Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds A Novel

By: Allison Brennan

Published by Harlequin Enterprises ULC, 2026-05-12

"The literary escape I didn't know I needed--a luxurious private resort, a steamy romance, and a captivating cast of sleuths and suspects . . . Allison Brennan has crafted the perfect summer read." --Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan mysteries



Featured on Katie Couric Media's "10 Books to Read Once You've Finished Watching 'The White Lotus'"!



In this sun-dappled mystery from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan, a risk-averse bibliophile gets in over her head when strange notes in a book draw her into a real-life investigation.



Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault. She has to be. Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, she has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Mysteries, romances, thrillers...books filled with women who are far more impulsive than she would ever dream of being. Now, forced into taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself--for a little while, anyway. She can explore the island. Flirt shamelessly with a cute bartender. Have a vacation fling. Live like a heroine in one of her favorite novels.



Or she can curl up with a good book on the beach. Turns out reinventing yourself is easier planned than done. But when gossipy notes written in the margins of an old book turn out to be clues to the disappearance of another guest, Mia finds herself diving headfirst into a dangerous adventure. With everyone at the resort hiding secrets of their own, she'll have to solve this real-life mystery before she becomes the next target.