Heatwave? Read These 6 Books to Cool You Down

The best way to forget about the monster heatwave and scorching, hot temperatures outside is to read books set in a chilly location guaranteed to cool you down. Looks like summer won’t give us a moment of respite this year either. With lock-down and social distancing to consider, there is one sure way to cool off during the warmest months of the year and to keep safe from the torments of the heat.

Reading. Chilling crimes, Scottish or Nordic Noir; books set in frozen settings are perfect for cooling off and de-stressing.

Chill to the bone In a House of Lies

One chilling place to start is In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin, just for its hard-hitting storytelling blended with humor. When everyone has something to hide and nobody is innocent, when all trails lead to John Rebus, will he be able to prove his innocence? This book is an ideal heatwave read as it asks for a full attention to keep up with its twists. The 22nd book featuring former detective John Rebus, it deals with two cases; a missing persons’ cold case and a recent murder. A complicated, complex and very satisfying read dripping with banter and some lighthearted humor bouncing between the two main characters. An instant No.1 Amazon Bestseller, shortlisted for British Book Awards, Crime & Thriller Book of the Year.

Consider social media as All That’s Dead

Summers are for keeps even when the possibilities for outdoor chilling are slashed, forcing us to focus on social media. So I’m looking next at another read, classic humor mixed with chilling crime, All That’s Dead by Stuart MacBride because the victim was a Twitter addict. So when he disappears, what are the chances that it was only an innocent act? Logan McRae, here in book 12, is faced with a perplexing case to solve while the story, spun by a master storyteller, is anchored in the present political issues from a master storyteller and a No 1 bestselling author.

Cool your senses with Smilla’s Sense of Snow

For a play of words and on what to read during a hot day, dare touch Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg. The book pulls us in a Copenhagen covered by snow where a scientist who lives in a world numbers and science and is faced with solving a murder. If the clues leading to Greenlander are not enough to chill you, read it for the explosive secret that lies beneath the ice. Welcome to Nordic Noir, the bleakest of the bleak crime fiction and a book that won too many awards to even count them.

Best ride the heatwave with the Silent Heroes

If a chilling setting fails, a hot drink on a hot day can also cool you down – or a read set in a hot location, temperature hot, action hot, politically hot: Afghanistan.

If you wish to survive through what seems to be the hottest summer in recent memory of the world, conventional wisdom says that you can cool down by drinking a hot beverage. But if you wish to forget the nagging heat outside your window, then escape in a book: Silent Heroes.
Chosen one of 5 Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime.
As vivid as a movie, you will share the life of the Marines deployed in an Afghan military base; climb the breathtaking Hindu-Kush Mountains to a secluded Taliban camp; dive in the belly of ancient Qala-e-Bost fortress in the middle of a battle, and experience the culture of the Afghan people. Silent Heroes is a race against time, “an emotional rollercoaster of a read,” a page-turner, a thrilling contemporary story with a vivid sense of the place, history and politics that shines a light on the humanity of the Marines and their special relationship with their canine buddies. The utterly thrilling war fiction read inspired by true events from a Historical Fiction bestselling author – it will keep you gripped until the final page.

Forget about your surroundings with The Shining

We remain in the territory of horrors, because they prove to be the best option for a hot day. Read The Shining by Stephen King. Can you say no to the prospect of a luxury hotel in Colorado, snowy and full of ghosts? Surely at least the minus something degrees will already seem bearable, by comparison to the heat outside your window. Danny is a five-year-old with paranormal powers, his father, Jack, is an alcoholic writer, and his mother Wendy is a bundle of nerves. What could go wrong? The book, published in 1977, turned King into a master of the horror genre, but also one of the best-selling writers of all time.

Get lost in the frosty Gorky Park

The day’s still too hot for you? How about Moscow, in the middle of the Russian winter? I’m thinking of one of the best crime novel set in Russia, Martin Cruz Smith’s Gorky Park. The book successfully contrasts both Soviet and American societies, as well as the methods of Soviet and American detectives. Police investigates a triple murders set in Moscow’s Gorky Park in the middle of Russian winter and all clues point to a KGB hit. Arkady Renko, the Moscow homicide investigator, finds himself pulled into a web of intrigues connected to powerful American business interests. Chilling and atmospheric, the Arkady Renko series now includes eight gripping novels.

Start with any one. You won’t be disappointed and not even the heat will seem oppressive anymore.