CRIME NOVELS THAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO READING IN 2026

2026 has already gotten off to a good start with two enjoyable, early Downunder crime novels by Tim Ayliffe (Dark Desert Road) and Geoff Parkes (The First Law Of The Bush), and Eva Macrae’s gritty slice of Tartan Noir A Death In Glasgow (8 January 2026).

I have also already enjoyed the forthcoming Pendergast by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast) and C. J. Box’s The Crossroads, both of which are due out in January, and I am currently reading M. K. Oliver’s A Sociopath’s Guide To A Successful Marriage, which is great fun.

At first glance, 2026 promises to be another bumper year for crime and thriller readers, with a plethora of good looking titles by established and new authors scheduled for release. I have picked out below a baker’s dozen of the ones scheduled for release in the first five months, or so, of 2026 that I am most looking forward to.

Before diving into this year’s titles, I thought I would look back at those books I was most keenly anticipating at the beginning of 2025 and see whether they lived up to expectations!

In January 2025 I nominated 13 books that I was most looking forward to: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/crime-novels-that-i-am-looking-forward-to-reading-in-2025/

They were a diverse lot and they generally met the mark, although a couple were disappointing. Of the thirteen, two found their way onto my best reads of 2025 (Adrian McKinty’s Hang On St. Christopher and Anthony Horowitz’s Marble Hall Murders), while Dervla McTiernan’s The Unquiet Grave was not far off it and for most of the year was in my top ten. Geoff Parkes’ The Deep Dark Bush Swallows You Whole was on my Best Debuts of 2025 list and Shelley Burr’s Vanish was one of my favourite crime novels of 2025 with an Australian setting. The rest were solid, but the ones by established authors tended to be a little disappointing and did not, in my view, represent their best work. I did, however, quite enjoy Michael Bennett’s Carved In Blood and Tess Gerritsen’s The Summer Guests.

So for 2025, eight of the books I was looking forward to really met the mark, while two were close. Only three lagged somewhere behind my expectations. I hope to do better this year.

In picking through the upcoming releases, I have tried to cover the spectrum of crime fiction from spy fiction to police detection to twisty psychological suspense to a clever meta mystery and a more sinister take on Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club books. There are also some promising early year crime novels by Australian authors.

In addition to the ones below, I am also looking forward to releases later in the year by Michael Robotham, Christine Steadman, Robert Goodman, Charles Cumming (the long awaited Icarus 17), Chris Brookmyre, John Connolly and Alan Park’s sequel to Gunner, Deception.

I have included the Australian release dates below, which may vary from the British and American publication dates.

An early one out of the blocks is Ashley Elston’s Anatomy Of An Alibi, (Headline, 20 January 2026).

Ashley drew considerable praise for her debut novel, First Lie Wins, and she now seems set to repeat that success with her new book:

“Two women. One dead husband. And only one alibi…

Camille Bayliss suspects her husband Ben hides a dark secret. But as he tracks her every move, she cannot prove it.

Aubrey Price believes lawyer Ben Bayliss knows the truth about the night that wrecked her life a decade ago. But she needs a way in.

When Camille and Aubrey meet, they hatch a plan.

For twelve hours, Aubrey will take Camille’s place. Ben will track the wrong woman, Camille can spy on Ben, and both women will get their answers.

Except the next morning, Ben is found murdered.

Two women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it. And one false step is all it takes for everything to come undone.”

Anatomy of An Alibi is scheduled for release in Australia on 20 January 2026. It is released a week earlier in the United States and the United Kingdom on 13 January 2026.

Heading up the Australian releases is Fiona Hardy’s Old Games, (Affirm, 24 February 2026).

Fiona Hardy’s Unbury The Dead was one of the stand-out Australian crime novels of 2025 for me. Fresh and witty, it featured a great central character pairing in the form of dodgy investigators and marginal criminals Alice and Teddy. Now the pair are back in a new misguided adventure:

“Morally flexible best mates and private investigators Alice and Teddy pride themselves on fixing every kind of mess imaginable, no questions asked. So, when they’re tasked with locating the recently-stolen ashes of long-dead celebrity tennis player Ashley “Perry” Perrineau, it should be a routine job.

But it quickly becomes clear that everyone who knew Perry is keeping secrets: his accountant despises Perry’s widower; the sculptor of his statue is hiding something in her studio; his ex-doubles partner is a compulsive liar; and his mother is obsessed with preserving his legacy and her image at all costs.

