By Dawn Amsberry

Who says beach reads have to be your typical romance novel or blockbuster mystery? Plenty of quirky new fiction for the beach, cabin, or living room couch is yours for the taking this summer. The Leisure Reading list of 2013 summer picks features a hard-boiled Irish cop, a pair of performance artists whose outrageous work often borders on criminal, and a movie critic whose life is changed by a literary ghost. Readers who crave suspense and romance will find both in a quiet English country village, a Boston artist’s studio, and a valley in rural Tennessee that holds an extraordinary secret. If you’re heading out of town, or just to your backyard hammock, don’t forget the sun screen and a good book from the Leisure Reading collection.