When a Dublin man is found murdered on a Long Island beach, Detective Maggie D'Arcy is called upon to help with the investigation.  Although her colleagues believe Gabriel Treacy was robbed and killed by a local gang, likely at random, Maggie's not so sure.  The old scars on the dead man's back say there's more to Gabriel's story than meets the eye.  What was he doing in New York?  Who made sure he'd never return to Ireland?  And why?  

Maggie is just about to leave for Ireland anyway, already having planned to travel there with her teenage daughter, who is still reeling after her father's suicide.  Anxious to see her boyfriend, Trinity professor Connor Kearney; let their children get to know each other; and help Lilly heal away from the place where her father died, Maggie decides to combine work with pleasure.  Flying off during an intense police investigation doesn't sit well with Maggie's superiors, but she knows she's the best person to look into Gabriel's death in his home country.  Working with her Garda friends is sure to produce some answers in what is becoming an increasingly puzzling case.  When another murder ups the ante, Maggie finds herself back in New York working frantically to solve the crime before she, too, ends up dead.

I'm always thrilled when I find a new crime series to love.  The Mountains Wild, the first book in the Maggie D'Arcy series by Sarah Stewart Taylor, pulled me in with its enticing blend of atmospheric setting, likable characters, and intriguing plot.  A Distant Grave (available June 22, 2021), the second installment, offers the same in another story that is just as engrossing, just as exciting as the first.  It's finely crafted, skillfully told, and wholly enjoyable.  Needless to say, I'm anxious for the next volume.  And the next and the next...

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of the Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey and of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad novels)

I always look forward to creating and reading seasonal TBR lists, so I'm excited for today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt: Top Ten Books On My Summer To-Read List.  You know I'm all about the reading part.  Summer, though?  Not a fan.  I'm especially unenthusiastic right now since I just got back from a long weekend in the Columbia River Gorge, a beautiful national scenic area in Washington and Oregon, where it was cool and drizzly with lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's.  Landing in Arizona, where it was 112 degrees at 7 p.m., was a very rude awakening for me.  I grew up in the Gorge.  Why did I ever leave?  Oh, the things we do for love!  

Although I reveled in the lovely Gorge weather, I was really there to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Since COVID pretty much nixed our plans for a blow-out party with lots of family and friends, my siblings and I decided to surprise Mom and Dad instead.  Five of their seven children were able to be there.  Although my youngest brother accidentally spilled the beans a little bit, we still pulled off a great surprise.  I was hiding at the top of my parents' long driveway when my oldest sibling approached them in the backyard and I heard my mom's astonished gasp clear from where I was standing.  It was awesome!  I think this picture of me and my dad (taken by Renée Alumbaugh) says everything about how the weekend went:

(Since someone is bound to ask, the device on my arm is an Omnipod insulin pump.  You may also sometimes spy my Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitor [CGM] in pictures of me, since I wear both on the backs of my arms.  Although Type 1 diabetes is a horrendous, not-fun-at-all disease, these devices are literally life-changing for diabetics.)

Now that I'm back to the scorching heat, I guess it really is time to start thinking about what I want to read this summer.  I've got some library books I need to finish as well as a few new releases I'm looking forward to.  It's too hot to read by the pool (ours doesn't have much shade and I burn at the mere thought of sunshine), so I'll be enjoying these books inside under the ceiling fan with the a/c blasting.

As always, if you're interested in joining the TTT party, you can find all the details at That Artsy Reader Girl.

1.  The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny—I brought this mystery on my trip as a back-up book (I never travel without one!) and it's a good thing I did since I couldn't get my stupid Kindle to connect at all.  It's the 11th book in the incomparable Armand Gamache series, which I love.  It's about a young boy who goes missing and the shocking thing that is found in the woods because of the ensuing search for him.

