Looking for a sizzling read this summer that you can start on your journey and finish on the beach? Whether it's the new Harry Potter or thumbing through new releases by popular authors including Jeffery Deaver, Alexander McCall Smith, David Baldacci and Freya North, there's no shortage of choice. Here are a few of the offerings you may want to pack in your suitcase.

THRILLERS The Sleeping Doll, by Jeffery Deaver (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99): The master crime writer introduced kinesics expert Kathryn Dance briefly in his previous novel, The Cold Moon, but now gives her a series of her own, the first of which finds her up against a ritual murderer known as The Son Of Manson.

Simple Genius, by David Baldacci (Macmillan, £17.99): Nasty goings-on in a psychiatric hospital pharmacy prompt Michelle Maxwell, seen in Split Second and Hour Game, to investigate.

The Naming Of The Dead, by Ian Rankin (Orion, £6.99, July 27): Rebus' latest investigation is set during the G8 Summit in Edinburgh.

The Afghan, by Frederick Forsyth (Corgi, £6.99, August 1): Out in paperback just in time for your holiday comes another fast-moving terrorist thriller about someone infiltrating al Qaida.

HISTORICAL The Interpretation Of Murder, by Jed Rubenfeld (Headline, £7.99): The winner of 2007's Richard & Judy best read of the year is a literary thriller inspired by Sigmund Freud's 1909 visit to America. When a beautiful young woman from the upper echelons of New York society is found bound and strangled in her penthouse apartment, Freud is asked to investigate.

The Last Fighting Tommy, by Harry Patch and Richard van Emden (Bloomsbury, £16.99): Harry Patch, 108, is the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches during the First World War. He tells of his remarkable life, which has spanned six monarchs and 20 prime ministers.

Imperium, by Robert Harris (Arrow, £6.99): His latest historical thriller takes us inside the violent, treacherous world of politics in Ancient Rome, to describe how one man - clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable - fought to reach the top.

The Sixth Wife, by Suzannah Dunn (HarperPerennial, £6.99, August 6): Henry VIII fans should snap up this historical novel, based on the life of Katharine Parr, his sixth wife.