Thrillers We're Reading This June (and a Giveaway!)

with Lauren Nossett

Welcome to our FIRST edition of Thriller Thursday! We are *thrilled* to share our June reading (and listening) recommendations, including a twisty summer sequel, a potential serial-killer husband, a layered art-inspired mystery, a visceral noir debut, a frantic search through Paris, and a twisty Audible Original tale of love and murder. 

Congratulations to our launch giveaway winner, Melissa L., who's receiving eight books, signed by our author contributors! Melissa, check your email!

If you didn't win, have no fear! We may write murder, mischief, and mayhem, but we're not monsters! And we love free books as much as the next thriller fanatic. There will be more giveaways in our coming newsletters, including today's! After our recommendations, you'll find our Question of the Week (QotW). Answer in the comments for a chance to win a digital download of Wendy's new Audible Original Mad Love.

June Recommendations

Danielle recommends: The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine (out June 18th)

This summer, come back to Bishops Harbor for the twisty, spellbinding, and deeply satisfying sequel to the national bestselling, Reese’s Book Club pick, The Last Mrs. Parrish. The Next Mrs. Parrish returns us to the socialite world of Bishops Harbor. Released from prison, Jackson Parrish vows to regain his rightful position in society and with his family, forcing the women who surround him—Daphne, Amber, and the newly introduced Daisy Ann—to battle for everything they hold dear. Money, power, and prestige are all up for grabs and Jackson’s children are pawns in the game. Someone will lose it all...

Tessa recommends: A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson (out June 11th)

Marriage is murder in this intoxicating mystery about a newly wedded woman who suspects her traveling salesman husband may be a serial killer. When Martha Ratliff realizes that all of Alan’s trips line up with unsolved homicides, she’s so desperate to know the truth that she enlists the help of an old grad school friend who takes betrayal and revenge very seriously. There’s so much to praise about Peter Swanson’s spare, suspense-driven style—which always reminds me of those classic gumshoe films that play out in dark alleys and crime-ridden nights—but it’s his psychologically complex characters that I love most of all. Fans of The Kind Worth Killing and The Kind Worth Saving will delight in reconnecting with private eye Henry Kimball and enchanting sociopath Lily Kintner. Just don’t cross either one of them.

Lauren recommends The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd (out June 11th)

A sweeping tale of art, love, and madness, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby weaves the stories of two art students who stumble upon a Surrealist painting believed to have been lost in the same tragic fire that took the lives of the artist and her more famous, older artist-lover. Against all odds, the painting survived, as did the macabre truth hidden within—one the artist’s family has tried for a generation to hide. A layered mystery spanning almost a century, Ellery Lloyd's latest has everything you want in a page-turning thriller—a runaway heiress, crumbling mansion, family secrets, symbols to be deciphered, and two ambitious students united by a love of art, and maybe more importantly, love, itself.

Greg recommends: Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse (out now!)

Iggy Guerra is home again, but it’s not the warm welcome he might have hoped for. After a Compassionate Release from prison following the sudden death of his beloved mother, Iggy has returned to help save the family butcher shop from a host of encroaching threats. As he struggles to keep himself on the straight and narrow and strives to rekindle a romance with his lost love, Iggy will rely on his wits and his grit to outmaneuver his hard-drinking, self-destructive father as well as a pair of dangerous animal poachers and an affluent, entitled young entrepreneur set on gentrifying the Guerra’s tightly-knit Cuban American neighborhood. In his
gritty, visceral neo-noir debut, Nodarse comes out of the gate blazing with a captivating prose style at once muscular and tenderly wrought. He uses sensory description to paint a vivid picture of South Florida, bringing to pulsing life the characters, settings, and dangers that make this unforgettable story hum.

Greg also recommends: The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle (out June 11th)

Stella, a former flight attendant, and her husband, Adam, an architectural antiques dealer, are enjoying the trip of a lifetime in Paris when tragedy strikes. Adam goes missing after an explosion tears through a café in the town square, and Stella sets off on a frantic search for the love of her life. But as the police investigation intensifies, sordid details of Adam’s business come to light, throwing his wife into a tailspin. Does she really know her devoted husband as well as she thought? And for that matter, how much does he know about the real Stella? What ensues is an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride centered around international intrigue, illegal markets, a criminal underworld, and ever-shifting allegiances. Belle sets the tension early and then expertly cranks it up, delivering a gripping tale that’s part sinister suspense and part lush travelogue, all told with a keen eye for detail and fueled by the secrets we try so desperately to bury.

Lynne recommends: Mad Love by Wendy Walker (out now!)

Mad Love by Wendy Walker is a sexy, twisty tale of love and murder in a small Connecticut town. It begins when 18 year-old Piper Talcott discovers her mother and stepfather shot in their bed. Adam Archer is dead at the scene, and Piper's mother, Gin, is fighting for her life. Her twin brother Daniel is missing, and so is the gun that was on the bed. Detectives Greta Jessup and Finn Pate are tasked with solving the crime. But Greta has a history with Gin’s first husband, and her judgment may be compromised. The story is told through scripted scenes, and a narration by the incomparable Julia Whelan playing estate attorney, Sarah Bradford. Sarah found a letter on her doorstep two days before the shooting. It was from Gin Talcott, and it holds all of the secrets to the crime except for the most important one. Who killed Adam Archer? Listeners will love this propulsive story told in a captivating and unique way!

QotW: Wendy wants to know: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for love?

Comment for a chance to win a digital download of her Wendy's new Audible Original Mad Love.