2.  Searcher of the Dead by Nancy Herriman—I've enjoyed a couple of Herriman's historical mysteries, so I'm interested to see how I like this series opener.  It's about a woman in Tudor England who's hiding from a killer in a bucolic little town.  When someone close to her is murdered, it appears she has been found and that she's next on someone's hit list.

3.  The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn—I'm always up for a dual-timeline novel featuring old secrets and new discoveries.  This one revolves around a woman in the present who discovers a cache of love letters written during another woman's stint in a mental hospital on a remote island in the 1950's.  As she digs into the past to learn more about the letters, she finds an intriguing mystery that just might answer questions about her own family.

4.  The Hours Count by Jillian Cantor—A month or so ago, I read and enjoyed my first Cantor book.  I'm excited to try another one.  This historical concerns a neighbor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, with whom the spies' children were left after their arrest.  Sounds interesting.

5.  Survive the Night by Riley Sager (available June 29, 2021)—I've already talked about this thriller, which is about two strangers on a road trip that goes awry.  I'm 31 of 32 on the library's waiting list, so we'll see how long it takes for me to get my hands on this one.  

6.  A Cup of Silver Linings by Karen Hawkins (available July 6, 2021)—I just received this novel from the publisher.  It's the second book in a series, so I'll have to read The Book Charmer first (I've been meaning to anyway).  This one is about three women who "embark on a reluctant but magical journey of healing, friendship, and family."  Sounds like a nice, feel-good read perfect for summer.

7.  Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (available November 30, 2021)—I'm a Picoult fan, although it's been a hot minute since I read anything by her.  To be honest, her newer novels haven't been as good for me as her older ones.  However, I am intrigued by this one, her newest.  It's about a woman who's on a dream trip to the Galàpagos Islands by herself when the pandemic hits.  I've heard some people say it's too soon for them to enjoy a book like this, but I'm all in for it.

8.  The Pact by Sharon Bolton—I'm *trying* to take a break from dark thrillers, but I'm a big Bolton fan, so I probably won't be able to resist this one.  It's about a woman who agrees to take the fall for a group crime in exchange for "favors" done by each member of the group after her release from prison.  

9.  A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson—While this doesn't sound like a very summery book, it's still one I want to read soon.  The first in a series, it's about a marine biologist who is researching wolverines in Montana, a mission that angers some locals.  When she discovers a different kind of predator in the wildlife sanctuary, the authorities are strangely dismissive of her claims.  Just what

exactly has she stumbled upon?

10.  The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb (available February 8, 2022)—As you probably know, I'm very into researching family history.  While most of my ancestors came to the United States before Ellis Island opened, I'm still fascinated by the place and its role in the nation's history.  I have an e-ARC of this novel, which concerns a woman emigrating from Italy and an American woman who has just started a job at the immigration center.  Their fates entwine as they both struggle to navigate their new lives.

There you are, ten books I'm hoping to read this summer.  Have you read any of them?  Any look like novels you would enjoy as well?  What's on your list today?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is a little clunky, which maybe explains why it threw me at first.  Here's Jana's explanation of Books I Loved That Made Me Want More Like Them: The wording is weird here, so if you have a better way to say this please let me know!  What I’m thinking is… you read a book and immediately wanted more just like it, perhaps in the same genre, about the same topic or theme, by the same author, etc. For example, I once read a medical romance and then went to find more because it was so good. The same thing happened to me with pirate historical romances and romantic suspense.  I've done at least one list about subjects I'm always interested in reading more about, but it's been a hot minute and I don't know if I've ever focused on specific books and authors.  So, I guess I'll be playing it straight this week, no going rogue for me!

Sometimes I have real trouble coming up with books to fit the Top Ten Tuesday topic du jour.  Then, a freebie comes along and I blank on that too! Yikes.  Since I don't want to tax my summer brain too much, I'm going to highlight more upcoming releases I'm eager to read.  I did a two-part TTT list on this topic back in March (here's Part One, here's Part Two) that focused on up-and-comers for the first part of the year.  Today's list will feature releases for the second half, although most of these titles come out this summer.    

