Crawford’s on a Winning Streak

Two awards were presented this evening during the 2026 Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, but there was only a single recipient. That’s because A Bad, Bad Place (Bantam), Glasgow first-novelist Frances Crawford’s “gritty and poignant” story of a 12-year-old working-class girl who stumbles across the corpse of a murdered woman, picked up not only the 2026 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, but also the latest McIlvanney Prize for “best Scottish Crime book of the year.” Crawford thereby becomes the first double winner in the history of these annual commendations.

The Scotsman quotes author Denise Mina, who served as this year’s Bloody Scotland guest programmer, as calling A Bad, Bad Place “a novel of profound depth and scope. Insightful, harrowing and very funny, it deals with the reality of violent crime and its impact on many victims. This is a spectacular debut from a wonderful new voice.”

In addition to Crawford’s novel, four others were shortlisted for the 2026 McIlvanney Prize, which honors Scottish fictionist William McIlvanney: The Hollow Boys, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper); 138 Main Street, by Gavin Bell (Simon & Schuster UK); The Diary of Lies, by Philip Miller (Polygon); and The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Viper).

Meanwhile, A Bad, Bad Place competed for the Debut Prize with a quartet of works, all of them also penned by women: Original Sins, by Linda Duncan McLaughlin (Into Books); We Know What You Did, by Kirsty Lockwood (Orion); The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Viper); and Liar Thief, by May Rinaldi (Black Spring Crime).

I could kick myself for not having yet read Crawford’s novel, especially as it previously captured the McDermid Debut Award at July’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England. Well, time to go dig up the book post haste ...

Criminal Comforts for the Closing Months

Christmas arrives awfully early in the world of books. It’s only September, with Halloween and Thanksgiving still far off; yet for this latest list of seasonal crime and mystery releases, I have already collected the titles of numerous holiday-related works due out over the final four months of 2026. Those include offerings such as Elly Griffiths’ new novella, The Case of the Christmas Card, Andreina Cordani’s The Murders of Christmas Past (her second Ebenezer Scrooge mystery), Denzil Meyrick and Ian Moore’s The Mistletoe Wedding Murders (completed by Moore after Meyrick’s demise in early 2025), Alexandra Benedict’s The Advent of Death, and Otto Penzler’s Christmas Mysteries at The Mysterious Bookshop, together with reprinted older novels on the order of Susan Gilruth’s Death in Ambush, Jonathan Stagge’s Call a Hearse, and Mavis Doriel Hay’s The Santa Klaus Murder.

You might not be surprised to learn that all this looking ahead has had one benefit: It’s made me begin my holiday gift-buying early!

Of course, most of the crime fiction expected to reach the market between now and New Year’s Day isn’t directly associated with end-of-the-year celebrations. Among the roughly 400 selections to be discovered below are fresh works by the late James Sallis, Clare Mackintosh, S.A. Cosby, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, Chris Hammer, Lyndsay Faye, Walter Mosley, Laura Joh Rowland, Richard Osman, Sara Paretsky, Jørn Lier Horst, Simon Kernick, Tara Laskowski, and Peter Swanson (whose Do You See What I See? novella actually boasts a Yuletide peg, too). Michael Koryta has a historical gangster thriller rolling out later this month titled Die Famous. Ann Cleeves’ fourth Matthew Venn outing, Dying Light, goes on sale in the States a week after that (with a UK edition slated for publication in early October). Japanese author Keigo Higashino may have perished from colorectal cancer in July, but his fans can anticipate seeing two new books from his pen over the next couple of months: a science-fiction mystery titled Laplace’s Witch, and a standalone puzzler, The Dark Magician. Joe R. Lansdale will make yet another Hap and Leonard tale, Petrified Dreams, available, while his daughter, Kasey, debuts with the gripping First Chance. Fall From Grace launches a London-set private-eye series from Nigerian-born fictionist Leye Adenle (Easy Motion Tourist). And Mariah Fredericks follows up 2025’s The Girl in the Green Dress with another delightful whodunit set in early 20th-century New York, Murder on 34th Street (which, now that I think about it, also uses Christmas as a backdrop!).

Keep your eyes peeled for the forthcoming appearance of Michael Connelly’s The Hollow, the latest of his Harry Bosch novels, due out in late October (or early November, if you live in Great Britain). Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, Lucy Foley’s opening installment in her continuation of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries, should reach shops on both sides of “the pond” about a week after that—around the same time Charlie Higson’s second James Bond adventure for adults, King Zero, hits shops. Ian Rankin has his first standalone thriller in 20 years, The Heights, set to reach British readers in October (and American fans a month later). Donna Freitas follows up last year’s feminist thriller, Her One Regret, with the traumatic tale of a missing girl, Wolves of Summer. Edward Marston, most recently renowned for his stories about Victorian-era “Railway Detective” Robert Colbeck, brings that line to a halt with the 25th, The Corpse on the Bristol Train. This is the season, as well, to welcome the late Australian author Kerry Underwood’s 23rd and final Phryne Fisher historical mystery, Murder in the Cathedral. Max Allan Collins celebrates 50 years (!) of producing yarns about Quarry, his mononymous killer-for-hire, with Quarry’s Reunion. From Amanda Flower comes The First Ladies’ Guide to Murder, the opening chapter in a succession of investigations starring White House wives, this one at least featuring Frances Folsom Cleveland and Julia Dent Grant. The Odessa Assassin, a second addition to Frederick Forsyth’s Odessa series—published more than a year after his passing—was completed by criminal barrister-turned-writer Tony Kent. And speaking of posthumous releases, Canadian Alan Bradley (who perished in May) tees up a 12th case for Flavia de Luce in Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers.

