(NOTE: Don’t forget that as TRBS transitions to Substack, we’re running a Founding Member promotion and offering giveaways to all paid subscribers, including an advance reader copy of Brad Thor’s Cold Zero. Still haven’t subscribed to our Substack? Read this quick article to see why you should change that today!)
If you’re searching for the definitive, all-in-one list of every mystery and thriller hitting bookstore shelves in 2026, you’ve just found it.
As of today, my 2026 Reading Guide already features hundreds of forthcoming titles—and that’s only the beginning. I’m still waiting on confirmation for dozens more, and I’ll be updating this list continuously throughout the year. So bookmark it, save it, and check back often as new mysteries and thrillers are added.
Bottom line: this is your one-stop, go-to resource for tracking every mystery and thriller coming to bookstores in 2026.
(I’ll still be posting monthly Reading Guides, which will not only list each book coming out that month, but also contain all my reviews of those titles.)
*This is a free preview of our full 2026 Reading Guide. To view the entire list, featuring hundreds of books, unlike anywhere else on the web, go here:
https://therealbookspy.substack.com/p/the-most-complete-2026-mystery-and
Behind These Four Walls by Yasmin Angoe
Release Date: January 1st
From the author of Not What She Seems, Yasmin Angoe’s thriller explores revenge, morality, corruption, and wealth as a woman sets out to uncover the truth behind her friend’s disappearance and expose the powerful family behind it.
Isla Thorne had a rough start in life. Orphaned young, she spent her formative years in a group home where she met her best friend, Eden Galloway. At sixteen, they decide to run away to LA…but Eden never makes it.
It’s been ten years since Eden vanished. And Isla’s determined to find her.
She begins at the last place Eden visited: the Corrigan mansion in Virginia. Eden claimed to have unfinished business there. Posing as an aspiring journalist, Isla insinuates herself into the wealthy family’s home and begins searching for the truth.
The more she digs, the more Isla discovers Eden isn’t who she thought she was. Was she even a victim, or did Eden plan this all along? Desperate for answers and to keep her identity hidden, Isla finds an ally in one of the Corrigan sons. But as she wades deeper into this power-hungry family’s secrets and lies, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a bloodline that’s more lethal than loyal.
The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson
Release Date: January 1st
Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers—one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her—are the only ones searching for the truth.
Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before—and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence.
Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children.
But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even though people are always watching along the Canals, no one saw a thing. Tessa and Barb only have each other, their intuition, and the creeping sense of danger that grows with every shocking revelation.
The Invisible Woman by James Patterson and Susan DiLallo
Release Date: January 5th
From New York Times bestselling author James Patterson, an undercover FBI agent investigates a family with suspected ties to organized crime—by posing as their live-in nanny.
No one sees her, but she sees everything. Elinor Gilbert was once a young woman with a thriving career at the FBI. Now decades past solving crimes with the bureau, she is personally and professionally forgettable.
Which is exactly what her former FBI boss needs. He disguises Elinor as a middle-aged nanny, and casts her as an agent on the inside of his investigation into a New York art dealer suspected of ties to organized crime.
But as Elinor pushes toward the truth, her superpower—anonymity—morphs into a fatal flaw.
The more the invisible woman integrates into her “host” family, the more dangerously memorable she becomes.
Release Date: January 6th
“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
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 Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz
Release Date: January 6th
New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz dives into an enthralling new romantic suspense novel filled with deeply entrenched grudges, psychic dangers, and a conspiracy that threatens not only two families but also the entire paranormal community.
The Harper and the Wells families have regarded each other with deep suspicion for four generations. The Harpers have been known to offer their psychic talents for less-than-legal purposes, and the powerful Wells clan has a reputation for playing both sides of the street. But for all the years of history and distrust between them, there is a mysterious pact binding the two. They share the responsibility for protecting a long-buried and very dangerous secret.
