SurfWriter Girls Best Beach Books 2026

 

Surf, Sea, Suspense on Board

 

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

For SurfWriter Girls Best Beach Books 2026, Sunny and Patti have put together a mix of surf, sea and suspense (with a touch of romance) to keep the pages turning when you're chilling out on a hot summer day.   

 

Big Trouble on Sullivan's Island, by Susan M. Boyer, has Charleston PI Hadley Cooper on the trail of the murderer who killed her client. She knows who did it – the husband. Unfortunately, his air-tight alibi puts him four hours away in Greenville... with a witness – Hadley, who had him under surveillance. For a taste of South Carolina's Lowcountry, its marshes and breezes in the Carolina pines, this is a beach read to savor with a frosty glass of peach tea or something stronger.  

 

Code Word Romance, by Carlie Walker, on Italy's dazzling Amalfi Coast, is the perfect setting for a rom-com... except for the assassins. Chef Margaux Adams ("Max") is reeling from closing her restaurant and paying off its debts when she gets an offer she can't refuse: Take a beach vacation in Italy – impersonating a prime minister who could be her double – and avoid getting killed. Max goes from duck a l'orange to decoy, but then hunky CIA bodyguard, Flynn, shows up.   

 

Dead Money, by Jakob Kerr, takes you into the world of high-tech start-ups and venture capitalists when the CEO of a San Francisco tech company is murdered and billions of investor money is frozen in a "dead money" account that can't be accessed until the killer is caught. It’s up to lawyer (and fixer) Mackkenzie Clyde to resolve things fast or her employer, who invested in the company, will lose a fortune.  

      

 

 

First Lie Wins, by Ashley Elston, will keep you guessing as the twists keep coming. Con artist Evie Porter knows a con when she sees it and this one's impossible to miss, especially when the person she meets at a party introduces herself using a name Evie knows well – Evie's real name! Evie plays along, buying time to figure out the con, safeguard her past and figure out a future. A Reese’s Book Club feature, this is the perfect cat-and-mouse game to while away a summer day. 

  

 

 

Ironwood, by Michael Connelly, is book 2 in his Catalina series (following Nightshade) with LAPD Det. Sgt. Stillwell, who's been sidelined to seemingly idyllic Catalina Island, twenty-two miles from LA’s crime and corruption. But trouble has a way of finding Stillwell, and soon a drug deal gone bad at the island's mountaintop airport and a cold case involving a missing hiker have him and LAPD Det. Renee Ballard joining forces. 

  

Ocean: From the Shore to the Abyss, by Asha de Vos, celebrates the vast array of life in the sea – from the surface to the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean floor, revealing a world of water that makes up 70% of our planet. With incredible photos and text, renowned Sri Lankan marine biologist de Vos brings the ocean to you. Each chapter covers a different depth zone, taking you on a dive that displays the ocean's wonders from the smallest organisms to the largest sea animals.   

 

Photograph, by Brian Freeman, begins when a photograph taken 25 years earlier of a little girl in the rain outside a Midwestern motel appears in a magazine, turning a cold case red hot, with new victims and an elusive murderer desperate to cover his tracks. As Daytona Beach PI Shannon Wells tries to answer a client's questions about her mother's recent death and the client’s identity, Wells gets entangled in the case herself, peeling back layers of lies – not just about the case, but about herself.

     

The Pohaku, by Jasmin Iolani Hakes, blends Hawaiian myths and tales and modern-day reality with a timeline that goes back and forth between the 1700s and 1990s. At the center of it all are the generations of Hawaiian women who have been tasked with protecting and preserving a powerful secret. Like her earlier award-winning book, Hula, the book brings the magic of the Hawaiian Islands to life, immersing the reader in the islands’ rich lore of deities and desires, conquest and community.

       

Red Lily, by Janice Graham, brings together a madcap mix of spies, a Dior model, a Greenpeace activist, and a disabled dog in 1989 Paris before the Berlin wall comes down. In Paris for the reading of his Aunt Lillian's will, Carl Box, a paint consultant for Disney Epcot, is drawn into a web of espionage with nothing as it seems, including the demise of his very much alive aunt. Fun and unpredictable, it underlines the importance of taking chances, connecting with family, and painting outside the lines.

     

The Surf House, by Lucy Clark, transports you to an exotic Moroccan surf getaway that dreams are made of...until the nightmare emerges and the desire for sanctuary is replaced by one for survival. Fashion model Bea ditches a photo shoot in Marrakesh and ends up at an idyllic surf guesthouse on the cliffs above the sea. Soon she realizes the surfing nomads there have troubling secrets and that a girl like her stayed there last year...and disappeared. Bestselling author Clark offers up a wave of suspense.  

 

So, when the waves are flat or you're just in the mood for an armchair escape, kick back and check out these cool beach reads. 

 

 

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.