If you want to join in the TTT fun, click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

(in order of release date)

1.  The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman (coming June 8, 2021)—I enjoyed Steadman's two previous thrillers, so I'm excited for her newest effort.  It concerns Mia Eliot, a British actress who comes to Hollywood for pilot season, hoping to land a lucrative, career-making job.  When a fellow actress, whom Mia met only briefly, disappears, Mia is questioned as the last person to see her.  Then, the missing woman reappears, but Mia's almost positive the two women are not the same.  Sounds intriguing!

2.  Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos (coming June 29, 2021)—deVos is another author whose books I enjoy and the plot summary of her newest just makes me laugh.  It's a body-positive YA novel about a group of teens who are forced under mysterious circumstances to attend a weight-loss camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Nothing about the situation makes sense, especially not the other campers who seem...not quite alive.  As the teens try to uncover the camp's secrets, they find themselves in a surprising and desperate fight against rabid zombies. 

 

3.  A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe (coming July 20, 2021)—It's 1954 and Katharina Edgeworth is a wealthy, bored New York City housewife.  When she's recruited by the FBI to be an informant with the job of infiltrating the private world of a man from her past who has become a Soviet spy, it presents a tantalizing chance for Katharina to break free from her gilded cage and do something both exciting and important.

4.  Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (coming July 27, 2021)—Two estranged sisters set out on a trip across Europe to fulfill their grandmother's dying wish of delivering goodbye letters to people she once knew.  The duo must deal with their own strained relationship, confront family secrets, and travel in a time and place that feels increasingly dangerous.

5.  The Light of Luna Park by Addison Armstrong (coming August 10, 2021)—This historical novel revolves around a nurse who helps treat premature infants in 1937.  When she hears about Martin Couney's exhibit of the tiny babies at Coney Island, it changes her perspective, putting her in conflict with the doctors for whom she works.  As the mother of two babies born at 29 weeks gestation, I'm definitely interested in reading this dual-timeline novel, which sounds super interesting. 

6.  The Family Plot by Megan Collins (coming August 17, 2021)—Dahlia Lighthouse was raised on an isolated island under the strict guard of her true crime-obsessed parents.  Still haunted by the disappearance of her twin brother ten years ago, Dahlia returns to her childhood home where a gruesome discovery has been made: her brother's body has been buried in her father's plot.  How did his body end up there?  What really happened to Dahlia's brother?  Was he murdered by a serial killer or someone a lot closer to home?

7.  A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (coming August 31, 2021)—When a man is found dead on a houseboat, three women who were close to him are investigated for murder.  There's not much of a plot summary for this one, but I like Hawkins so I'm in.

8.  Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (coming September 14, 2021)—Not gonna lie, I haven't been impressed with Moriarty's last couple novels.  I'm hoping her newest is as compelling as the older titles that I have loved by her.  Her latest is another family drama about a complicated family with some very intriguing secrets.

9.  Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan (coming October 19, 2021)—This historical novel is about a young woman who is grief-stricken over the impending death of her beloved younger brother.  George, who is captivated by a newly-published book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is desperate to know from whence Narnia came.  Despite her timidity about approaching C.S. Lewis, George's sister does it anyway.  The answer to George's question will change her life, even if it won't save her brother's. 

10.  The Pilot's Daughter by Meredith Jaeger (coming November 2, 2021)—Inspired by a real murder, this one revolves around a would-be reporter who is desperate to find her father, a pilot who goes missing during the waning days of World War II.  When she discovers love letters from a woman who is not her mother among her father's things, she's shocked—and even more desperate to find out where he is.  Can she figure out what happened to the father she loves, but apparently doesn't really know?   

There you go, ten upcoming releases I'm excited to read.  Do any catch your eye as well?  What new releases are you looking forward to bingeing on during the rest of 2021?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.