Summertime, and the living is easy. Or is it? I got to thinking about all those mysteries that take place during Summer--on the Beach, at the Lake, and in the City that are filled with murder and mayhem! What follows is a list of Summer Crime Fiction that exudes the heat and the accompanying crime of Summertime. I've omitted Fourth of July and Labor Day from this list. I'll be updating those lists later this Summer. As always I invite you to add any titles I've missed. This is far from a definitive list.Summer Mysteries
Foxglove Summer by Ban Aaronovitch
The Corpse with the Garnet Face by Cathy Ace
A Cat on a Beach Blanket by Lydia Adamson
Moon Water Madness by Glynn Marsh Alam
A Tangled June by Neil Albert
Gold Medal Threat by Michael Balkind (Kids: 7-15)
A Midsummer Night's Killing by Trevor Barnes
Milwaukee Summers Can Be Deadly by Kathleen Anne Barrett
Summertime News by Dick Belsky
The Summer School Mystery by Josephine Bell
Jaws by Peter Benchley (maybe not quite a mystery, but a good read, especially at the Beach)
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Murder by Fireworks by Susan Bernhadt
A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black
The Down East Murders by J.S. Borthwick
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Cat Who Saw Stars, The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson Braun
Chill of Summer by Carol Brennan
Devils Island by Carl Brookins
Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Death on a Summer Night by Matthew Costello
A Shoot on Martha's Vineyard by Philip Craig
The Trouble with a Hot Summer by Camilla Crespi
A Summer in the Twenties by Peter Dickinson
The Gold Coast, Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein
The Angel of Knowlton Park by Kate Flora
Lord James Harrington and the Summer Mystery by Lynn Florkiewicz
Beneath the Skin by Nicci French
Murder Makes Waves by Anne George
The Caleb Cove Mystery Series (3 in the series) by Mahrie Reid Glab
The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill
Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara
Murder at Wrightsville Beach by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter
Magic Hour by Susan Isaacs
Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James
A Summer for Dying by Jamie Katz
The Foxglove Killings by Tara Kelly (YA)
Rainy Day Women by Kay Kendell
Midsummer Malice by M.D. Lake
Dark Nantucket Noon by Jane Langton
The Bottoms by Joe Lansdale
Murder on the Ile Sordou by M.L. Longworth
Nun But the Brave by Alice Loweecey
Swimming Alone by Nina Mansfield (YA)
The Body in the Lighthouse by Katherine Hall Page
Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker
The Heat of the Moon by Sandra Parshall
Beach House by James Patterson
Summer of the Dragon by Elizabeth Peters
5 Dan Marlowe/Hampton Beach, NH mysteries by Jed Power
In the Dead of the Summer; How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Gillian Roberts
Hang My Head & Cry by Elena Santangelo
Miss Lizzie by Walter Satterthwait
Vacations Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton
A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd
Trail of Secrets by Laura Wolfe (YA)
An Old Faithful Murder by Valerie Wolzien
Orchid Beach by Stuart Woods
Sins of a Shaker Summer by Deborah Woodworth
Summer Will End by Dorian Yeager
Heart of Stone by James Ziskin
Any titles you'd like to recommend?
Murder at Wrightsville Beach, by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter. This is part of a good cozy series.
ReplyDeletePromo alert! Murder at the Moonshine Inn, #2 in my Hazel Rose Book Group series, is set during summer. Look for it in November.
I set my mystery RAINY DAY WOMEN in the summer of 1969. It was the August week of Woodstock. Murder strikes women's liberation leaders on college campuses in Vancouver, Canada, and Seattle. (published July 2015)
ReplyDeleteHmm. Maybe the fourth in my Silver Rush series, Mercury's Rise? August 1880, Manitou Springs, CO.
ReplyDeleteMURDER BY FIREWORKS (A Kay Driscoll Mystery Book 3) is a Summer cozy mystery. It takes place during June and July. http://amzn.to/1MBKRd4
ReplyDeleteYou're missing my second Joe Burgess mystery, The Angel of Knowlton Park, which opens on a fiercely hot summer morning in Portland, Maine
ReplyDeleteKate Flora
May I recommend my newest from Henery Press? NUN BUT THE BRAVE takes place in the middle of a very hot July. It hits stores this July 12.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the mystery aspect is thin, but A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY absolutely immerses the reader in summer.
Thrilled to find my character Cait Morgan on such a "hot" list...:-) Thanks for including her latest adventure.
ReplyDeleteWalter Satterthwait's MISS LIZZIE would also be a good addition to your list. Its story unfolds during summer vacation season in Massachusetts in 1921.
ReplyDeleteIf I may recommend my new novel, "Chasing Nathan". It's a humorous crime novel with an older woman protagonist up against kidnappers, marijuana thieves and a biker gang. Boy, were they in trouble. Claudie Rules!
ReplyDeleteMurder on a Summer's Day by Frances Brody: in a hurry....hope I got the title correctly.
ReplyDeleteJess Lourey -- Knee High by the 4th of July and August Moon
ReplyDeletePeter Dickinson -- A Summer in the Twenties
Naomi Hirahara -- Summer of the Big Bachi
Thanks for the mention, Stella Heyl. Yes, it's Murder on a Summer's Day, a Kate Shackleton 1920s mystery.
ReplyDelete