Beyond such new novels, we can look forward to original short-story collections (Sherlock, for instance, which comprises 10 Holmes cases by Anthony Horowitz, Kate Mosse, Abir Mukherjee, Sarah Perry, and others), plus crime-related works of non-fiction. Among those are three memoirs: one by the daughter of The Avengers siren Diana Rigg; another by prolific actor James Hong (familiar for his roles in The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Jigsaw John, and Chinatown); and the third from the desk of ex-Twin Peaks G-man Kyle MacLachlan. Soon to be obtainable, too, are Sleuth-Hound, a biography of surgeon Joseph Bell, Arthur Conan Doyle’s model for Sherlock Holmes; and Spies on Screen, Paul Burke’s guide to espionage films of the modern era.

Despite the following selection of fall-winter debuts running to more than 400 titles, there are doubtless others I have neglected to highlight. Certainly the December categories are lacking. But don’t worry, I shall add to and update this catalogue over the next three and a half months. Non-fiction works are identified here with asterisks (*); the rest are novels or short-story compilations.

SEPTEMBER (U.S.):
• Against the Tide, by G.D. Wright (Avon)
• The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve, by Gigi Pandian (Gargoyle Girl)
• Angel, by LJ Ross (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Backwater, by James Sallis (Soho Crime)
• A Beautiful Lie, by Tanya Grant (Berkley)
• Before You Were Anne, by Emiko Jean (Simon & Schuster)
• The Bestseller, by Jenny Knightsby (Mountain Leopard Press)
• Beyond Honor, by K.B. Brodsky (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• The Big Cats Dance Party, by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon)
• Blood on the Wind, by Peter Tremayne (Severn House)
• Buried in the Woods Below, by Daniel G. Miller (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Christmas at the Convent, by A.M. Stuart (Oportet)
• A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder, by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• Christmas Mysteries at The Mysterious Bookshop, edited by Otto Penzler (Mysterious Press)
• Children of the Wolf, by Abby
Geni (Ballantine)
• The Confession at Friday Harbor, by D.D. Black (Darkness and Light)
• The Crime Machine: The Jack Ritchie Stories from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (1957-61), edited by
Jeff Vorzimmer (Stark House Press)
• Dance in a Madhouse, by Jess Wright (Montague)
• Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe, by Emily Ogden (Viking)*
• The Dating Game, by Ally Zetterberg (Berkley)
• A Deadly Entanglement, by Cathy Pegau (Minotaur)
• Deadly Secrets, by Peter O’Mahoney (Thomas & Mercer)
• Death on a Lively Sea, by Katy Watson (Constable)
• Deception, by Alan Parks (Pegasus Crime)
• Detective Duff Unravels It, by Harvey O’Higgins (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Die Famous, by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown)
• A Double Life: The Anatomy of a Premeditated Murder, by Mikita Brottman (Citadel)*
• Driven, by Mason Coile (Putnam)
• The Dying Light, by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)
• Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf)
• The Eye of Goliath, by Diego Muzzio (Pushkin Press)
• Faculty of Liars, by R.L. Heber (Point Blank)
• The Fallen Angel, by Andy Maslen (Thomas & Mercer)
• Fast Company, by Marco Page (Penzler/American Mystery Classics)
• Fictional Selves: A Memoir, by Kyle MacLachlan (Crown)*
• A Field Guide to Death and Deceit, by Michelle L. Cullen
(Crooked Lane)
• Fighting Edge, by Margaret Mizushima (Crooked Lane)
• First Chance, by Kasey Lansdale (Blackstone)
• The French Illusion, by John Grisham (Doubleday)
• The Garden of Sin, by M.G. Phillips (Pulp Thrills Press)
• The Getaway, by Kieran Scott (Thomas & Mercer)
• The Ghost and the Dead Librarian, by Cleo Coyle (Kensington Cozies)
• Ghost Barn, by John Verdon (Counterpoint)
• The Girl With Seven Lives, by Vikas Swarup (Pegasus)
• The Grand Canyon Black Widower, by Vincent Manileve (Crime Ink)*
• Guns Across the River, by Sam Wiebe (Harbour)
• Hidden Currents, by Claire Booth (Severn House)
• How to Write a Murder, by Jessica Brody (Bantam)
• I’ll Be Watching You, by Allison Brennan (Hanover Square Press)
• I Should Have Stayed Home, by Horace McCoy (Stark House Press)
• I Think We Should Kill Other People, by L.M. Chilton (Gallery/
Scout Press)
• It’s Not What You Think, by Clare Mackintosh (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• The Judas Window, by Carter Dickson (Poisoned Pen Press)
• A Killer for Christmas, by Kim Harrington (Crooked Lane)
• The Killing Yards, by Jason Allison (Crooked Lane)
• The Lady Was a Tramp: The Pat Raffigan Stories, by Harry Whittington (Stark House Press)
• Laplace’s Witch, by Keigo Higashino (Avocado House)
• Last December, by Neil Albert (Independently published)
• Laws of Solomon, by Eriq La Salle (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Lie to Me, by D.S. Butler (Thomas & Mercer)
• London Station, by David McCloskey (Norton)
• Main Street Fringe, by Matthew Lavoie (Level Best)
• A Map to Murder, by Michelle Chouinard (Minotaur)
• The Midnight Guests, by Alex Hay (Hanover Square Press)
• The Most Dangerous Games, by MrBeast and James Patterson (Morrow)
• Mother Daughter Sister Stranger, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur)
• Mother May I, by Harry Hunsicker (Oceanview)
• The Munich Affair, by James Patterson and David Ellis (Little, Brown)
• Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, by Lucy Foley (Morrow)
• Murder in St. James’s Park, by Vanessa Riley (Severn House)
• Murder in Surety, by Anne Cleeland (Anne Cleeland)
• Murder on the Cornish Train, by J.M. Hall (Hodder Paperbacks)
• Murder on the Sacred River, by Tasha Alexander (Minotaur)
• Murder on the Upper East Side, by Gigi Waldorf (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• Murder on Threadneedle Street, by Andrea Penrose (Kensington)
• A Murmuration of Starlings, by Steve Burrows (Dundurn Press)
• The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2026, edited by Tess Gerritsen (Mysterious Press)
• The Mystic and the Missing Girl, by Vikki VanSickle (Minotaur)
• Nancy Drew Collection, by Carolyn Keene (Canterbury Classics)
• Night Calls, by Joe Hart (Thomas & Mercer)
• The Ninth Circle, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime)
• No Song for the Dead, by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Stine Bolther, and Line Holm (Dutton)
• One Split Second, by Robert Dugoni (Thomas & Mercer)
• Only the River Knows, by Linda Norlander (Severn River)
• An Ordinary House, by Rae Starling (Hera)
• Our Noble Selves, by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)
• The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies, by Kate Westbury (Minotaur)
• A Past Without Pictures, by Jonathan Ames (Mysterious Press)
• Peg and Rose Deck the Halls, by Laurien Berenson (Kensington Cozies)
• Plot Twist: Life, Craft, and the Messy First Draft: A Memoir on Writing, by Harlan Coben (Grand Central)*
• Pound Foolish, by Christopher Harris (Cumulative Press)
• Promised Land, by Henry Wise (Atlantic Crime)
• Quant, by Anthony Bidulka (Bon Vivant)
• Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War’s Most Extraordinary Spy, by Ben Macintyre (Crown)*
• The Refuge, by Carly Hillman (Crooked Lane)
• Sanctuary, by Garry Disher (Mysterious Press)
• Second Nature, by Joyce Carol Oates (Hard Case Crime)
• She’ll Be Dead by Morning / The Blonde Died First, by Dana Chambers (Stark House Press)
• Siblings, Love, & Murder, by David E. Feldman (EFace Media)
• The Silent Appeal, by Janice Hallett (Atria)
• Songs of Saigon, by Ed Teja (Float Street Press)
• Stop Dead, by Katrin Júlíusdóttir (Orenda)
• Target Down, by Ryan Steck (Tyndale Fiction)
• Tear the City Down, by Andre Hardy (Grand Central)
• Tell Two Friends, by Ann Garvin (Lake Union)
• The Tembusu Tree Mystery, by Ovidia Yu (Constable & Robinson)
• Ten Perfect Guests, by Jonathan Santlofer (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• Those Who Are Gone, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
• Three Days Gone, by Charly Cox (Hera)
• Threefold Death, by Victoria Dowd (Datura)
• Untamed Coast, by Kevin C. Morris (Ballantine)
• Until She Dies, by Kendra Elliot (Montlake)
• The Vanished Sister, by Sherry Thomas (Berkley)
• We Chase Shadows, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• Where the Truth Lies, by Rupert Holmes (Avid Reader Press)
• You Let Me In, by Lucy Clarke (Atlantic Crime)
• You’ve Seen Me Before: Over 700 roles and 70 Years in Hollywood (And Counting), by James Hong and Jeff Yang (Atria)*

