Top new crime books in January 2026
Last updated:
January 29, 2026
January 2026 featuring new releases by John Marrs, Sophie Hannah, Ava Harrison, May Cobb, Michelle Heard, Cora Rose, A.E. Via, Aiden Snow, Lexi Davis, Sarah Crouch, Annelise Ryan and many more.
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Dead in the Water by John Marrs
From the multi-million copy bestselling author comes a chilling tale about life flashing before your eyes—including terrifying scenes you don’t remember.When Damon survives a near-drowning, his life flashes before his eyes. Every memory is crystal clear—except one. A dead boy. A face he can’t place. A moment he doesn’t remember living. At first he tells himself it’s a trick of the mind...suspense · serial-killers · crime · fiction · psychological · murder · thriller · mystery · book · adult -
![No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah]()
No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah
'The twist is perfection...fiction · family · psychological · cozy · thriller · slow-burn · suspense · ghosts · animals · literary-fiction -
![Cruel Throne by Ava Harrison]()
Cruel Throne by Ava Harrison
He’s the most dangerous man in the city…Welcome back to The Corrupt Empire... -
![All the Little Houses by May Cobb]()
All the Little Houses by May Cobb
Adults can behave badly too... It's the mid-1980s in the tiny town of Longview, Texas. Nellie Anderson, the beautiful daughter of the Anderson family dynasty, has burst onto the scene. She always gets what she wants. What she can't get for herself… well, that's what her mother is for...north-america · usa · texas · mystery · fiction · historical-fiction · suspense · thriller · female-mc · murder -
![Forceful God by Michelle Heard]()
Forceful God by Michelle Heard
From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michelle Heard comes a new STANDALONE, full-length MAFIA ROMANCE novel. TBA.. -
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![His Reaper by Cora Rose]()
His Reaper by Cora Rose
Some say I’m too soft and cuddly for a guy who wields bone saws and strings friendship necklaces with human eyeballs—but I just call that work-life balance.And honestly, I love my job as the Costellos’ reaper.Lately, though, my biggest problem isn’t the dismembered corpses, it’s something far more seductive. Georgiy Sokolov. He smells mouth-watering, like disinfectant and fancy aftershave...romance · mlm · dark · found-family · crime · lgbtq · organized-crime · angst · age-gap · grumpy-sunshine -
![Green Ravens by A.E. Via, Aiden Snow, Tim Paige]()
Green Ravens by A.E. Via, Aiden Snow, Tim Paige
They erased their memories, rewrote their names, and made them beasts. Now, the hunt for vengeance begins. Chief Aiken Oakley and Chief Styles Sawyer—two of the US Navy's most elite Special Warfare Combatant-craft officers—vanished after their mission was ambushed in South America and later presumed MIA...romance · mlm · military · contemporary · audiobook · crime · paranormal · suspense · fantasy · dystopia -
![Pretty Vicious by Lexi Davis]()
Pretty Vicious by Lexi Davis
Laurel just wanted to survive college, keep her father fed, and fly under the radar.Delivering pizzas was supposed to be the safe kind of side hustle, until the night she witnesses a murder at Ashford House, the most elite and secretive fraternity on campus.Now she’s a prisoner of The Order, a blood-bound society that controls everything from politics to police...romance · dark-academia · forced-proximity · enemies-to-lovers · gothic · dark · young-adult · contemporary · slow-burn · fiction -
![The Briars by Sarah Crouch]()
The Briars by Sarah Crouch
The USA TODAY bestselling author of Middletide returns with a lush and atmospheric novel of suspense following a young woman whose job as a game warden puts her in the path of a murderer in a small town eager to protect its own...mystery · fiction · suspense · outdoors · young-adult · romance · murder · literary-fiction · crime · book -
![Monster in the Moonlight by Annelise Ryan]()
Monster in the Moonlight by Annelise Ryan
Do werewolves exist? That’s the question skeptical cryptozoologist Morgan Carter has to answer in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling mystery series.The discovery of a dead body along Bray Road in Wisconsin sparks rumors of The Beast of Bray Road, a werewolf-like creature that is said to inhabit the area.The dead woman has been mutilated by some kind of large animal...cozy · horror · mystery · fiction · supernatural · paranormal · suspense · female-mc · monsters · female-author -
![Everyone In This Bank Is A Thief by Benjamin Stevenson]()
Everyone In This Bank Is A Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
Ten suspects. Ten heists. A puzzle only Ernest Cunningham can solve.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, hostages become suspects...mystery · male-author · mlm · cozy · crime · fiction · humor · law-enforcement · dark-humor · amateur-sleuth -
![Feral Vengeance by Emily Kimelman]()
Feral Vengeance by Emily Kimelman
Declan will die if he kills me. The community I belong to—my tribe—is strong and ruthless. Vengeful.Consuela or Declan could kill me right now. I don't have a gun. Either of them could raise their weapons, aim, fire. They could soak this carpet with my blood, spatter it across their shirts, mist droplets in their hair.But they don’t want to and not just because they don’t want to die... -
![This Side of Gone: A Vinnie Taylor Mystery by Saundra Mitchell]()
This Side of Gone: A Vinnie Taylor Mystery by Saundra Mitchell
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...mystery · fiction · audiobook · contemporary · lgbtq · law-enforcement · police-procedural · murder · investigator · female-mc -
![Don't Say Mafia by C.R. Jane]()
Don't Say Mafia by C.R. Jane
Jagger Thatcher's book. Blurb to come. Release date will be moved up.* Jagger Thatcher is a morally grey antihero who is obsessed with his girl and will do anything to keep her.Don't Say Mafia is a mafia romance standalone from USA Today and International Bestselling Author C.R. Jane... -
![Poisoned Heart: MM mafia romance by K.A. Merikan]()
