The Maidens by Alex Michaelides 

Publish Date: June 15, 2021

I have been singing the praises of Alex Michaelides’s first novel, The Silent Patient since I initially devoured it, so to say I’m excited for his second novel is an understatement. Edward Fosca is a handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, adored by staff and students alike — particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden and her journey to the underworld?

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

Publish date: August 31, 2021

I’m so excited to read this new book from the author of The Girl On The Train! When a young man is found murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might be capable of terrible deeds.

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones

Publish Date: August 3, 2021

Six friends, three couples head off for a weekend of fun at a gorgeous villa perched on a cliff-edge, overlooking the ocean.

But when Rachel discovers something about her future sister-in-law Ali that she can hardly believe, everything changes. As the wedding weekend unfolds, the secrets each of them hold begin to spill, and friendships and marriages threaten to unravel. Soon, jumping to conclusions becomes the difference between life and death.

The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams

Publish Date: August 3, 2021

A brutal tragedy ended Ivy Hill’s happy family and childhood. Now in her twenties and severely troubled, she discovers the name of the woman who destroyed her world: Lola Maxwell — the mega-wealthy socialite with a heart. Lola has the best of everything — and doesn’t deserve any of it. So it’s only right that Ivy takes it all away.

Little by little, Ivy infiltrates Lola’s elite circle, becomes her new best friend — and plays Lola’s envious acquaintances against her. But soon, someone will twist Ivy’s revenge into a nightmare of deception, secrets and betrayal that Ivy may not wake up from.

False Witness by Karin Slaughter

Publish Date: July 20, 2021

Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure.

One night she gets a call from one of her law firm’s partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn’t have much choice if she wants to keep her job. She soon realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened more than 20 years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.

The Family Plot by Megan Collins

Publish Date: August 17, 2021

Dahlia Lighthouse remains haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has been unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were 16.

Following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house where the family soon makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body — Andy’s. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

Publish Date: July 20, 2021

This sneaky thriller is set at a prestigious private school — complete with interfering parents, overeager students and one teacher who just wants to teach them all a lesson.

Teddy Crutcher really can’t be bothered with a few mysterious deaths on campus that’re looking more and more like murder or the student digging a little too deep into Teddy’s personal life. His main focus is pushing these kids to their full academic potential. It’s really too bad that sometimes excellence can come at such a high cost.

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

Publish Date: June 8, 2021

British actress Mia Eliot wants to make it in Hollywood. Mia flies across the Atlantic to join the horde of talent scrambling for their big breaks where she meets Emily, another actress from out of town and a kindred spirit. But a simple favor takes a dark twist when Emily disappears and Mia realizes she was the last person to see her. And when a woman knocks on Mia’s door the following day claiming to be Emily and isn’t the woman Mia remembers at all, Mia is deeply troubled.

All Mia has to go on is the memory of a girl she met only once . . . and the suffocating feeling that something terrible has happened.

Survive The Night by Riley Sager

Publish Date: June 29, 2021

It’s November 1991. George H. W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there’s nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing — survive the night.

The Silent Listener by Lyn Yeowart

Publish Date: June 24, 2021

Joy Henderson returns to the family farm to nurse her dying father. To the outside world, George is a pillar of the community, but to Joy and her siblings, he’s a monster. As children, they lived in constant fear of the punishments he dished out. Then, the day after George finally confesses to a horrific crime, Joy finds him dead .

Senior Constable Alex Shepherd, summoned to the scene by George’s doctor, is suspicious: did Joy murder her father? If so, why?

The Fiancée by Kate White

Publish Date: June 29, 2021

Summer’s looking forward to a break from hustling for acting work in Manhattan when she, her husband Gabe and Gabe’s 9-year-old son arrive at the annual family get-together at her in-laws’ sprawling estate.

But this year, Gabe’s brother Nick has invited his new flame Hannah, whom Summer immediately recognizes from a few years before. Oddly, her brother-in-law’s girlfriend claims not to know her. Then the reunion is rocked by tragedy when a family member is found dead. Though the doctors attribute the loss to natural causes, a grieving Summer fears that the too-good-to-be-true Hannah is involved.