I know it’s early, but looking ahead at 2026, you might be wise to get your book-buying budget in order way in advance. Why? Because next year is going to be absolutely stacked with must-read new mysteries and thrillers from all of the biggest names in publishing today.
Enjoy this sneak peek at some of the early 2026 titles that have already been announced. For a complete, regularly updated list that will have every title listed leading up to January 1, 2026, head on over to TRBS Substack and bookmark our running list here so you don’t miss any forthcoming new books from your very favorite authors.
Happy reading!
Release Date: January 6, 2026
William Morrow
From the author of The Night Agent—the #1 global Netflix sensation—comes an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a young actress who must go undercover in a deadly world of espionage to save her best friend…and herself.
A silent war.
An unlikely spy.
She’s done playing by their rules.
Actress Anna Vaughn is fearless—on screen, at least. She tends to play doomed brunettes with a badass streak, and has put in countless hours training for parts and learning how to fight, shoot, and drive like a pro.
She likes to believe she is as tough as her characters, but off-camera she leads a far quieter life: trying to keep her acting career alive so she can take care of her younger sister.
When her best friend Natalie, her rock, disappears after a night out with a mysterious new man, the signs point to foul play and a circle of spies operating in Manhattan. Anna must use all the tricks she’s learned for her roles to hunt for her missing friend. She quickly learns the dangers are all too real.
She crosses paths with Kevin Matthews, an FBI agent on the same trail, tracking a string of killings and disappearances and a powerful clique of oligarchs. With Matthews as her handler, she has only days to prepare for the greatest performance of her life—going undercover. She will follow in her friend’s footsteps through the gilded mansions, yachts, and secret clubs of New York to infiltrate the conspiracy and bring Natalie home.
As the killers close in, her only chance for survival is to become as lethal as the characters she once played.
No camera. No script. Just instinct.
My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
Release Date: January 20, 2026
Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar
The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists is back with a psychological masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you know about love, identity, and revenge.
“Nonstop thrills! The best Feeney book yet!” ―FREIDA MCFADDEN
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.
My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.
Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Poisoned Pen Press
A brand new twisted thriller that will have you cheering “good for her!” from the #1 New York Times bestselling and global sensation Freida McFadden, author of The Housemaid!
Sometimes, enough is enough…
Debbie Mullen is losing it. For years, she has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction.
Or at least, she did.
These days, Debbie’s life seems to be spiraling out of control. She just lost her job. Something strange is happening with her teenage daughters. And her husband is keeping secrets, according to the tracking app she installed on his phone. Now, Debbie’s done being the bigger person. She’s done being reasonable and practical. It’s time to take her own advice.
And now it’s time for payback against all the people in her life who deserve it the most.
From #1 New York Times and international bestselling author Freida McFadden comes a biting, subversive thriller about what happens when women finally choose to take justice into their own hands – with killer results
The Viper, A Zig & Nola Novel by Brad Meltzer
Release Date: January 27, 2026
William Morrow
“A thrilling adventure, full of twists and turns, gripping from the first page to the last. Hugely enjoyable. The perfect book to meet Zig & Nola.” — Alex Michaelides, New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient
New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer is back with his thrilling Zig and Nola series, unraveling a shocking cold case with a personal—and deadly—twist.
Andrew Fechmeier is a master at hiding. He’d better be—he’s spent decades concealing a secret that could get him killed. So when he’s diagnosed with a terminal disease, he heads for the local funeral home carrying the blue suit he eventually wants to be buried in. But what no one knows is that Fechmeier secretly tucked something inside, turning the suit into a final, untraceable hiding spot.
It’s a perfect plan. Until Fetch is brutally murdered by a mysterious killer who will stop at nothing to find the priceless object hidden in the suit.
Wasting no time, the cunning but unconventional Roddy LaPointe opens an investigation into Fetch’s murder, recruiting help from his friend, the brilliant “Zig” Zigarowski. But it doesn’t take long for Zig to discover the real reason Roddy cares so much about this case: Fetch’s death is tied to Roddy’s mother, who was murdered decades earlier.
