Exclusive Cover Reveal + Q&A: Rachel Ekstrom Courage’s Sinister Summer Thriller Nothing Bad Happens Here
There’s something about a summer thriller. Whether it’s the picturesque settings, glorious weather, or characters who are somehow just relaxed enough to loosen long-established boundaries, there’s a sense of almost limitless excitement and possibility mixed with the inevitable prospect of very real danger.
This all goes double for books in the young adult space, if only because the characters in this genre all tend to be of an age where the entire concept of summer feels like an especially magical interlude where the pressures of real life don’t necessarily apply. Such is the initial set-up for Rachel Ekstrom Courage’s YA debut, Nothing Bad Happens Here, which follows a girl whose dreams of a perfect New England summer vacation take an unexpected turn when she discovers a body on the beach.
Here’s how the publisher describes the story.
A carefree New England vacation is just what sixteen-year-old Lucia needs to chase her sadness away. At least, according to her mom, who whisks them away for the summer with her ridiculously wealthy new boyfriend. Nothing bad happens in Nantucket, a charming island with cobblestone streets and million-dollar cottages.
But when Lucia stumbles upon the body of a teenage girl on a beach, the discovery reopens old wounds from her past. With the dead girl’s identity a mystery, Lucia takes it upon herself to investigate and crosses paths with Selah and her pack of devil-may-care besties. The three girls are beautiful, chaotic, and a little wild—and they help Lucia forget her crushing sense of grief and loneliness. But as Lucia becomes a part of their shimmering world, she begins to suspect that there are dark secrets hidden in this quiet enclave, and that uncovering them may be the key to solving the dead girl’s murder. Not everything on this island is what it seems…
Nothing Bad Happens Here will hit shelves on April 22, 2025, but we’ve got a first look at its sinister, summery cover—as well as a chat with Rachel Ekstrom Courage herself about the inspiration behind the story and what to expect.
Paste Magazine: Tell us about Nothing Bad Happens Here! What can readers expect from this story?
Rachel Ekstrom Courage: More than anything, I wanted to write a Nantucket vacation in book form, with bike rides over bouncy cobblestone streets and blustery days at the beach. I want readers to feel like they’re giggling over chocolate frappes with a group of new friends, to remember the frustration of being stuck at a summer job when it’s gorgeous outside, to experience the dangerous thrill of swimming in the ocean at night…but all through a dark and slightly cracked lens.
I spent so many wonderful childhood and teenage summers on Nantucket, but as an only child, most of my friends were the books I got at the local library and Mitchell’s Book Corner: novels by Joan Aiken, Lois Duncan, Peter Benchley, and (of course) Elin Hilderbrand. And because Nantucket is so atmospheric—with fog and lighthouses and windswept moors—it’s an easy place to lose yourself in daydreams and I’d find myself wishing that something exciting would happen to me. Those feelings inspired my writing, which is why there are contemporary thriller elements in Nothing Bad Happens Here and a few nautical myths and fairy tales swimming throughout the story, too.
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