Two New Releases We're Reading This Summer

The Red House, by Mary Morris, released May 13, 2025

The Red House is a clever cross-genre novel that is part historical fiction, part family mystery, and part coming-of-age story. The narrative follows Laura, who is still affected by the disappearance of her mother 30 years after it happened. Among the things that her mother left behind were a series of paintings of a red house, each with the enigmatic statement “I will not be here forever” scrawled in Italian on the back. We meet Laura at a difficult moment in her own life when she decides to travel to Italy to solve the mystery of her mother, the paintings, and of course, her own existence. This novel will keep you asking questions right up to the end.

Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen, released May 13, 2025

Contrary to the title, this novel is unlikely to be a light summer beach read, but it will make you laugh, and think, in the way that only Carl Hiaasen can. Set in Florida in 2021, Fever Beach follows the remarkably unlikeable character Dale Figgo, who espouses hate and acts accordingly. Dale bumbles his way through a mystery of political corruption and greed when he is sent down a Big Lebowski-style rabbit hole adventure with outlandish characters that only Hiaasen could dream up. If you like a mystery with a heavy dose of snark and tongue-in-cheek humor, you won’t want to miss this book.