Sophy Harper and Luke Wells are shocked to learn that her aunt and his uncle have been sleeping together—and now they are both missing. Not only that, but the last traces of them are at the scene of a murder soaked in negative paranormal energy. Clearly, someone is willing to kill to obtain the secret their families have been charged with protecting. Despite their mutual distrust, which, as far as Sophy is concerned extends to Luke’s hellhound of a dog, they both know that the terms of the pact must be honored.
Their investigation uncovers a psychic trail leading to a bizarre desert art colony where nothing is as it seems. But Luke and Sophy are concealing a few secrets, too. By a strange twist of fate, a Harper and a Wells have no choice but to trust each other and the fierce attraction that is binding them as surely as the pact between the families.
Release Date: January 6th
The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife weaves a mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below—where a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time.
1664: Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at the famed Gobelin Tapestry Works, who secretly dreams of escaping her circumstances and creating her own masterpiece. When her father is unjustly imprisoned, Alouette’s efforts to save him lead to her own confinement in the notorious Salpêtrière asylum, where thousands of women are held captive and cruelly treated. But within its grim walls, she discovers a small group of brave allies, and the possibility of a life bigger than she ever imagined.
1939: Kristof Larson is a medical student beginning his psychiatric residency in Paris, whose neighbors on the Rue de Gobelins are a Jewish family who have fled Poland. When Nazi forces descend on the city, Kristof becomes their only hope for survival, even as his work as a doctor is jeopardized.
A spellbinding and transportive look at a side of Paris known to very few—the underground city that is a mirror reflection of the glories above—Paula McLain’s unforgettable new novel chronicles two parallel journeys of defiance and rescue that connect in ways both surprising and deeply moving.
Fire Must Burn by Allison Montclair
Release Date: January 6th
The owners of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are back, and more determined than ever to bring love matches to the residents of Post-WWII London . . . so something as trivial as being dragged into a spy mission isn’t going to stop them!
Sparks fly when an old friend comes to town . . .
London, 1947. After recent events have left the normally steadfast Iris Sparks thoroughly shaken, she’s looking forward to some peace. With The Right Sort doing well, she and business partner Gwen Bainbridge are due a holiday. Until Iris’s former boss enlists their help for a secret mission.
Iris, who left British intelligence after the war, is being recruited for her Cambridge connection to one Anthony Danforth. She hasn’t seen Tony in almost ten years, yet she and Gwen must manipulate him into hiring their marriage service.
Tony’s suspected of being a Soviet operative, and an undercover agent posing as his perfect match could discover the truth. Despite her reluctance at being dragged back into the world of espionage, Iris agrees. After all, Tony was once a very good friend. If he’s innocent, she’ll happily prove it. If not? Well, no one ever said being a spy was easy . . .
Those who enjoy reading Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher Mysteries and Dorothy Sayers will adore this warm and witty historical mystery!
The Reckoning by Kelli Stanley
Release Date: January 6th
First in an explosive new thriller series set in the eighties from the author of the critically acclaimed Miranda Corbie series introduces the fierce feminist Renata Drake—on the run from the FBI for the execution-style murder of her little sister’s killer.
“Vivid and haunting. I’m eager to hear more from the tenacious and resourceful Renata Drake” Meg Gardiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author
California, Southern Humboldt County, 1985. Renata Drake steps off a Greyhound bus and into small-town Garberville, hoping to disappear. She checks the papers. She’s not headline news. Not yet.
But she’s made a mistake. The FBI have the cannabis-producing “Emerald Triangle” town— and its corrupt residents—in their sights. Even worse, a teenage girl is missing, and when she turns up dead, the third in three years, it’s clear a serial killer is living among them.
Renata knows about murdered girls and the burning desire for justice—and for revenge. Her younger sister Josie is gone, and now, so is the man who killed her. Renata didn’t stay in Washington, D.C. to be arrested for executing a murderer, and she shouldn’t stay here either. But Renata decides to investigate, and what she uncovers will trigger a final reckoning: For herself, for a killer, and for all of Southern Humboldt.
This powerful, page-turning thriller explores the human cost of corruption and the psychological toll that violence takes on women.