As the relentless killer closes in, Roddy’s twin sister—the enigmatic and volatile Nola Brown—starts investigating for herself, uncovering a sinister plot that reveals their mother’s dark history, the true identity of her killer, and the shocking secret behind her death.
Don’t turn your back on The Viper.
“The Viper is a pulse pounding adventure that takes you on a journey into the darkest recesses of the human heart.” — S.A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed and King of Ashes
“Expertly crafted and charged with tension, Meltzer delivers exactly what readers crave: a killer story from a true master of the craft. Smart, sharp, and undeniably gripping—this is Meltzer doing what he does best.” — Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Sky Mourning
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Revenge by Brian Freeman
Release Date: January 27, 2026
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Jason Bourne vows revenge on the forces that have wreaked havoc on his life in this latest installment in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
When Bourne’s lover Johanna is murdered, Bourne sets off on a quest for revenge.
Release Date: February 10, 2026
Ballantine Books
Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis, the most beloved duo in American crime fiction, return in this electric thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense” (Los Angeles Times).
This one looked like a slam dunk: a young woman found dead at her kitchen table, DNA on cigarette butts linking quickly to an ex-boyfriend with a criminal record. Or so Homicide Lieutenant Milo Sturgis thought. Then everything changed and a quick close turned into a mind-bending whodunit. That’s when Milo called in psychologist Alex Delaware, his best friend and a long-term consultant on “those cases.” The ones that are different.
Then there’s another one: an old woman found brutally murdered, her body stashed in a deep freeze and mutilated. And when Milo learns who she is, he’s stunned. This victim is someone he once knew. Complicating matters further, her home is an extreme hoarder’s den, virtually impassable due to years of stored trash and apparently meaningless objects. Except for the envelopes of cash stashed among the garbage. As Alex and Milo dig deeper into the seemingly unrelated crimes, they discover shocking links between the victims and realize they have a labyrinthine—and deadly—puzzle to solve.
Cast against the unforgettable L.A. ambience unique to the novels of Jonathan Kellerman, this is classic Delaware at its best.
The Hadacol Boogie by James Lee Burke
Release Date: February 10, 2026
Atlantic Crime
Dave Robicheaux, James Lee Burke’s iconic detective, returns to investigate the death of an unidentified woman, pulling him into a vortex of corruption and violence in the Louisiana bayou
When a cloaked, disfigured man leaves a dead woman in a garbage bag on Dave Robicheaux’s property, he knows his world and family are about to change.
With Valerie Benoit, a detective new to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Department who is grappling with sexist and racist harassment from their colleagues, and the volatile but fiercely loyal Clete Purcel, Dave embarks on an investigation that brings him into the most dangerous moments of his career and threatens the lives of Valerie and his daughter Alafair.
He encounters a local handyman who leaves cryptic notes and warns of the ghosts who roam the shores of the bayou and is targeted by a vicious New Orleans button man and gangsters from the north.
Through brilliant prose and a quintessential cast of characters, James Lee Burke weaves a portrait of a gritty, violent Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century. Visceral, atmospheric, and wholly original, The Hadacol Boogie brings to life Dave Robicheaux’s fierce determination to confront evil both past and present.
Release Date: February 10, 2026
Minotaur Books
In the latest in this New York Times best-selling series, Evan Smoak takes on his most complex mission yet―one where he has to not only protect but also avenge, and find a way to balance vengeance with mercy.
Once a black ops assassin for the government known as Orphan X, Evan Smoak broke with the program and went deep underground, using his operational rules and skills to help the truly desperate with nowhere else to turn.
