“Mr. Mercedes”

Stephen King

June 3

The king of horror is back with a good old-fashioned detective tale. 

An unsolved case is suddenly resurrected when retired detective Bill Hodges receives a letter from the Mercedes Killer, a murderer who ran down eight people and injured 15 others before disappearing into the fog. In line with King’s chilling classics such as “The Shining,” “Pet Cemetery” and, more recently, “Under the Dome,” his new book is set to be a whole new kind of bloodcurdling.

— Commentary by Courtney Combs

“Midnight in Europe”

Alan Furst

June 3

In 1938, unrest sweeps throughout Paris and the rest of Europe as war approaches. Cristián Ferrar, a Spanish émigré and lawyer at a prestigious international law firm, has been approached by the embassy of the Spanish Republic and asked  to put his life at risk in the battle against fascism. Ferrar’s mission leads him from shady Parisian nightclubs to brothels in Istanbul and gets him mixed up with idealists, gangsters, arms traders, aristocrats and, of course, spies. Alan Furst has been hailed as the master of modern day espionage, known for writing the critically acclaimed novel “The Spies of Warsaw.” 

— Commentary by Courtney Combs

“The Silkworm”

Robert Galbraith 

June 19

When novelist Owen Quine disappears, Detective Cormoran Strike and his young assistant Robin Ellacottis pick up the case. Quine had just completed a potentially life-ruining manuscript featuring slanderous secrets about everyone he knows, meaning there are a lot of suspects. When Quine is found murdered, Strike must work against the clock to hunt down a killer unlike any he has seen before. The second novel of the Cormoran Strike series, written under J. K. Rowling’s pseudonym, brings the hero of “The Cuckoo’s Calling” back into action for what is sure to be another must-read for murder mystery fans.

— Commentary by Courtney Combs 

“The Secret Diary of Lizzy Bennet” 

Bernie Su and Kate Rorick 

June 24

From the Emmy Award-winning YouTube series “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” comes “The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet.” 

Bernie Su, the series’ executive producer, joins Kate Rorick to bring Lizzie’s world to life. The series is a modern take on “Pride and Prejudice,” introducing Lizzie as a graduate student who starts a web series for her thesis project, turning her and her sisters into Internet celebrities. When the handsome Bing Lee and his conceited friend William Darcy arrive in town, things start to get interesting. “The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet” takes fans past the confines of the camera, expanding the previously seen world of Lizzie as she struggles with family and life after graduate school.

— Commentary by Caitlin Lochner

“Written in My Own Heart’s Blood” 

Diana Gabaldon 

June 10

Diana Gabaldon is back with the eighth installment of the Outlander series, “Written in my Own Heart’s Blood.” The series follows Claire Randall, a nurse in the 20th century, as she time travels to 18th century Scotland and meets the dashing Jamie Fraser. Written in a mix of historical fiction, romance and adventure, “Outlander” won the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award for Best Romance of 1991. 

— Commentary by Caitlin Lochner 

“The Jedi Doth Return” 

Ian Doescher 

July 1

The bard is strong with this one. Ian Doescher caused quite the stir among film fans and literature lovers alike when he released “Verily a New Hope,” or what would have happened if William Shakespeare had written “Star Wars: Episode IV.” Now return to a star-crossed galaxy far, far away for the final installment of the trilogy. Following the events of “The Empire Striketh Back,” the boy of Tatooine  must bring his father, the evil Sith lord, back to the light side of the force and save the universe — all in flawless iambic pentameter. 

— Commentary by Courtney Combs