Release Date: January 6th
“An elegant, sinister, beautiful nightmare.”—Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colours of the Dark
Long Bright River meets Lost in this adrenaline-fueled thriller of a missing plane, a remote island, and two sisters torn apart when a vacation turns unthinkably deadly
Two years ago, a small plane disappeared over Fiji. For Erin, it’s been two years of obsessing over every detail, refusing to move forward even as life does. Her sister Lori was on that plane, and Erin was meant to be, too, but after a bitter argument, she failed to show. Everyone thinks Lori is dead, but Erin can’t let go.
Just when Erin is on the verge of losing hope, the pilot of the missing plane turns up still in Fiji, seemingly with no memory of the crash. In a final bid to find her sister, Erin travels there herself—but what she discovers is beyond anything she could have predicted.
A sharp-edged, darkly propulsive novel following two sisters whose lives are upended when their vacation of a lifetime goes disastrously awry, The Castaways is another scorcher from “queen of the destination thriller” (Claire Douglas) and million-copy bestselling author Lucy Clarke.
This Side of Gone by Saundra Mitchell
Release Date: January 6th
In this gripping debut PI procedural, an ex-cop is dragged back into the policing world that she fled when a teen girl goes missing in her new town.
Please help me. I think he killed Avery.
Vinnie Taylor isn’t a cop anymore. Once a decorated detective, Vinnie left behind a 25-year career in a blaze of scandal—working undercover to bust a sex trafficking ring in her own Homicide Unit. Nearly beaten to death by her former colleagues to prevent her testimony, Vinnie has found peace in the small town of Wills Harbor, Maryland. Or so she thought.
When a local teenager goes missing, and nobody in town seems concerned besides the girl’s best friend, Vinnie can’t help but take the case, even if it means returning to a world she’s gone hundreds of miles to leave behind. She feels a certain kinship with Avery Adair, a whip-smart teen who grew up on the wrong side of town, just like Vinnie.
But as she digs deeper, Vinnie uncovers a trail of dangerous online encounters and a double life that Avery kept from even her best friends. The closer Vinnie gets to answers, the more perilous her own circumstances become. Does Vinnie have the courage to face the ghosts of her past and the ugly truths hiding in her new hometown?
Release Date: January 6th
For a detective and an FBI agent, two seemingly disparate murder investigations collide with a twist in an explosive novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
In the crisp mountain air of central Oregon, a teenage girl’s search for discarded cans leads to a horrifying discovery: a body, brutally murdered and abandoned in the woods. The case falls to Deschutes County Detective Noelle Marshall, who finds herself navigating a community steeped in secrets, suspicion, and distrust of outsiders―especially law enforcement.
Miles away, FBI Special Agent Max Rhodes investigates a different kind of darkness―chatter about a violent uprising from a shadowy militia group preparing for war. The two cases seem worlds apart. But as Noelle digs into the murdered man’s past and Max closes in on the source of the terror plot, their paths begin to converge in a terrifying way. This was no random killing. It was a message. A merciless killer and a hidden army are operating in the same shadows, and finding the link between them is the only thing standing between a single murder and a full-blown massacre.
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The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery
Release Date: January 6th
Knives Out meets Downton Abbey! Secrets, murder, and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo—an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogenarian—hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world, in this locked-room mystery by #1 New York Times bestselling author Ross Montgomery.
Cornwall, 1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley’s Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom—every window, chimney, and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within… By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow.
All eyes turn to Stephen Pike, Tithe Hall’s newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn’t commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, eighty-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she’s been waiting for.
Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges, and rising terror to unmask the killer before it’s too late…
The Devoted Game by Debra Webb
Release Date: January 6th
A disgraced FBI agent is challenged to a life-or-death match by a deviously clever kidnapper in this propulsive novel by USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb.
Former FBI agent Ryan McBride crashed and burned three years ago after a case took a fatal turn. He swore he was done with the Bureau forever―until Special Agent Vivian Grace shows up at his door with a new case he can’t refuse.
Six-year-old Alyssa Byrne has been kidnapped, and her abductor, alias Devoted Fan, has threatened to kill her in twenty-four hours. He promises to reveal the girl’s location to the FBI on one condition: He’ll only talk to McBride.