When Luke Devine, one of the most powerful men in the world has a psychological crisis, Evan flies to the East Coast to meet Luke. While there, he learns of a young woman who was kidnapped off the New York City subway, clearly in danger and in need of aid. With no name and few clues, Evan and his team track down the missing woman, who was assaulted and abandoned. Evan offers his help―and sets out tracking down the young men responsible. But the woman insists that Evan abandon his usual methods―no vengeance and, in particular, no killing. Which will prove no easy feat given the mounting incoming threats from all sides. In a mission that takes Evan from coast to coast, from the poorest corners of society to the richest, Orphan X must figure out a way to protect the innocent, avenge the victimized, and balance justice, with a measure of mercy.
Release Date: February 17, 2026
Berkley
The Gray Man discovers that “family” is just another word for “target” in the latest entry in this #1 New York Times bestselling series.
For a man who works in the shadows, a family is not just a luxury—it’s a weakness. When an unknown enemy uses threats against Zack Hightower’s estranged daughter to blackmail the injured operative into taking on a dangerous mission, his friend, Court Gentry, aka the Gray Man, volunteers to take Zack’s place.
But Court has problems of his own. He’s already got a expert assassin on his trail for no apparent reason. And now his quest to protect Zack’s family may drag his own family into the maelstrom.
There’s one lesson that Court has found undeniable: There’s a reason superheroes have secret identities.
The Devil’s Bible by Steve Berry
Release Date: February 17, 2026
Grand Central Publishing
From celebrated New York Times bestselling author, Steve Berry, comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, a tale of mystery and intrigue stretching back over four centuries.
Former Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is called to Sweden when the younger sister of King Wilhelm I is kidnapped. The ransom demand? Hand over an 800-year-old book, the Codex Gigas, the largest illuminated medieval manuscript in the world. Claimed as war loot from Bohemia in 1648, it’s been kept in Stockholm for nearly 400 years. Along the way it also acquired another more mysterious moniker.
The Devil’s Bible.
Now the Czech Republic wants the codex back, and Sweden has agreed to return it, but forces are at work to stop that deal from happening. The likely instigator? Russia. Who is also top of the list for possible kidnappers. It’s up to Cotton and Cassiopeia Vitt to locate the king’s sister, secure the codex, and thwart the Russians. Yet nothing is as it seems. Trusted allies become hostile enemies. Long-standing enemies suddenly shift into partners. Making matters worse an array of conflicting personalities re-emerge from Cotton’s past, transforming an already chaotic international situation into something far more personal and deadly.
From the cobbled streets of Stockholm with its placid waterways and picturesque islands, to the hostile skies over the Baltic Sea, and finally onto a fabled 16th century Swedish warship, Cotton and Cassiopeia come face-to-face with the unthinkable—changing both of their lives forever.
Release Date: February 24, 2026
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Game warden Joe Pickett fights for his life as his daughters try to uncover who shot him and left him for dead in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C. J. Box.
Marybeth Pickett gets the call she has always dreaded: her husband Joe is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.
Joe was found in his pickup at Antler Creek Junction, a crossroads connecting three ranches. Each road leading to a dangerous family. Each family with a different bone to pick with the local game warden. Marybeth and the new sheriff assume that Joe was ambushed by one of the families, but they have no idea which one since Joe didn’t say where he was going or why.
With Joe unconscious and fighting for his life with Marybeth at his side, Sheridan, April, and Lucy split up and investigate each of families to uncover the truth of what happened to their father, before it’s too late.
Release Date: February 24, 2026
William Morrow
From the #1 New York Times bestselling master of international intrigue comes a shocking new stand-alone thriller that thrusts a group of university students, falsely accused of murder, into a treacherous hunt across Europe, all to unlock the secrets buried within a centuries-old book that could change humankind forever.
Knowledge can be magic—until it falls into the wrong hands.
The ritualistic murder of a British professor at the University of Exeter points to a startling cast of suspects: his own students. All are enrolled in a postgraduate program covering the history of witchcraft, folklore, and spiritualism.
All evidence points to Sharyn Karr—an American student. Prior to the professor’s death, he had thrust a centuries-old book upon her. It appears to be the handwritten and encrypted diary of an eighteenth-century mystic and occultist, the Comte de Saint-Germain. The professor begged her to keep the text safe, ending with a warning.
