Great Summer Titles to Dive Into

4 min read

| By Thorndike Press Staff |

Fun summer plans are piling up, and even if you can’t find a chance to get away, you can take a trip through our featured June picks. Offering four tantalizing tales of murder, intrigue, and love, take a break and escape. From time travel with unique constraints and a cup of your favorite brew (Before the Coffee Gets Cold) to a boozy proposition that can only end in “happily ever after” or heartbreak (Nora Goes Off Script), take a sip and ponder “what if?”

Two award-winning authors offer tales of the blood-soaked past, hunting one more victim. A slipup may bring an end to an aging assassin’s bloodstained career . . . and life (The Old Woman with the Knife), and an inquisitive true-crime blogger lucks into meeting and befriending a reclusive acquitted murder suspect, but is she too close to the story to not recognize the perils creeping in on her (The Book of Cold Cases)?

Whether you’re on the beach or in your favorite reading nook, Thorndike Press offers thrilling escapes into a whirlwind romance, murder mysteries, and pondering the past.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
9781432899011

A LibraryReads Pick
An Indie Next Pick
An Indie Book Award Shortlist

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there’s a cafe that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than 100 years. This coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. But the journey into the past doesn’t come without risks. Customers must sit in a particular seat; they can’t leave the café; and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold.

The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo
9781432898939

A New York Times Editors’ Choice Pick
On 4 Most-Anticipated Read Lists

At 65, Hornclaw is beginning to slow down. She lives in a small apartment with only her aging dog to keep her company. There are expectations for people her age—that she’ll retire and live out the rest of her days quietly. But Hornclaw isn’t like other people. She’s an assassin. Double-crossers, corporate enemies, cheating spouses—for the past four decades, Hornclaw has killed them all with ruthless efficiency. But now, she’s slipped up. An injury leads her to a connection with a doctor and his family. As Hornclaw’s world closes in, this final chapter in her career may also mark her own bloody end.

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
9781432897406

One of Southern Living’s Beach Reads Perfect for Summer
One of Country Living’s 29 Books to Read if You Love Hallmark Movies

As a romance channel screenwriter, Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. When her husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen. When Leo Vance is cast as her husband, Nora’s life will never be the same. The morning after shooting wraps and the crew leaves, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition: He’ll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. Seven days. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
9781432896027

A New York Times Bestselling Author
A RITA Award-Winning Author
On 3 Most-Anticipated Book Lists

In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect—a rich, eccentric 23-year-old woman seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion. Oregon, 2017: Shea Collins runs a true-crime website, The Book of Cold Cases. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea’s surprise, Beth says yes. The allure of learning the truth about the case from Beth is too much to resist, but Shea senses something isn’t right. Is she making friends with a manipulative murderer, or are there other dangers lurking in the darkness of the Greer house?

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