With the clock ticking, Grace and McBride race to solve Devoted Fan’s puzzles, each more twisted than the last. But when another victim goes missing, with a promise of more to come, they realize that Devoted Fan is not just a stranger with a deranged obsession. His sick game is somehow connected to both their pasts―but around which dark corner lies the answer?
Release Date: January 6th
From USA Today bestselling author Audrey J. Cole comes a locked-room thriller at sea about image and influence, guilty secrets that won’t sink, and the lies we cling to in the storm.
A luxury sailing trip is the perfect escape from Palmer’s shattered marriage. Until the Pacific Coast cruise—a chance for old friends to mend old wounds—descends into a harrowing fight for their lives.
Twenty years ago, the five of them were inseparable. But after a rafting accident their senior year, only four of them returned. Volleyball captain Courtney’s body was never found. And their lives were never the same.
Now Palmer, her ride-or-die Beth, and home renovator Emma are on an all-expenses-paid trip with mega-influencer Gigi. But a mysterious note and a violent storm soon push them dangerously off course. The radio’s down, the captain’s missing, and the first officer’s woefully inexperienced. And in a chilling echo of the past, Gigi gets swept away. Perhaps on purpose.
Someone doesn’t want them to make it back. Palmer’s not sure who to trust, but she knows the truth lies in the murky depths of what really happened that day on the river.
Definitely Maybe Not a Detective by Sarah Fox
Release Date: January 6th
In this delightfully charming rom-com mystery, a woman becomes accidentally entangled in a murder investigation (and with a handsome stranger) when her fake detective agency is enlisted to solve a real homicide.
Emersyn Gray is definitely not a detective.
Really, she’s an unemployed twenty-eight-year-old raising her beloved niece in the only place she can afford after her ex-boyfriend ran off with her life savings: a run-down, seniors-only apartment complex that was desperate for tenants. But never fear—her wild best friend has the perfect plan to get Emersyn back on her feet and stick it to her thieving ex: scare him into returning her money by hiring a private investigator to prove he stole it. Only, there won’t be an actual detective, just a fabricated business card from Wyatt Investigations . . . and a ridiculously hot stranger, who steps in to play the part—a stranger whose name is, coincidentally, Wyatt.
Emersyn can’t help but notice the real-life Wyatt is capital H-O-T hot, even though she’s wary of his intentions. But her ex does seem flustered, and if she can get her money back and regain control of her life, maybe it’ll finally prove to her parents that she can be a responsible caregiver to her niece.
But the day after they set their plan in motion, the superintendent of Emersyn’s apartment building winds up dead, and her neighbors turn to her fake detective agency for help after finding one of the phony business cards. With so many eyes on them—or maybe just their eyes on each other—Emersyn and Wyatt agree to take on the case. Now the question is, Can they solve the murder without getting tangled up in their own fictions—or each other?
“Fast-paced and quippy.”—Catherine Mack, USA Today bestselling author of Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies
Release Date: January 6th
HURRICANE SEASON CAN BE MURDER • A January 2026 Indie Next Pick • “Sexy and full of surprises, The Storm is an ideal curl-up-by-the-fire read.” —Real Simple
St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.
When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.
As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive—and as deadly—as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…
The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
Release Date: January 6, 2026
Laura Dave continues Hannah Hall’s pulse-pounding journey in the riveting and deeply moving sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling blockbuster and Apple TV+ show, The Last Thing He Told Me.
Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California. Together, they’ve forged a relationship with Bailey’s grandfather Nicholas and are putting the past behind them.
But when Owen shows up at Hannah’s new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again.
As a thrilling drama unfolds, Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them. Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety—and finds there just might be one way back to Owen.
A gripping, rich, and deeply evocative novel about the power of forgiveness, The First Time I Saw Him picks up right where the epilogue for the “genuinely moving” (The New York Times) The Last Thing He Told Me left off, giving readers the eagerly awaited and absolutely exhilarating sequel to Dave’s global blockbuster.
