June 2025

Chris Quarembo
Jun 1
3 min read

Updated: Jun 16

Vol 5 Issue 6

Summer is the time to seek out a good beach read. Books you can relax with, even if you’re in your own backyard. Here are three novels for you to consider and, hopefully, enjoy reading. I certainly did.

My Recommendations This Month

Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb (2025)

This newly released novel is the sixtieth in the In Death series, featuring police Lieutenant Eve Dallas. With this fast-paced novel, Robb continues to live up to her reputation for creating top-notch suspense novels. Readers do not have to read any of the other books in the series to enjoy Bonded in Death.

The setting is New York City in 2060. Dallas investigates the death of an elderly Italian man shortly after he arrives from Rome. The murder remains a puzzle until Dallas establishes a connection to the urban warfare of the 2020’s. The killer is targeting members of The Twelve, a secret organization whose members fought valiantly during the wars. One of its members is Sommerset, who works as a majordomo at the home Dallas shares with Roarke, her husband.

The action and suspense propel the reader through twists, turns and revelations moving forward to the tense climax. Throughout the novel, Robb skillfully blends in details of life in 2060 without slowing the story’s rapid pace.

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (2024) Edgar Award winner for Best Novel

The action gets off to a quick start when Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp and his team are thrown into the investigations of not one but two deaths. Are they connected?

Vassell gives us an insider view into the privileged world of the British upper crust and its tendencies to misbehave. She creates lively, charming characters, who give this novel a lighter touch than the usual police procedural.

Beauchamp is smart, witty, and brecomes enamored with a bright, clever woman connected to his investigations.

Friends and Traitors by John Lawton (2017)

While Bonded in Death takes us into the future, Friends and Traitors by John Lawton takes us back to England in the 1950’s. Lawson gives us his fictional take on real life spy Guy Burgess.

For years Chief Superintendent Frederick Troy tried unsuccessfully to avoid contact with Burgess, who continually foisted his friendship on the policeman.

Due to his known association with Burgess, Troy unwittingly becomes embroiled in the clandestine world of spies and spy catchers.

In 1951 Burgess fled to the Soviet Union to avoid arrest as a double agent. Then in 1953, when Troy is in Vienna with his family, Burgess contacts him. And the wily Burgess says he wants to return to England.

Troy contacts MI5 and drops the bombshell, then wants to return to his vacation trip. Instead, Troy is ordered to continue his contact with Burgess, forcing him into a world of danger, deceit and double dealing. When an MI5 agent arrives from London to meet with Burgess, the agent is killed. Troy becomes a suspect and must work to clear himself.

You Feedback Welcomed

Please email me when you read any of my recommendations and let me know your thougths about the novel. I’ll share your feedback with our other subscribers. Watch for my next newsletter in July.

“Reading brings us unknown friends” – Honore de Balzac

About Chris

Chris Quarembo’s debut novel Killer Deals, featuring PI Andrea Fabiano, won an Independent Publisher Award for Excellence in 2024. Her anthology of Andrea Fabiano short stories was published in 2025. Her other short stories in the crime and mystery genre are available as eBooks on Amazon. Chris is an award-winning former newspaper reporter. She is a member of Sisters in Crime. Her website is chrisquarembo.com.