Alice and Teddy will need to travel up and down Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula – all while avoiding more than one person on their tail – to uncover the truth and keep the body count from rising. But will they and the people they love survive what they find?”

I have made a start on this one and so far it certainly has the charm and grip of Unbury The Dead.

Old Games is released on 24 February 2026.

I also have high hopes for Natalie Conyer’s Finding The Bones, (Echo, 3 March 2026).

Natalie’s Shadow City was one of my favourite novels of 2024, and with Finding The Bones she continues the case load of Sydney detective Jackie Rose:

“Sydney, 1980s: Belle Fitzgerald, young, rich and spirited, lives in Kings Cross, the city’s bohemian heart. When she learns of plans to demolish her street and evict its residents, she commits to fighting the development, even though this brings her up against the Cross’s crime lords and their servants, the notoriously corrupt local cops. Recklessly, dangerously, against her better judgment, she embarks on a passionate affair with one of those cops, Sergeant Stanton Rose. 

Then Belle goes missing. Her disappearance becomes one of the nation’s great mysteries. 

Sydney, today: Stanton Rose, retired, is an Australian icon, celebrated for his undercover work in the Cross. Jackie Rose, his daughter, has followed in his footsteps. She’s a homicide detective, uncompromising and ambitious. 

When Belle Fitzgerald’s bones are discovered, Jackie is given the very cold and very public case. This will be her moment to shine. But what she uncovers threatens to turn her life – and the lives of those closest to her – upside down. 

As her investigation deepens, Jackie has to decide how far she will go to navigate the fine line between love and betrayal, loyalty and corruption.” 

It sounds great. Jackie is a nuanced and interesting character, and Natalie has previously shown her skills as a sound plotter and astute chronicler of Sydney and its history. I am very much looking forward to this one.

Following on the heels of J. P. Pomare’s successful recent books, 17 Years Later and The Wrong Woman, The Gambler, (Hachette, 24 February 2026), is likely to be a very popular read in 2026.

The Gambler again features private eye Vince Reid who we first met in The Wrong Woman. The story is set in America, and has Reid on the path of some very dangerous players.

“PI Vince Reid is visiting an old friend when he’s offered a case he can’t refuse: Why did a respected local woman open fire at a political rally, killing a promising young university graduate? It’s easy money, he’s told. A sure thing.

But as Reid delves further into the case, the stakes are higher than he imagined. There are invisible players pulling the strings. Will he walk away a winner or pay for the ultimate gamble with his life?”

The Gambler is released on 24 March 2026 in Australia.

Dervla McTiernan had a successful return last year to her police series about Irish detective Cormac Reilly with The Unquiet Grave. Now with her forthcoming new book, Three Reasons For Revenge (Harper Collins, 28 April 2026), she once again expands her writing repertory with an interesting sounding investigation novel of suspense and revenge.

“Alexis Turner walks into the police station to report an assault. By the end of the day, she is nowhere to be found.

Soon after she disappears, three identical packages arrive at three very different doors: a respected psychologist’s home, a socialite’s mansion, and a struggling single father’s run-down apartment. Inside, each gift is perfectly tailored to its recipient – and each will tear apart the life of its intended victim.

Detective Sergeant Judith Lee is smart and experienced, but this is no ordinary case. Someone with intimate knowledge of their targets is orchestrating these attacks. Someone who knows exactly how to hurt each victim where they’re most vulnerable. And she’s convinced that somehow, it connects back to Alexis Turner.

As she races to uncover the connection between three seemingly unrelated people, Judith discovers she’s no longer just investigating the game – she’s being forced to play.”

Three Reasons For Revenge is released in Australia on 28 April 2026. It is released in the United States on 21 July 2026 with, in my view, a slightly more enticing cover. See below:

Last year Michael Connelly started a new series about Detective Stilwell from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. Stilwell, no first name, had been ‘exiled’ to a low-key post, policing rustic Catalina Island, after departmental politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. The first book, Nightshade, was quite good and was considerably enhanced by Connelly’s description of the interesting Catalina Island.

Coming in May 2026 is the second book in the series, Ironwood (Little Brown), and it sounds very promising.

“Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully separated—by twenty-two miles of ocean—from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.
 
Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane flies off.
 
An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island, and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.
 
While under orders to remain in the sheriff’s substation, he finds in the lost and found a valuable backpack that was never claimed. He traces it to a woman who disappeared while hiking on the island four years ago. But then why was the pack only turned in two months back? Now thoroughly intrigued, he follows the mystery all the way to the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit and Detective Renée Ballard.
 
