What are the Best Beach Reads of Summer 2024? Summer 2024 has officially kicked off and last week we saw the publication of some highly anticipated summer 2024 suspense and thriller books. Which one is right for you? Let’s discuss.
Best Beach Read of 2024 for fans of Stranger Things
Middle of the Night is the eighth book by popular suspense author Riley Sager.
Sager book’s have ranged from horror inspired books like Final Girls to horror-adjacent books like Lock Every Door to modern Gothic fiction like The Only One Left.
Middle of the Night centers around a main character still struggling to move on after the abduction of his best friend when they were ten.
It gave me STRONG Stranger Things vibes. It definitely had a hint of the paranormal, as main character Ethan starts to believe that the ghost of his friend Billy is lurking around their old neighborhood.
This was making me (and other people who were not fans of The House Across the Lake) a bit nervous, but the good news is that the paranormal element is minor and is integrated into the story.
Read Middle of the Night if you loved:
- Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
- Murder Road by Simone St James
Best Beach Read of 2024 for Freida McFadden fans
The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden is book three in the very popular Housemaid series.
Like all popular authors, Freida McFadden has her fans and her detractors. I have really enjoyed some of her books and feel that her lean, plot-driven, twisty stories are a good pick for those who want quick and fun reads for summer travel or lazy summer days.
I think The Housemaid is Watching is the weakest of the three books, but it’s perfect for Menzo (Millie + Enzo) fans as it skips ahead almost two decades in time to see the two living in suburban bliss. Well, not quite.
My favorite part was watching Millie try to be a normal suburban mom (and kind of failing) and watching Enzo as a suburban dad (and thriving.)
Read The Housemaid is Watching if you loved:
Best Beach Read of 2024 for fans of White Lotus and Campfire Ghost Stories
With its vacation thriller format, I was hoping that The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley would be The Guest List 2.0.
It wasn’t. This story of the opening night of chic new resort on the Dorset coast was fairly slow-paced, but built suspense with creepy hints about a sinister primeval force that does not want these well-heeled guests around.
Then the book introduced an epistolary element that told the story of a very real crime that was committed decades before.
Though the folk horror elements may not be for every reader, I thought the end really held together and was worth the wait!
Read The Midnight Feast if you liked:
- The Angel Maker by Alex North
- A good Friend Group Thriller
- The HBO show White Lotus
Best Beach Read of 2024 for fans of Survivor and Reality Dating Shows
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware was much more intense than I was expecting.
Ware has written suspense stories and classic mysteries (One by One, The Woman in Cabin 10, The It Girl) a Modern Gothic suspense book, and a female-forward tech thriller.
When I read the premise of One Perfect Couple, I thought I was getting a fluffy influencer story. Or a dating show version of And Then There Were None.
I was SO wrong. This was a gritty, feminist survival story that was hard to put down!
Read One Perfect Couple if you liked:
- Movies like The Edge or 127 Hours
- Shows like Survivor or Big Brother
Best Beach Reads for fans of Revenge and Gossip Girl
The Next Mrs. Parrish is the sequel to The Last Mrs. Parrish, a 2017 book that felt like All About Eve set in the Hamptons.
In book one, mousey Amber Patterson goes after the husband of Daphne Parrish, and plenty of surprises ensued.
In this book, all the characters, plus one new addition are back to face off once again. These books are perfect for summer readers who want a fun, frothy alternative to US Weekly magazine.
Read The Last Mrs. Parrish if you liked:
- Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenbaum
- The Two Mrs. Grenvilles by Dominick Dune
- Gossip Girl (the show)
- Revenge (soapy ABC show from the 2010s)
Best Beach Read Series for fans of Luther and Killing Eve
A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson is perfect for readers love twisty, shocking books about sociopaths and the people who are trying to get out of their way.
A Talent for Murder is book three in the The Kind Worth Killing trilogy by Peter Swanson. Or if you’re behind, now is a great time to catch up!
The first book in the series, The Kind Worth Killing, introduces limerick-writing police officer Henry Kimball and enigmatic Lily Kintner.
If you read The Kind Worth Killing and need a plot refresher, I have you covered.
The second book is The Kind Worth Saving, which picks up Lily and Henry’s story.
And yes, I have a plot refresher for The Kind Worth Saving too.
The third installment, A Talent for Murder, just came out, so now is a great time to start or catch up on this perfect beach read series!
Read the Kind Worth Saving if you liked:
- The show Luther and his relationship with Alice Morgan
- Killing Eve
What kind of book are YOU looking for this summer? Tell me in comments and I’ll give you some recommendations!