SEPTEMBER (UK):
• Afternoon Hours of a Hermit, by Patrick Cottrel (And Other Stories)
• The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me About Life, by Cathy Rentzenbrink (Canongate)*
• All About My Mother, by Rachael Stirling (John Murray)*
• Bad Intentions, by Iliana Xander (Penguin)
• The Boy, by Mark Gyves (No Exit Press)
• The Chase, by Felix Francis (Zaffre)
• The Classic Crime Companion, by Martin Edwards (British Library)*
• Code Brown: Police Custody, Medicine and Violent Outbursts, by R.J. Emery (Pegasus)*
• A Cold Harbour, by Lynne McEwan
(Canelo Crime)
• Cold Sunset, by William Boyd (Viking)
• The Cornish Halloween Murder, by Fiona Leitch (One More Chapter)
• Crash and Burn, by Alison Bruce (Constable)
• A Curious Ending, by Sally Page (HarperFiction)
• The Cutting, by Michael J. Malone (Orenda)
• Deadly Vintage, by Lyle Nicholson (Vinci)
• Eat, Drink and Be Murdered: A Feast of Fatal Fare, edited by Martin Edwards (British Library Crime Classics)
• The Enforcer, by Carol Hellier (Boldwood)
• Fall From Grace, by Leye Adenle (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Full Circle, by Chris Hammer (Wildfire)
• Galway’s Edge, by Ken Bruen (Head of Zeus/Aries)
• A Game of Cat and Killer, by Jiro Akagawa (MacLehose Press)
• Hail Mary, by Elizabeth Urso (Rising Action)
• The House Swap, by Keri Beevis (Boldwood)
• The Jealous Girl, by Alex Stone (Boldwood)
• King Zero, by Charlie Higson (Michael Joseph)
• The Langdale Legacy, by Rebecca Tope (Allison & Busby)
• The Last Gifts to the Dead, by Allan Gaw (Polygon)
• The Last Tenant, by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (Orenda)
• Listen to Me, by Alison Stockham (Boldwood)
• The Liverpool Killings, by Simon McCleave (Canelo Crime)
• Music to Die For at the Seaview Hotel, by Glenda Young (Headline)
• No One Is Safe, by Simon Kernick (Headline)
• No Place Left, by Sean Watkin (Canelo Crime)
• Officer Shimada and the Disappearing Girl, by Will Ferguson
(Goose Lane Editions)
• One Berlin Day, by Chris Humphreys (Allison & Busby)
• Pride, Prejudice and Peril, by Jessica Bull (Michael Joseph)
• The Restless Bones, by Kerry Watts (Embla)
• The Riptide, by Gareth Rubin (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Robert B. Parker’s Booked, by Alison Gaylin (No Exit Press)
• Seething Lane, by Jack Jewers (Moonflower)
• Serenity Falls, by C.J. Tudor (Michael Joseph)
• Skin and Bones, by Tom Bale (Boldwood)
• Someone Just Followed You, by Liane Child (HQ Digital)
• Surface, by Olivier Norek (Open Borders Press)
• Tell Me Something True, by Michael Robotham (Sphere)
• The Vineyard Murder, by Greg Mosse (Hodder Paperbacks)
• The Wellness Retreat, by Dawn Kurtagich (Hanover Square Press)

