How about that White Lotus finale, huh? Once again, Mike White kept us guessing until the very end. Once you’ve let it all sink in and discussed every detail to death (no pun intended) with your friends and family, you may start to feel a big, gaping hole open up in your life. That feeling can best be described as, “Now what?” We’ve spent eight weeks with these characters in Thailand watching their personal drama unfold, and our Sunday nights just got a little emptier. But never fear! Whether you watch White Lotus to see rich people behaving badly, for the murder mystery, or the lush vacation scenes, you can find any or all of these elements in books. There are so many novels that would be right at home beachside or poolside at The White Lotus — so while we await details of season 4, crack open one of these reads.
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
Take all the horrible rich people of The White Lotus, remove the death, and add a happy ending, and you’ll get this steamy rom-com from writing duo Christina Lauren. The plot revolves around a fake marriage between Anna, a low-maintenance artist, and Liam Weston, heir to the Weston Foods fortune. In order to please Liam’s family and save his inheritance, Liam and Anna have to put on the show of a lifetime at his sister’s destination wedding and convince the family they’re a real couple. When their fake feelings turn genuine, things get a whole lot more complicated!
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
Lux McAllister and her boyfriend Nico are commissioned by two wealthy college girls to sail their swanky boat to a remote island in the South Pacific. It seems like the trip of a lifetime — until it becomes a nightmare. The island in question has a dark history, and legend has it, people don’t make it off alive. The arrival of a stranger takes the trip even further off-course.
Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan
Emily Henry’s Book Lovers meets your standard vacation mystery in this new book from Allison Brennan. Protagonist Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault — her only vice is she gets way too swept up in a good book. So when her boss forces her into taking a vacation at a swanky resort, Mia fantasizes about living in her own rom-com… only to find herself smack dab in the middle of a murder mystery.
Sun Damage by Sabine Durrant
If you find yourself identifying more with Greg, Timothy, or Rick than the other characters who checked into the White Lotus this season, then you’ll devour this novel about grifters in the gorgeous French countryside. After a horrible mishap, Lulu ends up posing as the housekeeper for a rich family on vacation in their Provence home. But she finds it’s harder and harder to keep up the façade as the guests become suspicious and her past starts to catch up with her.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
If you’re looking for a twisty thriller in a posh location, you can’t get much better than Lucy Foley — and if you liked the wellness aspect of this season’s White Lotus, we’ve got your next literary obsession right here. This one’s set at a fancy cliffside estate with a heavy emphasis on wellness, as The Manor and its proprietor prepare for a feast for the summer solstice. Between a guest with a secret agenda, disgruntled locals who are not happy about the swanky new resort pricing them out, an owner hiding things of her own, and an ancient mystery at the heart of it all, it’s a recipe for disaster — and death.
One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke
Love the dysfunctional dynamic of Jacqueline, Laurie, and Kate? This book has that, turned up a few notches — six women who disparately know each other agree to a bachelorette party in Greece. There’s the bride, Lexi; awkward Eleanor, Lexi’s soon-to-be sister-in-law who keeps to herself; Ana, the mysterious new friend; Bella, the self-appointed maid of honor who doesn’t approve of the newly responsible Lexi; and Fen, Bella’s chill but aloof partner. All of the women have secrets. By the end of the trip, someone will have fallen tragically to their death.
A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper
You’ll have to wait until Tuesday to get your hands on this mystery, but we promise it’ll be worth it. Jess runs a thriving proposal planning business and gets roped into joining her former classmate’s “pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort. With Diana proving to be a total bridezilla and some weird things happening at the resort (like what appears to be a drug deal), Jess ends up spending more time with the resort’s owners. But when a body turns up in the sauna, Jess has to unravel the deadly secrets at the center of the Golden Ash property.
The Beautiful People by Michelle Gable
This work of historical fiction is not a murder mystery, but it does offer a juicy glimpse into the lives of the elite — and a name you most definitely know. It’s perfect for those who love the gossip of The White Lotus but could do without the murder. Plus, it takes place in part on the warm beaches of Acapulco. It’s about a failed west coast debutante who starts a new job as the assistant to prominent photographer Slim Aarons. He takes her inside the glitzy but messy inner circle of Palm Beach socialites, including none other than one Lilly Pulitzer.
The Club by Ellery Lloyd
If you took the real-life Soho House and put it on an island, it would be The Club. This book centers around The Home Group, a collection of ultra-posh and exclusive social clubs around the world. So when THG opens its brand-new Island Home, the launch party is the social event of the decade, bringing together A-listers and high-society types. The peculiar thing about the island club, though, is that you can’t get off it so easily… and when lives are at risk, that becomes a real problem.
Ladykiller by Katherine Wood
Childhood friends Gia and Abby were bonded together by a tragedy that happened in Greece when they were 18. Gia is now an heiress, and for her 30th birthday, she invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden. On the day she’s supposed to leave, Abby receives a threatening email alluding to the secret from her past — and when she arrives in Sweden, Gia’s not there. She flies to Greece and finds the only clue to Gia’s whereabouts in the form of a manuscript she left behind. Armed with the book, Abby has to race to find out what happened to her friend, and if she’s even still alive.
