The second that I saw Jane Harper talking about her book tour and new novel releasing in Australia, I rushed to find when we’d get it in the US. Looks like Last One Out will be available in spring of 2026 (I already checked UK stores and, no, they’re not on the Australian pub date release schedule *cries).

Once again, we are getting an atmospheric, small Australian town setting, centering on a missing person case. Five years after her 21-year-old son disappears, Ro Crowley returns to Carralon Ridge for answers…

Publishing continues to play musical chairs with release dates, so I’ve been excited about this sequel for a while and was super bummed when it got moved from 2025 to 2026 (publishing makes these decisions for a million reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the book.)

I’ve talked about the first book in this series, A Gentleman’s Murder, a lot (including in Crime In Another Time: 17 Historical Mystery Books) and still recommend it regularly as a great historical, locked-room mystery! Naturally, I am thrilled to see that Eric Peterkin, who was editing a mystery novel and thought that qualified him as a great detective at the start of the series, is back! We’re still in London, 1920s, following WWI and the impact it’s had on society, including soldiers and their families. The exclusive Brittania club for soldiers once again is ground for a murder, and Peterkin must put his sleuthing cap on…

I will, and have, read everything PRK has written since Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (bonus: there’s a great Hulu series adaptation), so I genuinely needed zero information to download this. And to be totally honest, the only reason I haven’t already read the galley is that I’m debating waiting for the audiobook.

Once again, we get a blend of history and crime from an excellent journalist and narrative nonfiction writer.

If I wasn’t already a fan of Nalini Singh, I’d be 100% picking this up because of its setting and tropes!

Tavish Advani has a curious past: all his past relationships have ended with his partner dying. But this “kept man” didn’t let that slow him down. Having moved from L.A. to New Zealand with his new wife, things were looking up. Until his wife’s family home caught fire and exploded, leaving his wife and sister-in-law in a coma. What did his wife’s last words mean? Who would do this? Detectives have an eye on Tavish, but he wants to point at his new family.

After having enjoyed both of Emill’s previous YA mysteries (The Black Queen, Wander in the Dark) I am obviously going to read any future titles. And the fact that it has many tropes I love has jumped it to the top of my TBR.

Teen investigative journalist.
Cold case murder mystery.
Small town murder spree.
Masked killer.

If you’ve been here for a little while, you know I love Harper’s crime novels (She Rides Shotgun, Everybody Knows), so hello, automatic buy/read for me!

This sounds like an intense L.A. crime novel that goes deep into its underbelly. It follows three strangers (“a gonzo live-streaming nightcrawler,” “a street lawyer,” and a private concierge employee) whose lives are all changed by a crime (a conspiracy, a questionable suicide, and a missing friend), who are all forced to decide how they’ll fight back in this violent world.

I have enjoyed Hirahara’s blend of history and mystery (Clark and Division and Evergreen) and was thrilled to see that she has a new novel releasing in early 2026. 

The history: 1903, Pasadena, Ryui arrives by boat from Japan as an 18-year-old orphan. 

The mystery: Ryui, working as an apprentice for an antiques dealer, and his roommate Jack, a photographer, are hired by an artist to find out who stole a painting from his studio. And the artist in the book is Toshio Aoki, who was a real-life Japanese artist!