Trust no one.
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Release Date: February 24, 2026
William Morrow
“Only a Gillian McAllister thriller can make your heart race and then your heart melt from one page to the next! I’m a devoted fan!” —Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author
How far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock—and finds herself on the wrong side of the law—in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time.
There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal…
Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can’t take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.
What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.
A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone’s courage—and morality—is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.
Unbearably tense, compassionately told, and full of well-crafted moral dilemmas, Caller Unknown proves once again why Gillian McAllister’s thrillers are “the best of the best” (Lisa Jewell).
Tyler Green Will Never Be Free by Nicci French
Release Date: February 24, 2026
William Morrow
From international bestselling master of suspense Nicci French comes a hair-raising locked-room thriller about a group of old university friends with a killer in their midst.
Old friends, new secrets, one deadly reunion.
Tyler Green, accused of murdering his friend Leo on a graduation trip in 1993, has just been released from a commuted life sentence. In the three decades since his trial Tyler has been adamant that he’s innocent, and now he’s determined to confront whoever allowed him to take the fall while they walked free.
On a warm June evening in London, Tyler summons eight of his university friends to reunite for the first time since that fateful night. With wine—and accusations— flowing liberally, the reunion descends into violent chaos, and one friend will end the night with their throat slit in the upstairs bedroom…the same way that Leo’s was in 1993.
When Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor gets called to investigate, she has her own doubts about Tyler’s guilt, despite what his old friends, the rest of the Metropolitan Police Force, and even the Home Secretary would like her to believe….
Tyler Green Will Never Be Free is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and other pulse-pounding locked-room mysteries in the Agatha Christie tradition.
Release Date: March 10, 2026
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
At the suggestion of his girlfriend, June, Peter Ash rides to the aid of an investigative reporter who may have stumbled on a story more explosive than even he can handle in this propulsive new thriller from the bestselling and award-winning series.
Katelyn Thorsen, known as KT to her friends, is an independent journalist tracking down the story of her career–a group of white nationalists who have infiltrated the local political culture of the Pacific Northwest. But these are not people to be trifled with and the story of her career may quickly turn out to be the last story of her life.
Fortunately, Peter Ash has arrived in town to look out for KT at the request of his girlfriend, June Cassidy. From the moment of his arrival, he’s thrown into a maelstrom of violence trying to protect KT and her daughter. Peter’s a man who’s always risen to every challenge, but this one may be too much for even him.
Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
Release Date: March 17, 2026
Mariner Books
Ten suspects. Ten heists. A puzzle only Ernest Cunningham can solve in this delightfully clever and twisty new novel in Benjamin Stevenson’s bestselling series—perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.
I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before.
The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, everyone is a suspect.
THE BANK ROBBER
THE MANAGER
THE SECURITY GUARD
THE KID
THE FILM PRODUCER
THE PRIEST
THE RECEPTIONIST
THE PATIENT
THE CAREGIVER
ME
Turns out, more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money.
Who is stealing what? Are they willing to kill for it? And can I solve the crime before the police kick down the door and rescue us?
Ted Bell’s Warmonger by Ryan Steck
Release Date: March 31, 2026
Berkley
Lord Alexander Hawke is used to going after big game, but his pursuit of a mysterious figure code-named Warmonger brings him up against his most deadly foe—Vladimir Putin—in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series.
Lord Alexander Hawke’s hunt for the Warmonger—a shadowy figure orchestrating chaos across the globe—is put on hold so that he may undertake an urgent mission for the Crown. His assignment: Travel to Russia, escorting the lovely Dr. Ariadne Silk; confront his archnemesis, Vladimir Putin; and recover a secret document that threatens to shake the British monarchy to its core.
While Hawke makes a perilous journey across Europe, his good friend Ambrose Congreve’s routine investigation of a bizarre murder takes a deadly turn, pulling him into a cat-and-mouse game with Silence, a cold-blooded assassin who may be targeting Hawke himself.
