With sunshine and summer comes more time to spend with your friends. After all, it’s not summer without some fun with your friends…. unless you’re a character in these books. If you’re looking for some great beach or poolside reads to binge on in between social gatherings, here are some books that feature toxic friendships with secrets and betrayals can lead to murder.
How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold
When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen dies, a group of authors discover they are invited to his last will and testament reading. Each author believes they are going to receive a piece of Mortimer’s fortune, and each has their own unique connection to the author. Upon arrival at his manor, they are invited to play a game in which they must solve a riddle and progress to the next room. If they cannot solve the riddle, the manor takes one of them. What they don’t know? The estate was built on the bones of his family and plans on following through with the plan if they don’t solve this deadly riddle.
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This is Where We Die by Cindy R.X. He
Sadie, Will, Isla, Anthony, Emily, and Charlie are the six survivors from a ski vacation that took the lives of two others two years ago. The details have all been private due to Sadie’s family’s wealth. Now, a mansion on a private island has gone viral and their graduating class convinces Sadie to rent it for the weekend. After the six friends arrive via helicopter, their classmates never join. With no cell service or means of getting off the island, the group begins to be picked off by a killer proving that their past is about to catch up to them in a deadly way.
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Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez
Ingrid hasn’t heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, since she fled their small hometown west of Miami for college in the Northeast. Now years later, Mayra reaches out to Ingrid to invite her to a party at a house in the Everglades and Ingrid accepts. Shortly after she arrives, she finds she has no cell service and Mayra appears to be just as she remembered. The façade of their old friendship soon fades when Mayra’s boyfriend, Benji, arrives and past arguments reemerge. Now, Ingrid wonders why she’s here in the first place and begins to realize this lavish house surrounded by the swamp is harboring a mystery of its own.
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Whispers of the Lake by Shanora Williams
Rose Howard is an investigative reporter who is holding on by a thread now that her marriage is on the rocks. When she finds out that her former best friend and travel blogger, Eve Castillo, is not responding to anyone from the North Carolina cottage she’s traveled to, Rose heads to the small town of Sage Hill. Even though Eve crossed lines that the two can never come back from, Rose still does care. When Rose finds out that Eve is gone without her passport or purse, allegedly on a trip abroad, she knows something is wrong. If Rose doesn’t get to the bottom of what’s really happening in Sage Hill, will she be the next in danger?
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Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party is a lavish black-tie event in Texas Hill Country at a renovated cliffside mansion. Right before it’s time to blow out the candles, a body falls from the balcony above. But, who could it be? Sophie’s stepmother, Dani? The superstitious Irish nanny, Orlaith? The best friend, Mikalya? The ex-wife, Kim? You’re either a suspect or a possible victim and this is a party no one will forget.
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Zetas Till We Die by Amber and Danielle Brown
Ten years ago, Priscilla and the Zeta Phi Zeta sorority lost their sorority sister, Lupe. Just days before their ten-year reunion, Lupe’s killer is released on a technicality. Regardless of the news, Priscilla and the Zetas have their wild party and reunite, with everything seemingly going off without a hitch. When the next morning comes around, one of the sisters is missing and Priscilla begins to suspect there could be more to Lupe’s murder than anyone ever guessed.
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No Place Left to Hide by Megan Lally
After an incident almost cost her everything, Brooke has worked hard for perfect grades, perfect looks, and a perfect life. When she gets into her dream university, Brooke is so close to a fresh start that she can’t say no to a celebration. On the way home from the bonfire, Brooke and her best friend are followed by an old truck with someone inside who knows the truth about the incident and they plan on exposing everything… if Brooke can even survive the ride.
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Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham
Margot is a college freshman who is shy and quiet, but fate is about to change all of that when the popular and larger than life Lucy Sharpe recruits Margot into her social circle. Soon after, Margot is living off campus with Lucy, the sarcastic Sloane, and the nice Nicole. As soon as Margot begins to acclimate to her new lifestyle, the unthinkable happens. A frat boy has been found murdered and Lucy is missing.
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You Killed Me First by John Marrs
As a woman wakes up to find herself gagged and bound in the heart of a smoldering bonfire, she reflects on what happened that made her end up in this position. The book then goes a year back in the past as we meet three women who all live in the same suburb with terrifying secrets in their past. Margot is a former popstar, Anna hopes her jewelry making business takes off, and Liv is the new glamorous yoga instructor who just moved in across the street. As the Bonfire Night approaches, tensions rise and secrets threaten to emerge from behind the shadows.
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A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks
In 1999, best friends Scarlett and Pepper got into an accident that left two classmates dead, leaving them to lie to the police and never see each other again. Now, twenty-two years later, Scarlett is raising her teenage son with her husband in Florida and living a more peaceful life. When twenty-one-year old Zoey shows up at Scarlett’s claiming to be Pepper’s daughter, Zoey says Pepper is dead and provides a mysterious letter about the night that changed everything. With Zoey wanting to know everything about that night, Scarlett’s past is about to come back to haunt her.
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