August 2021 Most-Anticipated Crime Books
New Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Novels for Your TBR
Summer is here, and it’s bringing with it some incredible new crime fiction releases for us to devour! Summer 2021 is jam-packed with amazing crime books, some of which I’ve been lucky enough to read already and others that are still on my personal TBR pile. To help you plan your own reading lists, each month this summer I’ll be sharing monthly lists of my personal most-anticipated new crime fiction releases for that respective month. I can’t wait to share these books with you, and I hope they will catch your eye as much as they’ve caught mine! In case you missed it, you can check out my list of Most-Anticipated June 2021 Crime Books here, and Most-Anticipated July 2021 Crime Books here. August 2021 brings with it a number of suspense novels that look perfect for a late-summer vacation, including one of my top favorite books of the year, a returning “popcorn thriller” writer, a highly-anticipated new release by an acclaimed crime writer who hasn’t had a new book in a few years now, and more. August’s new crime fiction lineup looks twisty, binge-worthy, and thrilling, and I can’t wait to share these books with you. Read on for my picks for most-anticipated August 2021 crime fiction!
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August 2021 Most-Anticipated Crime Books
Organized by Publication Date
IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE by Ashley Winstead
Available August 3, 2021
Why I’m Excited:
It’s no surprise that I love a good dark academia suspense novel, and that’s exactly what Ashley Winstead has given readers in her immersive, sinister debut, which hits bookstores this week! I have already been lucky enough to read this one, and I thoroughly enjoyed it; you can catch my 4/5 star review on the blog here. IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE blends drama and interpersonal intrigue worthy of Pretty Little Liars with a compelling mystery for readers to solve, all set against the backdrop of a prestigious southern college. This book also centers around a complex, troubled protagonist—a young woman named Jessica whose complicated inner life kept me just as fascinated as the book’s central mystery. I loved this book’s exploration of toxic group dynamics and its immersive setting. This dark academia debut was a winner for me, and I’m already looking forward to reading Ashley’s next suspense novel in 2022!
About the Book:
Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.
Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to her southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent. Not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather Shelby's murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she'd been closest to since freshman year.
But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather's murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years' worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.
Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won't be able to put down.
DARK ROADS by Chevy Stevens
Available August 3, 2021
Why I’m Excited:
I’ll be totally honest: I have limited experience with Chevy Stevens’ work. I’ve only read one of her books in the past (NEVER LET YOU GO), but suffice it to say, it left a huge impression on me—it was a dark, harrowing psychological thriller with significant emotional heft. I am hoping for another such story in DARK ROADS, Chevy Stevens’ 2021 release, publishing this week! DARK ROADS centers around a stretch of highway that is known as a hunting ground for predators—a place that has a dark history, a place where young women have historically gone missing. It’s received incredible early praise, from authors including J.T. Ellison, Mary Kubica, and Sarah Pekkanen. This sounds like another dark, thrilling journey, and I can’t wait to dig in.
About the Book:
The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.
Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.
One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…
SUCH A GOOD WIFE by Seraphina Nova Glass
Available August 10, 2021
Why I’m Excited:
I’ve been on a bit of a domestic suspense kick recently, and when I learned that Seraphina Nova Glass’ new thriller involved a woman having an affair with an author, I was instantly sold. (We all know I have a weakness for crime books that involve books and authors here!) SUCH A GOOD WIFE follows what happens when a woman finds her lover, a successful local author, dead in his home. There’s something perennially intriguing about books that delve into the secrets that exist in characters’ personal lives, and I can’t wait to see what kind of engaging, twisty tale Seraphina Nova Glass has in store for us in SUCH A GOOD WIFE. This one is coming up on my TBR list!
About the Book:
Betrayal was just the beginning…
Melanie Hale is a devoted mother to her two children, a diligent caregiver to her ailing mother-in-law and a trusted neighbor in their wealthy Louisiana community. Above all, she’s a loving partner to her wonderful husband, Collin.
Then there are the parts of herself that Mel keeps hidden. She’s exhausted, worried and unfulfilled. So much so that one night, after a writers’ group meeting, Mel begins an affair with a successful local author named Luke. Suddenly she’s transformed into a role she doesn’t recognize—a woman who deceives with unseemly ease. A woman who might be capable of just about anything.
When Mel finds Luke’s dead body in his lavish rented house, she realizes just how high the stakes have become. Not only does she have to keep her affair a secret in order to preserve her marriage, but she desperately needs to avoid being implicated in Luke’s death. But who would want to kill him? Who else in her life is keeping secrets? And most terrifying of all, how far will they—and she—go to keep those secrets hidden?
56 DAYS by Catherine Ryan Howard
Available August 17, 2021
Why I’m Excited:
Catherine Ryan Howard is one of my favorite “hidden gem” crime writers who isn’t actually that much of a “hidden” gem anymore, as her work is finally starting to get the widespread attention it deserves! 56 DAYS, Catherine’s newest crime novel, is without a doubt my favorite book of hers yet—and destined to be one of my top favorite books of the year. This clever and claustrophobic domestic thriller utilizes the pressure cooker of Ireland’s strict Covid lockdown policies to amp up the tension between a newly-dating couple who decide to move in together rather than be forced to stay apart when Covid lands on Ireland’s shores. This book is masterfully plotted, deliciously entertaining, and brimming with the kinds of clever twists and reveals that you really won’t see coming. I loved every page of this book and highly, highly recommend it! Stay tuned for my 5/5 star review of 56 DAYS coming this month.
About the Book:
56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.
35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who—and what—he really is.
TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?
WHERE I LEFT HER by Amber Garza
Available August 24, 2021
Why I’m Excited:
Amber Garza’s previous suspense novel WHEN I WAS YOU was an instant “popcorn read” favorite for me—it’s a book I’ve recommended over and over since I devoured it about a year ago, and I am so excited that Amber has a new thriller releasing this month! I can’t get enough of Amber’s page-turning, easy-to-devour writing style, and I’m so excited to see what her newest thriller has in store. If you love suspense novels that are lighter in tone and content and brimming with just-one-more-page entertainment value (aka a “popcorn read”!), Amber’s work will be right up your alley. If anyone has any late-summer vacations planned, WHERE I LEFT HER looks like a strong contender for a perfect vacation read. I can’t wait to dig into this one in the next couple of weeks!
About the Book:
From the author of When I Was You comes a spine-tingling new thriller about a mother’s worst nightmare come true, when her teenage daughter goes to a sleepover and doesn’t come back.
Whitney had some misgivings when she dropped her increasingly moody teenage daughter, Amelia, off at Lauren’s house. She’d never met the parents, and usually she’d go in, but Amelia clearly wasn’t going to let something so humiliating happen, so instead Whitney waved to her daughter before pulling away from the little house with the roses in front.
But when she goes back the next day, an elderly couple answers the door—Amelia and Lauren aren’t there, and this couple swears they never were, that she’s at the wrong house. As Whitney searches for Amelia, she uncovers a trail of lies her daughter has told her—from the Finsta account to rumors of a secret relationship. Does she really even know this girl she’s raised? And Amelia’s not the only one with secrets. Could Whitney’s own demons have something to do with her daughter’s disappearance, and can Whitney find her before it’s too late?
Plus: Even More August Crime Novels to Check Out!
Additional crime novels on my radar this month include:
THE TURNOUT by Megan Abbott | A SLOW FIRE BURNING by Paula Hawkins | THE GUILT TRIP by Sandie Jones | THE FAMILY PLOT by Megan Collins | COLD AS HELL by Lilja Sigurdardottir (e-book edition)
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.