on before the next full moon? (Credit: MacMillan Children’s Books)
The Bookshop Sisterhood by Michelle Lindo-Rice
Expected Publication Date: July 30
When life rewrites the story, only friendship will see them through.
After years of hard work, four best friends–Celeste, Yasmeen, Toni and Leslie–are finally on the verge of opening the bookstore of their dreams. A place where their community can find solace with an intriguing new read, a comforting beverage and book-loving friends.
But before they can cut the ribbon, their worlds are upended.
Toni receives devastating news just months before her wedding, while Celeste’s struggling marriage threatens to collapse completely. Leslie learns a shocking secret about her family, and a lotto ticket changes Yasmeen’s life–but not for the better.
As the bookstore’s grand opening fast approaches, the four women must lean on each other now more than ever to navigate their grief and uncertainty. And together, they’ll learn that sometimes, even life’s most unexpected plot twists can lead to beautiful new beginnings. (Credit: MIRA Books)
The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington
Expected Publication Date: July 30
Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew. At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early–The Best Summer Ever. After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s downright human–going after them in typical slasher movie kill order. And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.
Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, not even a demon’s, and the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her even as she tries to help them all survive. Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their best summer ever be their last? (Credit: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates
Expected Publication Date: July 30
When Jenine finds an abandoned polaroid camera, she playfully snaps a photo without a second thought. But there’s something wrong with the image: a ghostly figure stands in the background, watching her.
Fixated on her.
Moving one step closer with every picture she takes.
Desperate, Jenine shares her secret with her best friend, Bree. Together they realize the camera captures unsettling impressions of the dead. But now the ghosts seem to be following the two friends. And with each new photo taken, a terrible danger grows ever clearer…(Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
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