OCTOBER (U.S.):
• Adam & Eve, by Jeffrey Archer (HarperCollins)
• Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery, edited by Lucy Rowland and Martin Edwards (Rizzoli Electa)*
• Antiques Web, by Barbara Allan (Severn House)
• Bark Humbug, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)
• The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2026, edited by Megan Abbott (Mariner)
• The Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2026, edited by Jim Clemente (Crime Ink)*
• The Betrayal of Cora Wexford, by Bethany Joy Lenz (Simon & Schuster)
• Blood on the Snow, by Alex Pine (Avon)
• The Bone Woman, by Paige Shelton (Crooked Lane)
• Bury the Wren, by Carlene O’Connor (Kensington)
• The Case of the Constant Suicides, by John Dickson Carr (Penzler/American
Mystery Classics)
• Chain Reaction, by Lee Child and
Andrew Child (Bantam)
• The Chapel of Bones, by Kate Ellis (Piatkus)
• The Christmas Stocking Murders, by Denzil Meyrick
(Poisoned Pen Press)
• The Claus Conspiracy, by Tamara Berry (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Dark Country, by Adam Plantinga (Grand Central)
• Dead Before Tea Time, by M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green (Minotaur)
• Death by Misadventure, by Jane Bitomsky (Lake Union)
• Death Down the Aisle, by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
• Death in Ambush: A Lost Christmas Murder Mystery, by Susan Gilruth (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Death on the Pearl River, by A.E Goldin (Pushkin Vertigo)
• D: Heavy Water, by Neal Stephenson (Morrow)
• Do You See What I See? by Peter Swanson (Morrow)
• Dramatic Murder: A Lost Christmas Murder Mystery, by Elizabeth Anthony (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Ebenezer Scrooge: Ghost Hunter, by J.S. Barnes (Titan)
• The Family Cross, by James Patterson (Little, Brown)
• The Ferryman’s Daughter, by Yasmin Angoe (Thomas & Mercer)
• Final Copy, by Robert Douglas Friedman (Stark House Press)
• Find Me Nowhere, by Andrew Klavan (Mysterious Press)
• The Foreign Correspondent’s Wife, by Jenna Helwig (Crooked Lane)
• Framing the Clue-Puzzle: The Paratextual Voice in Golden Age Detective Fiction, by Zi-Ling Yan (Anthem Press)*
• A Girl from Ohio, by Peter Golden (Lake Union)
• The Girl in the Lake, by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
(Little, Brown)
• A Good, Hard Slap, by Catherine Bator (BookBaby)
• Hanging and Burning, by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown)
• The Hollow, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Holmes Away From Home, by Samantha Larsen (Severn House)
• Home for the Homicides, by Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey (Minotaur)
• Jay to the World, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
• Joy to the Bones, by Carolyn Haines (Minotaur)
• The Key to a Killer, by Olivia Blacke (Minotaur)
• Knit One, Heist One, by Donna Moore (No Exit Press)
• Last Looks, by Cate Holahan (Thomas & Mercer)
• Look What the Cat Dragged In, by Jason Rekulak (Flatiron)
• Loose Arrows, by Lynn Horton (GFB)
• Miss Wolcott’s Ghost, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• Murder at Pellhurst Pond, by Clara McKenna (Kensington)
• Murder on 34th Street, by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
• Murdle Heist: 56 Clever Capers to Crack with Logic, by G.T. Karber (St. Martin’s Griffin)
• My Darling Girls, by Marina Scott (Lake Union)
• The Nurse at Baker Hospital, by Jocelyn Cullity (Regal House)
• The Occidental Book of the Dead, by T. Geronimo Johnson (Morrow)
• The Paris Files, by Eva Jurczyk (Pamela Dorman)
• Petrified Dreams, by Joe R. Lansdale (Little, Brown)
• The Phantom: The Untold Story of the American Marine the Nazis Could Not Kill, by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin (St. Martin’s Press)*
• Please Enjoy Your Stay, by Tara Goedjen (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• The Pope’s Hitman, by J.M. Berger (Crooked Lane)
• Queen of Lombard Street, by Lisa Kleypas (Avon)
• Raven, by Lyndsay Faye (Mysterious Press)
• A Reunion to Die For, by KJ Whittle (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• Resurrection Kill, by Laura Joh Rowland (Crooked Lane)
• Return to Breakneck Island, by Tom Ryan (Atlantic Crime)
• The River Runs Black, by Tessa Wegert (Severn House)
• The Secret Garden Murders, by J.R. Ellis (Thomas & Mercer)
• Serial Killer Wanted, by Nika Grace (Crooked Lane)
• A Serving of Hope, by Hisashi Kashiwai (Putnam)
• A Shadow of Jaguars, by D.C. Frost (Canis Major)
• She Dies in the End, by Elle Marr (Thomas & Mercer)
• Sleepers in the Snow, by Joanne Harris (Pegasus Crime)
• Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes, by Lindsey Fitzharris (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)*
• The Spiral, by Rosanne Limoncelli (Crooked Lane)
• Split Screen, by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer)
• Taxi Dancer, by Marivi Soliven (Red Hen Press)
• The 10:12, by Anna Maloney (Harper Perennial)
• This Wild Desire / The Sex Pros, by Orrie Hitt (Stark House Press)
• Trust No One, by Mary Burton (Montlake)
• Truth to Power, by S.A. Cosby (Hyperion Avenue)
• ’Twas the Night, by Kevin Johnson (Morrow)
• Twenty Plus Two, by Frank Gruber (Stark House Press)
• An Unlikely Visitor, by Joanna Cannon (Scribner)
• Walking on White, by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush (Blackstone)
• Where the Road Ends, by Brian Freeman (Blackstone)
• Where There’s Smoke, by Rachel Louise Adams (Minotaur)
• The Witch, by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Wolf Season, by Wesley King (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• You Let Me In, by Lucy Clarke (Atlantic Crime)