Poisoned Heart: MM mafia romance by K.A. Merikan
It was supposed to be blackmail. Now we’re choosing the wedding cake.I’m Corvus Van der Horn, and as my family’s poisoner and torturer, I’m a master of control, cruelty, and patience. My prisoners are faceless pawns who ought to fear me.Until Dalton.He should be forgettable—a washed-up fighter and gambler with more debt than sense. Then I saw his phone...romance · mlm · dark · organized-crime · outlaws · contemporary · mystery · steamy · fiction · lgbtq -
![What Boys Learn by Andromeda Romano-Lax]()
What Boys Learn by Andromeda Romano-Lax
A twisty, jaw-dropping psychological thriller that unravels a mother's worst nightmare—that her child is capable of terrible violence—when her teenage son becomes a suspect in the murder of two classmates, from the author of The Deepest Lake.Over one terrible weekend, two teenage girls are found dead in a wealthy Chicago suburb... -
![The Fair Weather Friend by Jessie Garcia]()
The Fair Weather Friend by Jessie Garcia
The next gripping domestic suspense novel from Jessie Garcia.It's always sunny in Detroit for Faith Richards. The popular TV meteorologist, endearingly referred to as "The Fair Weather Friend" by her viewers, has the world by the tail. But one night, Faith leaves work on a dinner break and never returns. Her body is found the next morning... -
![Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan]()
Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan
“Haunting, fast-paced, and unforgettable.”— Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Guilty Here“A lush, moody mystery. Darkrooms is gripping and atmospheric, as two women wrestle with guilt and injustice...mystery · fiction · audiobook · suspense · literary-fiction · thriller · slow-burn · contemporary · murder · whodunit -
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![A Pretender's Murder by Christopher Huang]()
A Pretender's Murder by Christopher Huang
Colonel Russell before the War had four sons; now he has four widowed daughters-in-law, each facing the aftermath in her own iconic way...mystery · historical-fiction · crime · amateur-sleuth · thriller · historical · suspense · fiction · book · adult -
![The Lodge by Paul Finch]()
The Lodge by Paul Finch
It’s the perfect getaway. Until there’s no way out.You have been dreaming of an unforgettable weekend escape, and Black Tarn Lodge seems to offer everything—a magnificent Gothic mansion with towering turrets nestled in the misty Lancashire hills.Expecting elegant dinners, vintage wines and a screening of a legendary lost film in the private cinema, all seems perfect...psychological · audiobook · thriller · crime · serial-killers · fiction · suspense · noir · book · adult -
![George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett]()
George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett
Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities.Newly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped...romance · fantasy · historical-fiction · fiction · time-travel · lgbtq · sci-fi · historical · mlm · magical-realism -
![How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley]()
How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley
A bold, inventive, and fiercely original debut novel that begins with an uncle dead and his tween niece’s private confession to the reader—she and her sister killed him, and they blame the British.Summer, 1986. The Creel sisters, Georgie Ayyar and Agatha Krishna, welcome their aunt, uncle and young cousin—newly arrived from India—into their house in rural Wyoming where they’ll all live together...mystery · fiction · family · poc-author · humor · crime · poc-mc · historical · coming-of-age · literary-fiction -
![A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt]()
A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt
In a hauntingly atmospheric novel set against the unforgiving landscape of the Arctic Circle, a disgraced police investigator discovers that his path to redemption is paved with ice—and blood...fiction · thriller · literary-fiction · crime · law-enforcement · police-procedural · ghosts · supernatural · book · adult -
![The Last Pure Human by Twisted Hilarity]()
The Last Pure Human by Twisted Hilarity
Kasan, a prince of the feline Kyashin race, is in deep shit. He’s in heat, he needs a consort to help him survive it, and his uncle has locked him away from every available candidate. When he’s offered a small human male at the last moment, he’s quite happy to accept. His new consort, on the other hand, is a little less than pleased with the situation... -
![Paper Cut by Rachel Taff]()
Paper Cut by Rachel Taff
A compelling suspense debut about a woman infamous for escaping a cult as a teenager, whose future is threatened when dangerous secrets come back to haunt her—perfect for fans of Jessica Knoll and The Girls .Lucy Golden is a true-crime icon, infamous for the murder she committed while escaping a California cult twenty years ago...suspense · cults · fundamentalism · thriller · psychological · crime · coming-of-age · literary-fiction · murder · fiction -
![You'll Never Forget Me: A Novel by Isha Raya]()
You'll Never Forget Me: A Novel by Isha Raya
In this captivating cat-and-mouse thriller, a struggling actress is only just beginning to enjoy the life she’s always wanted after inadvertently killing her rival—but now she must contend with the woman who threatens to take it all away.Struggling actress Dimple Kapoor wouldn’t call herself a murderer, per se—she’d prefer the term “opportunist...wlw · lgbtq · fiction · contemporary · lesbian-mc · romantic-love · poc-mc · killer · thriller · law-enforcement -
![Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet]()
Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet
Beth March’s sisters will stop at nothing to track down her killer—until they begin to suspect each other—in this debut thriller that’s also a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved classic Little Women.When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer. Suspects abound...young-adult · mystery · retellings · fiction · crime · season-autumn · suspense · thriller · family · female-mc
