Debut novels and thrillers for summer reading

Here are two debut novels from talented Twin Cities writers and a new thriller from an award-winning Minnesota series writer. All perfect summer reading.

“The Sirens of Soleil City”: by Sarah C. Johns (Random House, $18)

Donna swam too slowly, causing Phyllis to collide with her, causing Donna to stop and curse at Phyllis. When the order was reversed, Ilona was kicked in the back by Donna, causing Dale to jump between them to prevent a physical confrontation. A bird flying overhead would have seen the chaos. Wet, angry women unable to swim together in a simple shape. — from “Sirens of Soleil City”.

It is every writer’s dream to have their first novel published by one of the largest publishers in the country. St. Paul resident Sarah C. Johns has achieved it with “The Sirens of Soleil City,” which she will present in Minneapolis on Tuesday, the day of publication.

There is so much truth in this novel about three generations of women in one family at different stages of life. The story is set in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1999, where older women live in a slightly run-down apartment building. They are a tight-knit group, even when they bicker. They are in their 70s and have lived full lives. Now they are content to gather by the pool at sunset, gossiping and checking in on each other’s well-being. Johns treats these women with tenderness. Yes, they have aches and pains, but they are mostly tough and rarely surprised by anything. They worry about having to leave Soleil City because the building needs repairs and the manager is doing nothing about it.

Among the residents is Dale, who has had a troubled life. Dale left her daughter Cherie when the child was five so she could go to Mexico. Cherie grew up to be a problem solver that people turn to when they need help. She has money and is well organized, but no one knows that she is rethinking her marriage. Then there is Marlys, the woman who raised Cherie and also lives in Soleil City. Marlys is dying, but no one talks about it. Pregnant Laura, Cherie’s daughter, leaves her husband just months before her baby is due.

When Cherie arrives in Soleil City to visit her “two mothers,” she already has a plan. Could the women form a synchronized swimming team and win enough money to get the apartment building repaired? So Cherie recruits her daughter Laura to be the team’s reluctant coach.

The story is told alternately by Dale, Marlys and Laura. Their lives are revealed in intimate conversations and the efforts of the women of Soleil City to learn the basics of team swimming, including lifting old legs out of the water, are hilarious.

This is a delightful book with everything you could want in a story – a complex plot, lively and well-drawn characters, good dialogue, humor, and three generations of love.

Johns, who lives in St. Paul, is a writer and video producer. She studied in South Africa, Hungary, Israel and Germany and graduated from McGill University in Canada before attending film school in Australia. She will present her novel at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls., in conversation with award-winning Gretchen Anthony, author of “Tired Ladies Take a Stand” and “The Kids Are Gonna Ask.” The program is free, but registration is required. Visit magersandquinn.com/events.

“City of Secrets”: by PJ Tracy (Minotaur Books, $28)

They went in different directions, but always kept within sight of each other as they moved from room to room, all of their senses heightened to painful clarity by the rush of adrenaline that carried them both away. Nolan’s heart was in her throat, and with every step, every breath, it pounded harder, threatening to suffocate her. — from “City of Secrets”

A lot has changed for Los Angeles police detective Margaret Nolan since her debut in PJ Tracy’s Deep Into the Dark in 2021. At the beginning of the series, Nolan didn’t particularly like other people. She was an unfeeling cop who teamed up with Sam Easton, a Gulf War veteran whose face was disfigured by an IED blast. In City of Secrets, the fourth installment in the Nolan series, Maggie and Sam are both doing better. Nolan is attracted to a co-worker, Remy, and Sam is in a relationship with Melody, a recovering alcoholic who was a main character in the first Nolan thriller. Thanks to Melody, Sam has mostly overcome his PTSD and no longer flinches when people see his destroyed face. He is also an advisor to the police SWAT team.

But crime in Los Angeles never stops, and Remy is considering leaving the police force. He believes the city “had a shrill, dangerous buzz that didn’t exist five years ago, and that scared him.”

At the beginning of City of Secrets, a man’s body is found in his car in one of the city’s worst neighborhoods. Why was a wealthy man there in the middle of the night? Nolan and her partner Al Crawford discover that the victim was the head of a pet food company that was about to be sold for millions. He was also a sex addict, so there were plenty of women who might want him dead.

