Last Chance for Summer Reading

As most Rap Sheet readers know, I produce lengthy quarterly lists of upcoming books I think will interest crime, mystery, and thriller readers. But such compilations do not go unchanged; no sooner have I posted a new seasonal rundown, than I commence updating and adding to it—and less often, subtracting from it. For instance, just yesterday I removed from my summer 2024 inventory mention of Baby, It’s Murder, the 13th (and reportedly final) Mike Hammer novel, written by Max Allan Collins in posthumous collaboration with Mickey Spillane. That work had originally been slated to appear this month; it has now been postponed until March 2025.

If you click over to that summer list—which you really should do, as August is its last month of particular relevance—you might not be able to discern what other changes I have made since early June. Yet there are many. I’ve added novels by Charlie Stella (Joey Piss Pot), Sophie Barnes (A Vengeful King Rises), Morgan Greene (The Devil in the Dark), Karen Grose (Flat Out Lies), A.J. West (The Betrayal of Thomas True), Kate Ellis (Coffin Island), Gordon McAlpine (After Oz), and others, as well as non-fiction works by Anthony M. DeStefano (Broadway Butterfly: The Lady Gangster of Jazz Age New York) and Mark Aldridge (Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness). We’re talking well over 450 books worthy of your attention.

I’m already developing a rundown of fall 2024 releases, which should be posted sometime in early September. Before this summer ends, though, catch up here on what recent debuts you may have missed.