September is almost here and that means it’s time to prepare for one of my favourite reading events: Readers Imbibing Peril (better known as R.I.P), which is hosted this year by Capricious. The idea of R.I.P. is to spend September and October reading books from the following categories:

Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror and Supernatural.

There are different levels to choose from, including a one-book option for those readers who don’t want to commit to too much. As usual, I am signing up for Peril the First, which means:

Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson or Tananarive Due…or anyone in between.

The challenge is now in its thirteenth year; my first R.I.P was R.I.P V in 2010 and I haven’t missed one since! I usually end up reading more than four books that fit the R.I.P. categories and although I don’t make a list and rigidly stick to it, I do like to put together a selection of possible choices.

Here are some of the R.I.P-ish books I have on my TBR:

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell was a birthday present from my sister in May, but I haven’t read it yet as I’ve been saving it for R.I.P. I’m sure it will be perfect.
The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton is one of the books I put on my 20 Books of Summer list and haven’t managed to read (I think 15/20 is the most I can hope for this summer). I love Sharon Bolton’s books and still have one of her others, Blood Harvest, to read as well.
A Gathering of Ghosts is Karen Maitland’s latest novel and I have a review copy which I really need to read soon.

Jezebel’s Daughter by Wilkie Collins is the only book on my Classics Club list that looks suitable for R.I.P.
Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor would also count towards my What’s In A Name? challenge – a book with a shape in the title.
And I already have Thunder on the Right lined up for September because Mary Stewart will be featuring in Jane’s Birthday Book of Underappreciated Lady Authors.

I loved The Strangler Vine by MJ Carter, so The Printer’s Coffin is high on my list for this year’s R.I.P.
So is The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude, a British Library Crime Classic which will be my first book by Bude.
I also want to read Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Penman, the second book in her Justin de Quincy mystery series.

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin is one of the books I’m considering for the upcoming 1944 Club, and possibly an Agatha Christie as well.
I often read one of Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mysteries during R.I.P. and Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d is the next one in the series.
And having read Allan Massie’s Death in Bordeaux last year, I would like to read Dark Summer in Bordeaux soon too.

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Those are just some of the books I could decide to read – I do have more on my TBR, so don’t be surprised if you see me reading something I haven’t mentioned here. I like to have plenty of choice!

Will you be taking part in R.I.P. this year? Have you read any of the books I’ve listed above?