Sunscreen is in the air, mosquitoes are annoyingly buzzing, and hopefully your AC is cranked to the max. That’s right, we are in the middle of summer. For many, summer comes with the nostalgia of summer camp—from sleepaways to weeklong art or sports-themed versions—and trips to amusement parks for all the deliciously fried food, lemonade, and dare-you-to-get-on-that-ride memories.
So why not pair that nostalgia of fun summer vibes with a mystery to solve! I mean, we are mystery and thriller fans after all. Depending on your summer mood, there’s a fictional serial killer thriller set at an amusement park, an unsolved missing person case set at a summer camp, and siblings fighting over a family estate. which is the family summer camp.
Wonderland (Wonderland #1) by Jennifer Hillier
For fans of amusement parks, fictional serial killers, and multiple POV!
What starts with an amusement park employee breaking into the grounds in order to free climb the Ferris wheel ends with a dead body being found… It’s a hell of a way for Vanessa— who just moved her kids to Seaside, Washington to get away from her past— to start her new job as deputy police chief. The day starts with an unidentified dead body, and then a missing teen employee, and then a history of missing persons cases involving an amusement park with a dark past.
Bonus: the follow-up, Heart of Glass, releases in August!
All Access members, read on for more summer camp + amusement park mysteries!
I’ll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie
For fans of family drama, summer camp settings, mysteries involving wills and estates, and past unsolved mysteries!
The MacAllister siblings aren’t surprised that they will need to decide (and fight) over what to do with the family summer camp after their parents die. They are, after all, reunited at the camp to listen to their parents’ will. However, they did not imagine that they would have to solve a 20-year-old mystery regarding what happened to one of their best friends. Nor that one of them will be accused…
A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas DiDomizio
For fans of family drama, summer camp setting, camp lore, and past murder mysteries!
Just shy of 30, Mikey is a rich kid whose father throws a fit when he realizes that Mikey bought a New York apartment to house a friend (a complicated relationship Mikey is gonna have to figure out). Mikey’s father decides that he needs to learn responsibility and ships him off to the family summer camp, where he has to 1) look after his aunt (she’s a kid, Mikey’s former high school classmate ended up marrying his grandfather), and 2) prove he’s made a contribution somehow. If he fails, no inheritance for him. So off Mikey goes to help his “aunt” make friends and mentor a group of summer camp kids. It turns out, those kids’ interest is solving some camp lore involving a murder mystery. Will having a crush on a fellow camp counselor help or make things worse?
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf and see 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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