OCTOBER (UK):
• The ABC of Murders: An A-Z of Death in Agatha Christie, by Tom Racine (HarperCollins)*
• Call a Hearse: A Lost Christmas Murder Mystery, by Jonathan Stagge (British Library Crime Classics)
• A Carol and a Killing, by Reverend Richard Coles (W&N)
• The Case of the Christmas Card, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• The Christmas Carol Killer, by Chris Frost (HarperNorth)
• The Cold Shore, by Rachel Amphlett (Saxon)
• The Corpse on the Bristol Train, by Edward Marston (Allison & Busby)
• A Dartmoor Christmas Card Murder, by Stephanie Austin
(Allison & Busby)
• Dead in Three Two One, by Peter James (Macmillan)
• The Deadly Inheritance of Everest Macdonald, by A.J. West (Orenda)
• Death at the Elephant House, by Paul Waters (No Exit Press)
• Death on Holly Island, by F.L. Everett (Penguin)
• Death on the Royal Yacht, by Sophia Bennett (Zaffre)
• Dublin Rebel, by Stephanie Harte (Boldwood)
• The First Mistake, by Sarah Ward (Canelo Crime)
• The Frozen Carriage, by Rachel McLean (Ackroyd)
• The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book: Over 500 Questions, Puzzles and Mysteries Inspired by the Best of Detective Fiction, by Kate Jackson (British Library)
• Gravity Let Me Go, by Trent Dalton (Borough Press)
• The Heights, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• Honour, by Heather Atkinson (Boldwood)
• Keep No Secrets, by J.M. Dalgliesh (Penguin)
• Leicester Square, by Louisa Scarr (Canelo Crime)
• The Lightning Girl, by Sam Ripley (Simon & Schuster UK)
• The Man with the Golden Compass, by Vaseem Khan (Zaffre)
• Mayhem, by Keith Moray (Boldwood)
• The Midmorning Murders, by Julian Clary (Orion)
• The Murders of Christmas Past, by Andreina Cordani (Zaffre)
• Murder on the Haunted Express, by Emma Mason (Bantam)
• The Murder Planner, by L.C. Tyler
(Allison & Busby)
• The Museum Detectives’ Christmas Mystery, by Jim Eldridge (Allison & Busby)
• Operation Vienna, by Michael Ridpath (Boldwood)
• The Reckoning, by Vikki Petraitis
(Simon & Schuster UK)
• Rogue Agency, by L.D. Sharpe (Constable)
• The Santa Klaus Murder: A Christmas Crime Story, by Mavis Doriel Hay (British Library Crime Classics)
• The Secret Thread, by Eve Chase (Penguin)
• The Shadows of Kensington Gore, by Ross Montgomery (Viking)
• Silent Embers, by John Carson (Boldwood)
• Spies on Screen: From Silent to Streaming, by Paul Burke (Oldcastle)*
• The Stretch, by Martina Cole (Headline)
• Suffer in Silence, by Graham Masterton (Head of Zeus/Aries)
• There Are No Happy Endings, by Bryan J. Mason (Black Comedy
Crime Press)
• The Thicket, by Noelle W. Ihli (Pan)
• The Thief and the Labyrinth, by Alys Clare (Severn House)
• Watch the Quiet Snow, by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
• You Are Mine, by Alex Lake (HarperCollins)

