Murder sparks mayhem in 5 new thrillers by Southern authors

Readers can’t seem to get enough of thrillers and mysteries, and there’s no shortage of writers eager to deliver them. Here are five new ones coming out this summer, including four by Atlanta authors ranging from veteran megaseller Karin Slaughter to up-and-comer Frank Reddy.

"Perfect Life" by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores. (Courtesy of Bantam)

“Perfect Life”

After her husband Beau sells his company for “a sum of money that still doesn’t look real on paper,” aspiring corporate executive Este Walker leaps at the chance to leave California and reinvent herself in Winter Park, Florida. When Atlanta authors Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores’ new thriller opens, Este is living the lavish lifestyle she always dreamed of in a lakefront mansion worthy of a spread in Architectural Digest. But a body appears in her pool following a hurricane, and her carefully curated world implodes as she’s thrust into a murder investigation that implicates Beau and threatens to reveal Este’s secret past. The authors celebrate the launch of their new novel July 8 at Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur. For details go to eagleeyebooks.com. (Bantam, July 7)

"Ghost in the Grove" by Frank Reddy. (Courtesy of Shadelandhouse)

“Ghost in the Grove”

Frank Reddy’s literate, well-crafted fourth novel is a tightly wound gothic thriller set in rural Georgia and populated by a colorful cast of characters including snake handlers, an ex-con youth pastor, a serial killer, a GBI agent and a gator. The novel’s action is set into motion when a busload of teens on the way to a Pentecostal youth conference goes missing. Alternating between 1969 and 1995, the narrative revolves around a plantation house and a pecan orchard where tension festers between the haves and the have-nots, power corrupts and religion masks acts of retribution. Reddy, who is a freelance writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will be in conversation with Robert Gwaltney Aug. 2 at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock. For details go to foxtalebookshoppe.com. (Shadelandhouse, July 14)

"The Sins of Summer Daughters" by Lo Patrick. (Courtesy of Sourcebooks Landmark)

“The Sins of Summer Daughters”

In Lo Patrick’s new mystery, the lives of three generations of women living in small-town Georgia are upended when teenage Lucy’s boyfriend Josh is murdered and she becomes the prime suspect. Her brittle, image-conscious mother Nina struggles to help her emotionally shutdown daughter. And grandmother Meg, who’s plagued with bad knees and “unruly gas,” begins to relive memories from 1973 when another teenage boy was killed, and she wonders if there’s a connection. Patrick will be in conversation with authors Kimberly Brock, Emily Carpenter and Robert Gwaltney July 13 at Bookmiser in Marietta. For details go to bookmiser.net. (Sourcebooks Landmark, July 14)

"Brimstone Hollow" by Archer Sullivan. (Courtesy of Minotaur Books)

“Brimstone Hollow”

Snake handling also figures prominently in Archer Sullivan’s new thriller set in an insular town in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. When Katie May’s estranged father, an infamous snake-handling preacher, is fatally bitten and buried 24 hours later, she suspects it wasn’t an accident and hires P.I. Annie Gore to investigate. First introduced in Sullivan’s debut “The Witch’s Orchard,” Annie is based in Louisville but grew up in the same hollers as Katie, and her return stirs up disturbing memories of her childhood. Meanwhile, someone is determined to derail her investigation at all costs. (Minotaur Books Aug. 11)

"The Secrets We Hide" by Karin Slaughter. (Courtesy of William Morrow)

“The Secrets We Hide”