Release Date: April 7, 2026
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Lucas Davenport must track down a ruthless Russian hit team, in this latest thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford.
Release Date: April 21, 2026
William Morrow
New York Times bestselling author and former special forces officer Brad Taylor is back with a dynamic political thriller featuring Pike Logan as he goes head-to-head with an old enemy—and renowned assassin.
After its proxies are devastated and its offensive capability pummeled in the latest war in the middle east, a rogue group of Iranian regime officials create a brazen plot to strike back at their hated enemies once and for all. They envision a series of operational dominos culminating in a devastating attack, and the first step is the assassination of the Israeli prime minister. And there’s only one assassin with the skills to pull it off: Abdul Rahman, known in the shadows as the Ghost.
When a routine prison transfer is ambushed, the Ghost escapes and is given the assignment. The only Operator who can hunt him down is the man who stopped him before: Pike Logan.
Pike and his team soon learn that the mission involves something bigger than just the escape of his old enemy. Working with Mossad agents, the pursuit leads the Taskforce to Argentina. They work to unravel the scope of the attack, and the chase leads them through the tempestuous waterfalls of Iguazu and the Triple Frontier, to the vibrant streets of Buenos Aires, and the tiny village of Ushuaia at the “End of the World”.
As the team races against the clock, Pike learns the stakes are much greater than a single life – the consequences extend into the heartland of America itself. The Ghost may hold the key to an escalation that will upend the worldwide balance of power, and if Pike fails, the fallout won’t just be personal – it’ll be global.
Paradox, a Cash & Colcord Novel, by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston
Release Date: April 21, 2026
Forge Books
The new powerhouse team of Douglas Preston & Aletheia Preston are joining together to “enter the world” of the New York Times bestselling Extinction.
One of the holiest relics in Christendom, inexplicably defaced…
A paranoid old prospector, ritualistically murdered…
A controversial exobiologist, tortured and dismembered…
When a reclusive man is found dead under grisly circumstances in the Colorado wilderness, CBI Agent Frankie Cash and Eagle County Sheriff Jim Colcord, whom we met in the New York Times bestseller, Extinction, team up again on their most enigmatic and dangerous case yet. Their investigation uncovers a trail of bizarre killings, baffling money transfers, and a fanatical secret society.
And all the while, the resurrected Neanderthals, who vanished into the Colorado mountains, seem to be biding their time for something…spectacular.
The New Miss Marple from Lucy Foley
Release Date: September 8, 2026
William Morrow
A brand-new Miss Marple novel from Lucy Foley, the No.1 bestselling author of The Guest List and The Midnight Feast.
50 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published, Christie devotee and thriller author, Lucy Foley, reimagines the most famous fictional female detective of all time in a brand new mystery…
Lucy Foley studied English literature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry. She is the author of six novels, including The Paris Apartment and The Guest List. She lives in London.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, GONE DARK, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. For even more content and book news, subscribe to The Real Book Spy Substack!
As per Amazon publication date of The Method: A Thriller Hardcover – January 20, 2026
This blog entry needs correction from 1/6/26
Really hope the new brad Taylor is better than the last couple. Brad was awesome when he was banging out a couple books a year while working contracts (I’m sure it wasn’t sustainable).
But I get so tired of the ridiculousness: everyone, mock pike! Ha ha ha he’s stupid yayyyy! Then pike fights back even a little and Jennifer will punch slap or pinch him.
Knuckles gets all pissy if he thinks pike is keeping secrets—then he (with Jen’s help frequently) keeps secrets from pike, and when pike finds out… Jennifer pinches him.
I dunno. Love brad’s work. Love pike and blood and the Israelis and amena, but I wonder if he’s mined as much from task force as he can?
Maybe Jennifer can get pregnant and he’ll have to work alone and go back to being the high T alpha apex hunter he was.
Like Mickey told Rocky: you got civilized….
Do you have any information on Connor Sullivan’s “Red Falcon”?