NOVEMBER (U.S.):
• All In, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
• Baby Queen, by Ty Landers (Harper Perennial)
• Bad Company, by Sara Paretsky (Minotaur)
• Bear Brawl, by Jon Finkel (Blackstone)
• The Body in the Bath, by Ragnar Jónasson (Minotaur)
• The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Penzler/American Mystery Classics)
• The Cold Read, by Tara Laskowski (Park Row)
• Cold Sunset, by William Boyd (Atlantic Crime)
• The Collateral Heart, by Jeffery Deaver (Putnam)
• Conspiracy Theory, by Phillip Margolin (Minotaur)
• The Dark Magician, by Keigo Higashino (Tuttle)
• The Favorite Girl, by Monica Arya (Simon Maverick)
• The First Ladies’ Guide to Murder, by Amanda Flower (Kensington)
• Gideon’s Ring, by Carin Gerhardsen (Mysterious Press)
• The Gift, by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen Press)
• A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Living Twice, by Maxie Dara (Berkley)
• Have Courage: Longmire Stories, by Craig Johnson (Viking)
• The Heist Before Christmas, by Lucy Score (Bloom)
• Home Truths, by Paul Gitsham (Straw Hat Crime)
• Killer Abyss, by Sara Driscoll (Kensington)
• The Killing Time, by Elly Griffiths (Pamela Dorman)
• King Zero, by Charlie Higson (Blackstone)
• The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s, by Jess Armstrong (Minotaur)
• The Marked Son, by Simon Gervais and Ryan Steck (Thomas & Mercer)
• The Mark of Moriarty, by Jack Anderson (Crooked Lane)
• Midnight in the House of Commons, by Charles Finch (Minotaur)
• Mirror Image, by Lauren E. Rico (Thomas & Mercer)
• Murder in the Cathedral, by Kerry Greenwood (Poisoned Pen Press)
• A Murder in Belgravia, by Irina
Shapiro (Storm)
• The Murder Trial, by James Patterson and Nancy Allen (Little, Brown)
• Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers, by Alan Bradley (Bantam)
• On the Killer’s Trail, by Alice Openshaw (Crooked Lane)
• The Party in the Woods, by Fiona McPhillips (Flatiron/Pine & Cedar)
• Quarry’s Reunion, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)
• Revenge Plot, by Stephanie Wrobel (Berkley)
• The Riddle Maker, by Bruce Borgos (Minotaur)
• Robert B. Parker’s Framed, by Mike Lupica (Putnam)
• The Runner, by Scarlett Thomas (Simon & Schuster)
• A Scrooge Mystery, by Andreina Cordani (Pegasus Crime)
• The Session, by Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)
• Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Murders, by Stuart
Douglas (Titan)
• Some Day I’ll Kill You / Too Like the Lightning, by Dana Chambers (Stark House Press)
• Split Second: Thirty-Two Switcheroo, by Janet Evanovich (Atria)
• The Sunday Woman, by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini
(NYRB Classics)
• The Taken Ones, by J.A. Jance (Morrow)
• The Taper Man, by Nick Harkaway (Viking)
• Thunderbird Ranch, by Laura Griffin (Berkley)
• To Crown It All, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
• The Trusted, by Marisa de los Santos (Blackstone)
• The Voices of the Dead, by Nicola Upson (Crooked Lane)
• A Warning to the Curious, by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan
(Soho Crime)
• Wolves of Summer, by Donna Freitas (Soho Crime)

NOVEMBER (UK):
• The Advent of Death, by Alexandra Benedict (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Alfa, by Lilja Sigurðardóttir (Orenda)
• The Bells of Fortune, by Leonora Nattrass (Viper)
• Blood on the Thames: Murder, Money and the Making of the Modern Detective, by Thomas Morris (Harvill Secker)*
• Brut, by Sam Tallent (White Rabbit)
• Burning Season, by Martin Griffin (Sphere)
• The Burry Port Murders, by Stephen Puleston (Independently published)
• The Christmas Tree Murders, by Katie Lumsden (Michael Joseph)
• CrimeBits 3: 100 Opening Gambits for Great Thrillers & Linked Mystery Puzzles, edited by by Mick Herron and Luca Veste (Eyewear)
• Death of a Renegade, by John Pilkington (Boldwood)
• Faithful, by Roberta Kray (Sphere)
• First One to Die, by Michael Wood (Cliffhanger)
• The Forest, by Mark Dawson (Unputdownable)
• Ian Fleming: The Notes (Ian Fleming Publications)*
• Kill List, by Quintin Jardine (Headline)
• Kill Shot, Jo Nesbø (Harvill)
• A Knock at the Door, by Louise Candlish (HQ)
• The Last Holiday, by Valerie Keogh (Boldwood)
• Last Whisper, by Angela Marsons (Bookouture)
• The Late Lord Thorpe, by Peter Grainger (Penguin)
• The Last Case, by Jørn Lier Horst (Michael Joseph)
• The Lying Dead, by Nick Louth (Canelo Crime)
• The Madman, by Henning Mankell (Mountain Leopard Press)
• The Midwinter Martyr, by S.J. Parris (Hemlock Press)
• The Mistletoe Wedding Murders, by Denzil Meyrick and Ian Moore (Bantam)
• The Mortician, by Sharon Bolton (Orion)
• The Murdered Husband Returns, by Mina Sakurai (Zaffre)
• Murder on the Mistletoe Express, by Katy Watson (Constable)
• No Good Deed, by Tom Wood (Sphere)
• No One Is Safe, by Simon Kernick (Headline)
• The Odessa Assassin, by Frederick Forsyth and Tony Kent (Bantam)
• The Patriot, by Ajay Chowdhury (Harvill)
• The Sands of Atlantis, by Lex Faulkner (Boldwood)
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John le Carré
(Penguin Classics)
• The Stranger from the Mountains, by Satu Rämö (Zaffre)
• Sudden Death, by Lynda La Plante (Zaffre)
• Sweet Revenge, by Susan Gilruth (British Library Crime Classics)
• The Traitor’s Code, by Stephen Ronson (Hodder Paperbacks)
• The Wives, by Alex Khan (Hera)
• Wrap Party, by J.A. Wallace (Zaffre)

