14 Standalone Thrillers to Read This Summer

There's something about pairing summer with a good mystery or thriller, but at the same time, there's the issue of not wanting to start a new series. I'm here to say you can have your page-turner without a making a commitment. Take a look at these 14 recent standalone novels, perfect for warm-weather entertainment. (Publishing dates are in parentheses.)

• Defectors by Joseph Kanon (Atria Books, June 6): Two brothers on different sides of the cold war star in this story of a divided family, spies, and politics.
• Don't Close Your Eyes by Holly Seddon (Ballantine, July 4): The past comes back to haunt shattered, estranged twins, forcing the sisters to face their demons.
• Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker (St. Martin's Press, August 8): Two teenage sisters go missing; three years later, one returns with a questionable story of abduction and a mysterious island.

• Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips (Viking, July 25): Set in a zoo after closing, a woman and her four-year-old son are caught in a deadly game of hide and seek in the midst of an active mass shooting.
• Final Girls by Riley Sager (Dutton, July 11): Years after surviving a mass shooting, a woman once again fears for her life when she realizes she may be the next victim of a serial killer.
• The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, August 8): A teenage survivor of a home intrusion grows up to be a lawyer tapped to investigate a school shooting; the incidents may be related.
• The Lying Game by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster, July 25): Four friends, reunited after seventeen years, face the long-reaching consequences of a series of lies they circulated when still teenagers.

• Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Harper, June 6): A murder mystery within a murder mystery discovered by the editor of a best-selling author.
• The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond (Bantam, July 25): Newlyweds join an organization that promises to make their relationship last a lifetime, until they realize there's no quitting the group.
• My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood (William Morrow, July 11): A war reporter, just back from the Mideast to bury her mother, must sort out her PTSD symptoms from a possible crime involving a child.

• The Other Girl by Erica Spindler (St. Martin's Press, August 22): While a Louisiana police officer investigates the ritualistic murder of a professor, she transitions into a suspect.
• The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham (Scribner, July 11): Two pregnant Londoners--one successful, one not; both with secrets--cross paths with devastating consequences.
• A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena (Pamela Dorman, August 15): A double-crossing by a third party leaves a husband and wife full of doubts and accusations.
• You Belong to Me by Colin Harrison (Sarah Crichton, June 6): Who knew an auction of antique maps could set off a violent chain of events, including kidnapping, murder, and a mystery?