Stilwell and Ballard work the case from both sides of the channel, and soon realize they are on the trail of a criminal who revels in taunting the authorities. Meanwhile, frustrated at being shut out of an investigation on his own island, Stilwell risks his already shaky standing in the department to pursue a case whose reach is wider than he ever imagined.”

The combination of Stillwell and Renée Ballard in the same novel, is sure to excite Connelly’s legion of fans, especially as the story spins around a cold case crime, which is a plot device that Connelly excels in.

Ironwood is released in the United States on 19 May 2026. It is released in Australia on the same day by Allen & Unwin, but with a different, yet to be revealed, cover from that above.

Another big name release is the latest book in the Hawthorne series by Anthony Horowitz, A Deadly Episode (Century, 21 April 2026).

The Hawthorne books, in which Horowitz features as a character himself, are an absolute treat. I binged my way through them last year and found everyone to be excellent. The murder in A Deadly Episode takes place on a film set, where the first book is being filmed. Horowitz is no stranger to television and film sets and A Deadly Episode is sure to be filled with interesting background and a clever twisty plot.

The publishers have provided the following details:

“The Word is Murder, the first book in the Hawthorne series, is being made into a major feature film.

The actors have been cast, the script written, and filming has already started in Hastings.

But when Hawthorne and Anthony visit the set, they find a far from happy family.

The director’s pretentious, the screenwriter’s an eco-warrior, the two stars hate each other, and the producer has run out of money.

And things are about to get much, much worse.

In the middle of shooting, the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed – which leaves the real Hawthorne with no choice. He has to step in and investigate his own murder.

Because the killer may not have got the right man. Was it Hawthorne himself who was meant to be the target?”

Mark A Deadly Episode as one to look out for in April, when it is released in both Australia and the United Kingdom.

Tim Weaver tends to slip a bit under the radar here in Australia. Which is a shame as his novels about missing persons investigator David Raker are always first rate mysteries. His latest, The Lost Women (Penguin, 26 February 2026), sounds like another enjoyable tale.

“THE WOMEN WHO DISAPPEARED
Before he was a missing persons investigator, David Raker was a journalist – and there’s one story that still haunts him. The Lost Women.
Eighteen years ago, on the Cornish coast, three women were filming a documentary about a missing student…until they vanished too.
With no bodies and no leads, the disappearances remain unsolved.

THE PATIENT WHO VANISHED
Today, Raker is hired to crack an impossible mystery. Following a car accident, Preston Stewart has surgery on his face. The operation is a success.
But when the dressings are removed, Preston’s wife realises something is very wrong.
The man under the bandages is not her husband.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING
Raker and his ally, former detective Colm Healy, begin digging into Preston’s disappearance – and discover a horrifying connection to the lost women.
But there’s something even worse.
The men only have 48 hours to solve both cases – or everything that matters to them and everyone they love is in danger.”

The Lost Women is released in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2026. Unfortunately it is not released in Australia until May 2026, although it will be available on Kindle and as an Audio Book from February.

Light hearted books featuring sympathetic serial killers, sociopaths and murderers as the main characters are very much in vogue at the moment. Especially if the central character is of a certain age or in a retirement village. Fergus Craig’s new book, I’m Not The Only Murderer In My Retirement Home (Sphere, 17 February 2026), seems to tick many of these boxes, as well as having a decent mystery and a good sense of humour (from what I have read so far).

The publisher has provided the following description:

“When former serial killer Carol takes her place in a luxury retirement home, she begins to find her feet with a small new group of friends. If she can only keep her past hidden, maybe she has a chance at happiness.

That’s when she discovers that, absurdly, every other one of Sheldon Oaks’ residents was involved in the law somehow. It’s not long before her true identity is leaked, and when a former police commissioner resident is murdered, naturally all eyes turn to her…

Now she must solve the case to prove her innocence – just as her new friends start their own investigations into whether there is more than one killer at Sheldon Oaks.”

I’m Not The Only Murderer In My Retirement Home is released in Australia and the United Kingdom on 17 February 2026.

There are some very good spy novels coming our way in 2026, including Charles Cumming’s long awaited Icarus 17, James Wolff’s Spies And Other Gods, David Goodman’s Solitary Agents and Jason M. Hough’s thoroughly enjoyable Throw Away The Key. First out of the blocks, however, is Paul Warner’s promising looking A Spy In The Blood, (Zaffre, 29 January 2026).

