The World's book critic, Christopher Merrill, chooses books for 2008 summer reading. Also, check out the off-the-beaten-path suggestions of World Books editor Bill Marx and literary tips from some world class authors.

Finding Nouf
Title: Finding Nouf
Author: Zoë Ferraris
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

The disappearance of a sixteen-year-old Saudi girl just before her wedding brings a pious desert guide together with an educated woman from the coroner's office in a nuanced and richly described search for the truth of what happened to the eponymous Nouf. Each clue unveils another secret about life in the Kingdom of Saud, where tradition, Sharia law, and the religious police keep men and women separate. Who did it, and why? Ferraris teases readers at every turn, and the suspense builds as her protagonists piece together a story that from the outside seems incredible – and feels absolutely authentic. more information

Slip of the Knife
Title: Slip of the Knife
Author: Denise Mina
Publisher: Little, Brown

When journalist Terry Hewitt is slain execution-style on a road outside Glasgow, his former colleague and lover, Paddy Meehan, an acid-tongued newspaper columnist, is drawn into a mystery with political overtones. The time is 1990, and it looks as though the Troubles of Northern Ireland have come to Scotland. Add to the mix the release from prison notorious murderer certain to garner media attention, corruption in the police department, and the complications of single motherhood, and what results is a fast-paced fiction that carries all sorts of meanings and pleasures.

Winter in Madrid
Title: Winter in Madrid
Author: C. J. Sansom
Publisher: Viking

Madrid, 1940. The ravages of the Spanish Civil War are everywhere on display, but the burning question of the day is whether Spain will join forces with Nazi Germany. Enter Harry Brett, a shell-shocked veteran of the Battle of Dunkirk whose fluency in Spanish has brought him to the attention of British Intelligence. Hired to spy on a school friend, a con man named Sandy Forsythe, Brett must determine if Forsythe's explorations for gold will determine the course of history, even as he falls in love with a woman for whom he will do anything. The wartime atmosphere, politics, and intrigue of a decisive moment in history are expertly rendered in this long and satisfying novel.