DECEMBER (U.S.):
• The Fly on the Wall, by Tony Hillerman (Harper Perennial)
• Golden Age Masters of Mystery, edited by Otto Penzler (Penzler/American Mystery Classics)
• The Invisible Host, by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning
(Poisoned Pen Press)
• The Longest Death, by Kevin Jagernauth (Soho Crime)
• Murder on the Graf Zeppelin, by Samir Machado de Machado (Pushkin Vertigo)
• Murder Returns to Gravigna, by Camilla Trinchieri (Soho Crime)
• Murder Unabridged, by P.J. Nelson (Minotaur)
• Murder Under the Mistletoe, by C.J. Archer (C.J. Archer)
• No Good Deed, by Nekesa Afia (Berkley)
• The Parkwood Murders, by Chris Chibnall (Pamela Dorman)
• Pressure Point, by A.J. Landau (Minotaur)
• The Rust Forest, by Anders de la Motte (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• Sherlock, edited by the Conan Doyle Estate (Atria)
• The Sinner Saint, by Brian Shea (Severn River)
• The Statuary Gardens, by Jacques Abeille (NYRB Classics)
• The Swiss Agent, by Anna Pitoniak (Simon & Schuster)
• Wolf Point, by Lisa Howells (Grand Central)

DECEMBER (UK):
• The Lazarus Protocol, by Rob Sinclair (Boldwood)
• Obsession, by LJ Ross (Penguin)
• Until Death, by Alex Smith (Canelo)
• When the Devil Was Sick, by Carol Carnac (British Library
Crime Classics)

Remember, this is one critic’s deliberately diverse selection of promising new works in the crime, mystery, and thriller field (with a few horror yarns thrown in), not a comprehensive compilation of what to expect on shelves between now and the start of 2027. For more information, note that both CrimeReads and Crime Fiction Lover post weekly updates of books from this genre entering the market.

Not Your Average Joes

Crime Fiction Lover reminds us that Season 6 of Slow Horses is set to premiere today on Apple TV+. Here’s its plot synopsis:

The Slough House team have seemingly been cut from MI5’s database, no longer on the payroll or system. Is it a glitch in the mainframe or something more sinister? Of course, this being the world of Mick Herron there is hijinks afoot. This comes as former members of Slough House meet a series of sticky ends—are these accidents or is a bad actor out for revenge? The first episode largely sees the Slow Horses trying to piece together what’s happened to their pay and why they’ve been airbrushed from existence. [Supervisor Jackson] Lamb also plays detective trying to piece together what’s happened to his ex Joes, as always one step ahead of the supposedly smarter members of MI5, the ‘dogs’ from Regent’s Park.

These latest six episodes are adapted, with some noticeable changes, from author Herron’s novels Joe Country (2019) and Slough House (2020). They’ll be presented on Wednesdays through October 21.

Making the McIlvanney Grade

If you were wondering when organizers of the annual Bloody Scotland international crime-writing festival would release their shortlist of nominees for the 2026 McIlvanney Prize, well, the answer was apparently yesterday. Here are the five fortunate finalists:

• The Hollow Boys, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper)
• 138 Main Street, by Gavin Bell (Simon & Schuster UK)
• A Bad, Bad Place, by Frances Crawford (Bantam)
• The Diary of Lies, by Philip Miller (Polygon)
• The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Viper)

The winner of this award, as well as the 2026 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, are set to be revealed at the festival on Friday, September 18.

READ MORE: “What I’m Looking Forward to at Bloody Scotland 2026—Murder, Mayhem & Impossible Choices!” by Noelle Holten (CrimeBookJunkie).

“And These Days, Everyone Is a Detective”

I mentioned previously on this page that Agatha Christie’s amateur detectives Tommy and Tuppence, introduced in 1922’s The Secret Adversary, are to be revived in a six-part, modern-day mystery drama set to begin airing on BritBox come Tuesday, September 15. But now we have a new, slightly longer trailer for the series—embedded above—which stars Antonia Thomas as “spirited actress” Tuppence, with Josh Dylan playing crime writer Tommy Beresford. The seemingly ubiquitous Imelda Staunton (The Crown) has been cast as Aunt Ada, “a wry, retired private detective and mentor.”

Put Forward for the Petrona

Twelve crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are longlisted candidates for the 2026 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year:

• One True Word, by Snæbjörn Arngrímsson,
translated by Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)
• Murder Tide, by Stella Blómkvist,
translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus, Iceland)
• Broken, by Jón Atli Jónasson,
translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus, Iceland)
• Into Thin Air, by Ørjan N. Karlsson,
translated by Ian Giles (Orenda, Norway)
• The Writing in the Water, by John Ajvide Lindqvist,
translated by Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)
• Wolf Hour, by Jo Nesbø,
translated by Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Norway)
• The Heirs of the Arctic, by Aslak Nore,
translated by Sean Kinsella (MacLehose Press, Norway)
• The Grave in the Ice, by Satu Rämö,
translated by Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)
• Black as Death, by Lilja Sigurðardóttir,
translated by Lorenza Garcia (Orenda, Iceland)
• The Wake, by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir,
translated by Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton, Iceland)
• The Girl with Ice in Her Veins, by Karin Smirnoff,
translated by Sarah Death (MacLehose Press, Sweden)
• The Winter Job, by Antti Tuomainen,
translated by David Hackston (Orenda, Finland)

A press release notes that “The Petrona Award was established to celebrate the work of Maxine Clarke, one of the first online crime fiction reviewers and bloggers, who died in December 2012. Maxine, whose online persona and blog was called Petrona, was passionate about translated crime fiction but in particular that from the Scandinavian countries.

“The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.”

This year’s winner will be announced on September 24.

* * *

In other awards news, the winner and runner-up in this year’s Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition have been revealed.

