While some mystery authors find fame with a popular series that they write for 30 years, other authors write several series that they have success with over the years. There are also those who write standalone novels or a combination of standalone and at least one series.  Brad Parks and Jo Nesbo have both written very popular mystery series. Brad Park’s Carter Ross was a favorite of mine, but the last book in that series came out in 2015. Since that time, he started a new series and has written several standalone novels. His latest coming out September 1 is another standalone called “Interference.” Parks’ latest has brought him comparisons to Michael Crichton because it is about a scientist who disappears and finds out that his work was more dangerous than he ever thought it could be. Best-selling Norwegian mystery author Jo Nesbo wrote the Harry Hole series, but his latest coming out in November, “The Kingdom,” is a standalone about two brothers with secrets worth killing to keep secret. Gilly Macmillan has one series and some very famous standalone novels with her latest standalone coming out in September “To Tell You the Truth” which is once more a book about a family with secrets. Standalone novels can be relaxing because you don’t have to try to try to remember what you read about the character in the previous books. I am partial to a series, but some standalone novels are gripping just like the following either out already or coming out very soon.

Reading right now:

“The First to Lie” by Hank Phillippi Ryan is a standalone that is filled with betrayal, revenge, and the ethics of journalism. In addition to being a famous mystery writer, Ryan is an on-air investigative reporter. She has won many awards for both her careers. In “The First to Lie,” Ryan writes about investigative reporter Elle Berensen who moves into the Boston television market and hopes to jump start her new career by breaking a big story about a drug company’s new drug that seems to make women barren. Unfortunately for Elle, her new assistant has her own agenda and is undermining Elle’s investigation. The powerful family that owns the company and the employee’s that are dependent on the company’s success might be following Elle and could pose a huge threat. This story could make her career or kill her.

On hold right now:

English author Sarah Vaughan’s latest “Little Disasters” is said to explore the complexity of motherhood and all that connects and disconnects us. That description doesn’t sound like a mystery novel until you realize that the mother in the novel isn’t what she seems and that her life (guess what?) holds many secrets. This is a domestic suspense novel that deals with the difficulties of parenting and female friendships which may not be for everyone, but fans of domestic suspense may find it compelling.

Another English author, S. J. Watson found huge success with his first novel “Before I Go to Sleep” which was made into a movie with Nicole Kidman. His latest novel “Final Cut” centers around a documentary filmmaker who becomes involved in the disappearance of a young girl when she travels to a what appears to be an ordinary seaside. Unfortunately, the village is suffering from a downturn in tourism that is destroying the local economy and people are getting desperate.

Megan Goldin’s third novel “The Night Swim” continues her run of fascinating mystery thrillers where she tries to top her real life as a foreign correspondent for ABS news. Goldin’s very modern main character is a Podcaster named Rachel who became famous when her true crime podcast helped free an innocent man. Now she is covering a rape trial in a small town where a swimmer training for the Olympics has been accused of raping the granddaughter of the local police chief. To complicate her life while she is covering the trial, she has a stalker who demands that Rachel look into her sister Jenny’s death twenty-five years ago. As Rachel looks into the old case, she finds ties to what is happening right now in the trial she is following.

Other Mysterious Things:

In September, two tremendously popular authors have standalone novels coming out which everyone will be looking for and they are Iris Johansen with “Chaos” and Ruth Ware with “One by One.” Johansen’s first novel came out in 1983 and was a romance. In contrast, Ware’s first book came out in 2015 and was a chilling suspense novel. Most of us who love mysteries will probably read them both. Mystery readers are like that so enjoy the variety.