The publisher has provided the following:

“Mark Wolfe was the greatest spy of his generation. Now retired from active service, his family know him as a quiet, affable civil servant with no idea how to use the TV remote.

Mark still works for MI6, helping to recruit new agents, fending off advances from private security companies who offer a far higher salary than his paymasters at Vauxhall Cross. But he hasn’t got his hands dirty since the spying game involved dead-dropping intel beneath railway station clocks in East Berlin, Czechoslovakia and other foreign lands that no longer exist.

When his daughter reveals an unhealthy obsession with joining the service, Mark is caught off guard.
And when she disappears during a mission, he’s thrown back into a terrifying new world of modern espionage.”

This is next on my to read list! A Spy In Blood is released in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2026. Release in Australia is not until April 2026.

Ava Glass made a strong debut back in 2022 with her spy novel Alias Emma about newly minted MI5 agent Emma Makepeace. Now, writing under the name of A. C. Glass, she is moving more into the suspense field with the promising sounding The Hiding Season, (Penguin, 26 March 2026).

“Maya Landry is in desperate need of a fresh start.

Alone and heartbroken, she finds work as a caretaker at an exclusive ski resort for the elite in the mountains of Montana. Quiet and empty in the summer months, it’s the perfect escape.

All Maya wants is to be alone. But she’s not alone on the mountain. Someone else is there. A killer with his next victim in his sights.

After Maya finds a body, she must run for her life. One man tells her that he can save her. But can she trust him? Is he everything he claims to be?

Only one thing is certain: the killer will stop at nothing. And Maya is the only witness to their crime.”

Alias Emma was certainly a very exciting, fast paced read and I will be curious to read The Hiding Season to see how Ava has handled the move to non-spy action.

The Hiding Season is released in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2026 and in Australia on the same day, although limited to Kindle and audio book.

Probably the most intriguing book to be released in early 2026 is The Ending Writes Itself, (HQ, 14 April 2026), by the pseudonymous Evelyn Clarke.

A collaboration between bestselling author V.E. Schwab and her friend and screenwriter Cat Clarke, The Ending Writes Itself comes with a recommendation from Stephen King and plenty of pre-publication hype. It certainly sounds interesting:

“It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.

Six authors.

One private island.

Seventy-two hours to write the ending.

World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won’t write itself.

When six struggling authors are invited to Fletch’s private Scottish island and presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the plot thickens: whoever writes a worthy ending will receive a game-changing book deal and two million dollars.

Why have they been chosen to attend? Who is behind the invitation? And just how far would they go to secure a place on the bestseller list?

They have just seventy-two hours, a typewriter and a blank page. All they have to do is write…

Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.”

Finally, a personal favourite. Thomas Perry sadly passed away in late 2025. I was a keen fan of his books and had been fortunate to review his first novel The Butcher’s Boy way back in 1983 and several of his other books over the years.

I was particularly fond of his novels about Jane Whitefield, a Native American woman who has made a career out of helping people disappear. Perry completed the final book in the series, The Tree Of Light And Flowers (The Mysterious Press), shortly before his death and it is being published in April 2026.

The story sounds like a good finale to the series:

“A violent car crash brings on the premature birth of the baby that Jane Whitefield and her husband have hoped for, but it also shatters the period of calm in their lives like an earthquake triggering a tectonic shift. Within weeks, Jane’s peaceful time as a new mother in a safe, harmonious home starts to revert to her harrowing previous life. She had spent over a decade rescuing and sheltering people from dangerous foes, taking them to new locations, and teaching them to live under new identities. It was something that she’d hoped to never have to do again. Nearly simultaneously, as though the events were connected, people who are thousands of miles apart in vastly different circumstances start to move. Some of them are in terrible need of help finding a route to safety. Some are dedicated to serving justice. Others are determined to capture the woman who makes people disappear so they can force her to reveal where their potential victims are now. All of these travelers are soon on their way to the old house in western New York. Suddenly the people requiring Jane’s special skills include not only multiple fugitives, but also Jane herself, her husband, and their newborn, as the danger she faces comes from people who know how to find her. She’ll need to use everything she’s ever learned in order to survive.”

I have already ordered a copy!

So there are my picks of the best new books coming out between now and the end of May 2026. It is only the tip of the iceberg and I am sure that other good books will pop up over the next few months. Check back for my ‘spoiler free’ reviews.

Happy New Year everyone.