Whether you’re lying on the beach, lounging by the pool or whiling away the hours on a long flight, the summer holidays wouldn’t be complete without a cracking good book (or three). Especially if you’re on a group getaway – like the unfortunate families in my new thriller The Holiday– because there’s nothing like spending a couple of weeks with extended family and friends for discovering all the “quirks” they normally keep under wraps at home.
Nothing beats a good book when you need to escape from other people’s annoying kids or the bickering parents who start on the sangria straight after breakfast. I always leave plenty of space in my suitcase for half a dozen books when I go away, and consider it a success if I can get through three or four of them before heading home. So here are my crime reading recommendations for keeping the whole family happy (and occupied) by the pool this summer.
Top tips for parents:
Lost You by Haylen Beck – a heart-wrenching thriller about one woman’s search for her missing son, and the secret that has put him in terrible danger. The very definition of a page-turner.
A Nearly Normal Family by MT Edvardsson – told from three perspectives as a father, mother and daughter each give their side of a story that leads to murder. I read this in a matter of days (which is quick for me!)
Top tips for grandparents:
November Road by Lou Berney – one of my favourite books of the year so far. A charming gangster and a young mother on the run cross paths in the turbulent days after the assassination of JFK, in November 1963. Brilliantly evocative writing.
The Mystery of Three Quarters: The new Hercule Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah – the moustachioed Belgian detective returns with a new mystery set in 1930s London. Agatha Christie’s famous creation gets a dazzling new lease of life in this thoroughly enjoyable tale.
Top tips for teens:
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus – Five high school students go to detention. Only four leave alive. With this brilliant premise, the author weaves a fantastic murder mystery with numerous plot twists. My 16-year-old son LOVED this book.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – teenaged Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed friend by a police officer. A powerful novel about truth and justice in modern America – read it before the film comes out.
Top tips for kids:
The Garden of Lost Secrets by AM Howell – set in a stately home in Suffolk at the height of the great War, this impressive debut follows the story of Clara as she explores her new home in the countryside and finds herself surrounded by secrets and mysteries at every turn.
Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens – the first book in the bestselling boarding school crime series featuring Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, who set up their own detective agency and promptly find themselves with an Agatha Christie-style murder-mystery to solve – on school grounds.
Top tips for non-readers:
They Walk Among Us– award-winning podcast examining some of the most notorious crimes ever carried out in the UK. Now in its fourth season, the series is perfect for true-crime devotees.
Murder Book– a true crime podcast hosted by the master himself, Michael Connelly. The creator of Harry Bosch examines a real murder investigation, complete with wiretap evidence, witness interviews, court recordings and comments from the LAPD detectives who worked the case.
The Holiday by TM Logan is published by Bonnier Zaffre on July 25th
Seven days, three families, one killer! It was supposed to be the perfect holiday, dreamed up by Kate as the ideal way to turn 40: four best friends and their husbands and children in a luxurious villa under the blazing sunshine of Province. But there is trouble in paradise. Kate suspects that her husband is having an affair, and that the other woman is one of her best friends. One of these women is willing to sacrifice years of friendship and destroy her family. But which one? As Kate closes in on the truth in the stifling Mediterranean heat, she realises too late that the stakes are far higher than she ever imagined. Because someone in the villa is prepared to kill to keep their secret hidden.
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