Kathy Schilbach, a retired teacher in West Sussex, who writes as Kate Finnemore, has been named as the overall victor for “Making Friends,” a “disturbing tale about a mysterious and anxious woman who has a dark secret to keep.” She will receive the £1,000 first prize along with a guest appearance at the Bloody Scotland Festival, scheduled to take place from September 18 to 20 in Stirling. Ross Alexander, a Scottish author based in East Lothian, was chosen as the runner-up “Life Wasted,” described as “a gripping confession from an unlikely vigilante who took justice into his own hands to free a woman from her abusive, alcoholic husband.” He will receive £500 in prize money.

Both of their stories are to be published on the Bloody Scotland and Glencairn Glass (whiskyglass.com) Web sites.

Clearing the Backlog

• The Australian Crime Writers Association has announced its shortlists of nominees for four 2026 Ned Kelly Awards. Here are the contenders in its Best Crime Fiction category:

— Liar’s Game, by Jack Beaumont (Allen & Unwin)
— Lyrebird, by Jane Caro (Allen & Unwin)
— The Other Child, by Susi Fox (Penguin Australia)
— Mad Mabel, by Sally Hepworth (Pan Macmillan Australia)
— The Ghost Walk, by Karen Herbert (Fremantle Press)
— Fire in the Head, by Daniel Oakman (Black Inc)
— The White Crow, by Michael Robotham (Hachette Australia)
— The Casino, by Iain Ryan (Ultimo Press)

Also released are candidate lists for the Best International, Best Debut Crime Fiction, and Best True Crime prizes. The winners are to be revealed sometime in September.

• After 30 years in print, Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine is suddenly a free, digital-only publication. Editor George Easter explains in the new, Summer 2026 issue that “I’m doing away with subscriptions. … I’ve been handling subscriptions for 45 years (30 with my wife Michele’s consumer magazine and 34 years with DP, with some overlap) and I’m burned out. I want to simplify my life. It doesn’t cost much to get each issue out and I can handle that just fine. Also, no more filing a tax return for DP. Hooray! Those of you who still have current subscriptions with future issues paid for will still get those issues and just think, you’ll get free ones from that point on.” Access the latest PDF mag here, and digital back issues here.

• Incidentally, note that on page 23 of the brand-new Deadly Pleasures you will find four categories of nominees for the 2026 Barry Awards, sponsored as ever by the magazine. All readers are invited to cast their votes for favorite works, one title per division, by sending Easter an e-mail message at george@deadlypleasures.com. The deadline for expressing opinions is Tuesday, September 15.

• In Reference to Murder points us to a first photo of “Edward Bluemel as Agatha Christie’s iconic Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in BritBox’s upcoming six-part drama series Hercule. The origin series, which is currently shooting in Liverpool, is an intimate study of legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Britain between the wars. Hercule will center around three of Agatha Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis.” Deadline adds that “the series will premiere on the BBC and BritBox in North America in 2027,” and it is said to enjoy a three-season production commitment.

• Below is a 90-second trailer for Marble Hall Murders, the six-part TV adaptation of of Anthony Horowitz’s third Susan Ryeland mystery, set to begin airing in the States on PBS come Sunday, September 6.



• The Rap Sheet’s UK correspondent, Ali Karim, had the chance recently to address some questions to Jack Jewers, author of The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys (2023) and its sequel, Seething Lane, due out on the other side of the pond early next month. Ali describes Seething Lane as “a dark swashbuckling adventure-cum-detective whodunit-cum-historical thriller.” His interview can be relished here.

• The Disney-oriented Web site Inside the Magic quotes Amy Pascal, one of a pair of veteran producers working on a new, MGM Amazon iteration of Ian Fleming’s James Bond, as saying it’s “a good bet” that we’ll know who will next portray British Agent 007 on screen “by the end of this year.” In addition, the site offers tidbits of information regarding the forthcoming children’s adventure novel James Bond and the Secret Agent Academy, penned by Gold Dagger award-winning author M.W. Craven and set to reach stores in April 2027. It’s apparently the first entry in a projected series.

• Frank Gregorsky is back with a fresh (August 2026) edition of the quarterly PDF periodical Detective Drama Gems, which revisits episodes of classic TV crime and mystery shows. Under consideration this time are stories from Dragnet, The Felony Squad, and the Canada/USA hybrid series Night Heat. You can read all about them here.

International Salutes to Crime

I’ve been away from Rap Sheet headquarters for the last few days, so I was delayed in reporting two morsels of crime-fiction awards news.

First off, organizers of New Zealand’s annual Ngaio Marsh Awards have released their longlist of works vying for 2026 Best Novel honors:

• Lucky Thing, by Tom Baragwanath (Text)
• Carved in Blood, by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)
• Softly Calls the Devil, by Christopher Blake (Bonnier Echo)
• The Birds Began to Sing, by Jeffrey Buchanan (Text)
• Black Silk and Buried Secrets, by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins)
• The Deadly Dispute, by Amanda Hampson (Penguin)
• Bella Donna, by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)
• The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier)
• When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole, by Geoff
Parkes (Penguin)
• The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Moa Press)
• Hooked Up, by Fiona Sussman (Bateman)
• A Beautiful Family, by Jennifer Trevelyan (Allen & Unwin)

The finalists for this year’s best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA prizes are to be announced within the next couple of months.

* * *

Meanwhile, the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch, declared earlier this week that Ron Currie’s The Savage Noble Death of Babs Dionne (Putnam) is the winner of the 2026 Hammett Prize for “literary excellence in crime writing.” Also in contention for that accolade were El Dorado Drive, by Megan Abbott (Putnam); Party of Liars, by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur); The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam); and The Lizard, by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov Editions).

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Revue of Reviewers: 8-16-26

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.