A day after the body is found, the wife of the man’s partner is kidnapped. The partner, a nice guy who would never hurt anyone, had been out of the company for years. Then he, too, is kidnapped. Remy, meanwhile, investigates a street rumor that the Angel of Death has returned. At the center of the plot seems to be someone known only as Mimi, an elusive woman whose motives are unclear. The case becomes more murky and brutal as the team discovers connections that extend to a noble family’s vineyard in Spain and a brutal betrayal.

Tracy, who lived in Los Angeles for 10 years, writes dialogue that gets to the point and her characters are layered. She brings to life the beauty and ugliness of Los Angeles as her characters move from the swanky Bel-Air hotel to the seedy neighborhoods where murder is nothing new.

PJ Tracy is the pseudonym of Traci Lambrecht, who wrote eight books in the Monkeewrench series with her mother PJ, and two more after PJ’s death. The books in the series have won almost every national mystery/thriller award. Other titles in the Margaret Nolan series include: “The Devil You Know,” “Desolation Canyon,” and “Deep Into the Dark.”

Tracy and Allen Eskens, award-winning author of nine novels including “The Life We Bury,” will engage in a lively discussion of their work at Minnesota Mystery Night on Monday, July 15, at 7 p.m. at Axel’s Restaurant, 1318 Sibley Memorial Highway, Mendota. The program is free, but reservations are required by calling 651-686-4840. A pre-program dinner is available. Those making reservations should mention Minnesota Mystery Night. For more information, visit minnesotamysterynight.com. Tracy’s book, to be published in August, and Eskens’ upcoming novel, “The Quiet Librarian,” to be published in February 2025, are now available for presale.

“Edison”: by Pallavi Sharma Dixit (Third State Books, $29.95)

…he returned to his mansion thinking he was cursed by his country’s greatest paradox: an obsession with love shops on the big screen that was rivaled only by the excessive time spent arranging marriages and forbidding dating. How could virtually every Hindi film ever made deal with the subject of love when love was outright forbidden by parents across the country and the diaspora? — by “Edison”

All the Indian immigrants in Edson, New Jersey, thought Prem Kumar was just a “pumpwalla” who worked at a gas station. They didn’t know that Prem came from one of the richest families in India and had ended up in Edison because Prem’s father was tired of him sitting around all day watching Hindi movies. Prem was tired of people telling him he needed a plan for his life, so he ended up in Edison, which is sometimes called Little India because it was a center of the Indian diaspora.

Things didn’t go well for Prem at first. Right after getting off the plane, he was robbed by two guys, one of whom even felt sorry for the unsuspecting nerd. He lived in an apartment with other guys and slept on a mattress under a bag of onions. He then got a job at a nearby grocery store and fell in love at first sight with the owner’s daughter Leena, who returned his loving glances. For a while, they found ways to be together, but her father found out about their relationship and told Prem he could marry Leena if he earned a million and one dollars. (The extra dollar is a lucky charm.) For the next decade, Prem loves Leena even though he rarely sees her, and their engagement is announced. Prem, always a lover of Hindi films, becomes a well-known producer of shows starring major Indian film stars, but without Leena, life is meaningless.

In her debut novel, Dixit takes us into the lives of Prem’s friends, all of whom aspire to be entrepreneurs. They are not immigrants from India who came with the first flood – doctors and lawyers – but men and women working hard to get their share of the American dream. Woven into the story are glimpses of the future, where these newcomers make their dreams come true.

This is also a history of the town of Edison, where the author grew up and where her parents still live. She describes how the town transformed itself into Indian businesses when Edison “became the name synonymous with home in America among expatriate Indians and those in the homeland.” Thus, Indian businesses moved into Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen without changing the basic architecture of the buildings. One of Prem’s most endearing friends, Beena, runs a catering business from her apartment and is constantly chopping vegetables while Prem curls up on her sofa when he himself is feeling down after the success of his big shows.

This is a fun story with a happy ending, which the publisher describes as “a Bollywood-style love story in the garb of literary fiction.” There are many references to Indian films, stars and music, but the author translates the titles into English when necessary.

Publishers Weekly describes Dixit’s novel as a “sparkling debut. It’s a fun read to be savored.” Kirkus praised it as “a sparkling epic worthy of the Bollywood screen.”

Edison is so vivid and Prem is such a lovable character that the reader is happily transported to the town of Little India with all its joie de vivre, including the food and colors that these kind-hearted people brought to the United States.

Born in India, Dixit won the first annual Pages in Progress award from the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, co-sponsored by Third State Books. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has received grants and fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and others. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two children.