The Right to Remain by James Grippando
Release Date: January 6th
In this thrilling novel from bestselling author James Grippando—the twentieth in his revered series—legendary criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck takes on a twisty, difficult case that becomes one of the most complex in his illustrious career.
Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck must contend with a unique problem. His client, Elliott Stafford, indicted for murder, has gone silent. Not just silent in asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination—Elliott refuses to speak. He won’t talk to the judge, his girlfriend, or even the attorney fighting for his life. There seems to be no medical or psychological reason for his silence. He has, as Jack puts it, “chosen to become his own worst enemy.”
To some, it’s an act of protest against a broken criminal justice system. Jack doesn’t buy it. Undeterred by the hoopla and calls to walk away, he keeps his client and tries his best to save Elliott from himself. As he digs for facts, Jack discovers a much more disturbing reason for Elliott’s silence. Virtually everything Elliott told Jack before the indictment is proving false, including Elliot’s criminal history, family turmoil, and secret past. As Jack plunges deeper, he comes to believe that Elliott isn’t trying to hide his own guilt. He may be protecting someone else—and the stakes could not be higher.
With plenty of courtroom action, scenes in which “Grippando’s years of experience shine brightest” (New York Times), The Right to Remain is one of the most thrilling entries yet in this hugely popular series that keeps going strong.
Wreck Your Heart by Lori Rader-Day
Release Date: January 6th
From award-winning author Lori Rader-Day, Wreck Your Heart is an engaging, “wisecracking and wonderful” crime novel with a big heart, about a country and midwestern singer out to catch her big break before family—or murder—wrecks everything.
Dahlia “Doll” Devine had the kind of hardscrabble beginning that could launch a thousand broken-hearted country songs, but now she’s the star of her own stage at McPhee’s Tavern. As part of Chicago’s—yes, Chicago’s—country music scene, Dahlia is an up-and-coming singer in spangles and boots of classic country tunes. Up and coming, that is, until her boyfriend Joey up and went, taking the rent money with him.
So Dahlia is back to square one, relying on Alex McPhee—again. Alex helped her out of a bad situation when she was a kid living rough with her mother. Now he’s part landlord, part band booster, all-around rescuer. It’s just that Dahlia wishes she didn’t keep giving him reasons to have to do it.
Just as Dahlia suspects she’s scraped rock bottom, the mother she hasn’t spoken to in twenty years shows up with something to say. The next morning, a distraught young woman arrives at the bar, asking after her missing mother—Dahlia’s mother, too, even if the missing suburban PTA mom the girl describes sounds pretty different from the one who let Dahlia down all those years ago.
Though no one is using the word sister anytime soon, Dahlia lets herself be drawn into reuniting the family that might have been hers. But when a body is discovered outside McPhee’s Tavern, the crime threatens not just the place Dahlia has made into a home, but everything she’s believed about her past, her dreams for the future, and the people she was just, maybe, beginning to let into her heart.
She Made Me Do It by Anna-Lou Weatherley
Release Date: January 12th
I trusted her. I shouldn’t have…
Samantha Valentine didn’t drift into my life, she collided with it. Soon it was like we had been friends forever. She told me everything about her perfect life, but I always felt there was something she was leaving out.
Then one night, I get a frantic call from Samantha, hysterical and begging me to protect her from her boyfriend. Rushing to her house, instinct takes over and soon my heart is hammering out of my chest as I stand over the body of a man I had never met before this evening.
But by the time the police arrive, Samantha has vanished. The officers tell me that there is no record of her anywhere. The woman I thought was my friend has tricked me into killing a perfect stranger.
As the police slip the handcuffs on my wrists, I know I’ve made a terrible mistake. By protecting a woman I never really knew, I’ve destroyed my life. Who is Samantha really, and why did she make me do this? She’s taken everything from me, but she has no idea how far I will go to get the truth…
A gripping and page-turning psychological thriller absolutely packed with twists. Perfect for fans of T.M. Logan, Frieda McFadden and Daniel Hurst.