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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Summer Mysteries: Lazy, Hazy, Criminal Days of Summer!

Summertime, and the living is easy. Or is it? So many mysteries taking place during Summer are filled with murder and mayhem -- on the Beach, at the Lake, and in the City! 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, but 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, but it's been updated since last year.

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
Gone Gull by Donna Andrews
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 Bernhardt
A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black
Another Man's Ground by Claire Booth
The Down East Murders by J.S. Borthwick
Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen
Deadly Readings by Laura Bradford
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
Killer in Crinolines by Duffy Brown
Scrappy Summer by Mollie Cox Bryan
Magic and Macaroons by Bailey Cates
Twanged, Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark
Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark
Thin Air by Ann Cleeves
Dead and Berried by Peg Cochran
All You Need is Fudge, To Fudge or not to Fudge by Nancy Coco
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Death on a Summer Night by Matthew Costello
Murder Most Frothy by Cleo Coyle
A Shoot on Martha's Vineyard by Philip Craig
The Trouble with a Hot Summer by Camilla Crespi
Never Say Pie by Carol Culver
Barkley's Treasure, Bikines in Paradise by Kathi Daley
The Alpine Recluse by Mary Dalheim
The Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss by Krista Davis
A Summer in the Twenties by Peter Dickinson
The Gold Coast, Plum Island by Nelson DeMille
Kilt at the Highland Games by Kaitlyn Dunnett
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein
Blackberry Burial, Dying for Strawberries by Sharon Farrow
Murder Sends a Postcard by Christy Fifield
The Angel of Knowlton Park by Kate Flora
Lord James Harrington and the Summer Mystery by Lynn Florkiewicz
Apple Turnover Murder, Blackberry Pie Murder, Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Beneath the Skin by Nicci French
A Dish Best Served Cold by Rosie Genova
Murder Makes Waves by Anne George
The Caleb Cove Mystery Series  (3 in the series) by Mahrie Reid Glab
A Fatal Fleece, Angora Alibi by Sally Goldenbaum
Dead Days of Summer by Carolyn Hart
A Stitch in Crime by Betty Hechtman
The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill
Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara
Cracked to Death by Cheryl Holton
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
Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
A Timely Vision by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Midsummer Malice by M.D. Lake
Dark Nantucket Noon by Jane Langton
The Bottoms by Joe Lansdale
A Tale of Two Biddies by Kylie Logan
Murder on the Ile Sordou by M.L. Longworth
August Moon, June Bug by Jess Lourey
Nun But the Brave by Alice Loweecey
Berried to the Hilt, Death runs Adrift by Karen MacInerny
A Demon Summer by G.M. Malliet
Swimming Alone by Nina Mansfield (YA)
Death in a Mood Indigo by Francine Mathews
Murder at Beechwood by Alyssa Maxwell
Till Death Do Us Bark by Judi McCoy
Tippy Toe Murder by Leslie Meier
Murder Most Finicky by Liz Mugavero
Foal Play by Kathryn O'Sullivan
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
Murder at Honeysuckle Hotel by Rose Pressey
In the Dead of the Summer; How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Gillian Roberts
Calamity @the Carwash by Sharon Rose
Mint Juleps, Mayhem, and Murder by Sara Rosett
Boiled Over, Clammed Up by Barbara Ross
Hang My Head & Cry by Elena Santangelo
Miss Lizzie by Walter Satterthwait
Vacations Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton
Bushel Full of Murder, If Onions Could Spring Leeks by Paige Shelton
Pick Your Poison; The Cat, The Vagabond and The Victim by Leann Sweeney
Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor
A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd
Deception in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope
Board Stiff by Elaine Viets
Shadows of a Down East Summer, Thread and Gone by Lea Wait
Trail of Secrets by Laura Wolfe (YA)
An Old Faithful Murder, Remodelled to Death 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?

3 comments:

  1. CAPE COD MYSTERY, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, her first Asey Mayo mystery, takes place during a sweltering summer on Cape Cod 1930; many of her subsequent books are set during summer as well, (all set ON Cape and/or on Boston & Cape).

    and while the first in Francine Matthews' long Merry Folger series (my current read) isn't set in summer, as the title shows (DEATH IN THE OFF-SEASON), all the books in the series are set on Nantucket and I suspect some of them will be!

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  2. Death on Nantucket by Francine Mathews takes place in the summer around July 4th. It is her latest and a good read.

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