Most Anticipated Mystery & Thriller Books of 2026

Cool Machine (Ray Carney #3) by Colson Whitehead

A literary fiction trilogy is already a rare treat for readers, so one from an incredible two-time Pulitzer Prize winner is a glorious freaking gift. Cool Machine closes out Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy about Ray Carney, an NYC furniture salesman and master fence. This third story is set in the 1980s, when Reaganomics has been unleashed on the economy, and the country is lulled into thinking they have money to spend. In need of a loan to get his wife’s travel agency off the ground, Ray makes one more questionable (and certainly illegal) business decision. How will Ray and his partner, the lovable sociopath Pepper, fare this last time around? —Liberty Hardy

The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Silvia Moreno-Garcia could write a guide on knitting sweaters for earthworms, and I’d be out here cheering, “Yesss, clothe the tiny invertebrates!” She has, of course, crafted an irresistible plot in a noir tale of desire, greed, and seduction. In 1940s Mexico, a handsome grifter charms women into giving him their money through letters. Intent on securing a bigger, more reliable bag when the letter scheme runs its course, he sets his sights on the owner of a boardinghouse in a small town in Veracruz. There are two holes in this plan: his intended victim’s niece clocks him right away and wants in on the scheme as a means to escape this small town, and his victim is not the gullible mark he thinks she is… —Vanessa Diaz

Wreck Your Heart by Lori Rader Day

Dahlia “Doll” Devine puts all the pain of her childhood into her country music. Part of Chicago’s country music scene, Doll sings weekly at McPhee’s Tavern, owned by her childhood rescuer and quasi-boss Alex McPhee. As an adult, things still aren’t easy. After she’s evicted from her apartment when her boyfriend absconds with the rent, she has to find a new living space and start over. When her estranged mother Marisa shows up wanting to talk to her, it’s the last thing Doll wants. But the very next day, a young woman shows up looking for Marisa, and Doll realizes she has a half-sister. Doll reluctantly helps the woman track her mother down, and soon realizes that things may not have been what they seemed throughout her life. —Elisa Shoenberger

Mrs. Shim is a Killer by Kang Jiyoung, Paige Morris (Translator)

Honey by Imani Thompson

I love feminine rage, and I love a fictional vigilante killer. In this case, Yrsa is a PHD student, researching Afropessimism, who is fed up with garbage men’s behavior. So why not kill them…

A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell #10) by Deanna Raybourn