Summer Reading Recs, Part 2
For those who like a little family drama with their beach reads!
Ang Pompano's BLOOD TIES AND DEADLY LIES is a twisty detective novel set in the salty air and the clapboard quaintness of a small New England coastal village. Al Delucia, a former police detective from Connecticut is living in his Savannah when he gets a call from a former colleague. It seems Abe Cromwell, the bully who plagued him in his youth, has been arrested on threatening charges--and he claims to be Al's brother. Al heads north to the quirky seaside village of his youth, intrigued by the claim, and also bent on winning a local sea kayaking competition. But all is not well in Sachem Creek. Especially Al discovers the body of the person Abe had threatened on a remote island.
Al's personal relationships are all complicated. His formerly estranged father, Big Al, now has dementia, sometimes forgetting that Al is his son. Their relationship, while occasionally strained, is also at times heartwarming and sometimes amusing as well.
Al is also trying to navigate a complicated relationship with Max, his boss and girlfriend. But all of this pales in comparison with the various attempts on his life as Al plies the waters of the Nutmeg Islands, off the salt marshes and rocky coast of Connecticut, where the tensions are high between the locals and the summer people, caught in the throes of gentrification in a tiny village with a long and storied history.
This is a great beach read! I highly recommend it. BLOOD TIES AND DEADLY LIES is out tomorrow, July 1, 2025. You can preorder now!