
After I saw that “super El Niño” was getting mentioned in the news, I decided to create myself a 2026 summer TBR list for all the armchair reading I’ll be doing to avoid the outside inferno. Thankfully, publishing has gone above and beyond in dropping a ton of new mysteries and thrillers to get your sleuthing on with.
From the recent fun podcast format trope to a high-stakes competition, there is plenty of entertainment for a wide range of tropes and moods in the genre. There’s also fictional true crime writers returning home, queer YA, disaster gays in NY, the missing women trope, Indigenous YA mystery, a Hollywood actor who may have killed his Bollywood wife, twisty thrillers, and more mysteries to solve!
Names Have Been Changed by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow
For fans of fictional podcasts, criminals on the run, crime novels, and literary fiction!
Our narrator, Ophir, is finally telling her tale of multiple crimes, life regrets, secrets held, and most importantly, her ten years on the lam—all on a podcast! Follow her across continents as she avoids deep connections in order not to get caught…
Winners & Liars by Aleema Omotoni
For fans of YA high-stakes competitions, will readings, and literature!
Derin, and The Kenfield Set (a uni-prep group), should be going to their professor’s summer ball to have fun and celebrate, especially since Derin was accepted to Cambridge University. Problem? They’re now there for the reading of a will instead, and must compete in a high-stakes competition for an English estate.
Nasty Little Secrets by Gabbie Hanks
For fans of missing persons cases, fictional true crime writers, and psychological suspense!
Rose Dearling’s family and town haven’t been the same since her brother was arrested for killing his high school girlfriend a decade ago. Especially since Rose wrote a true crime book claiming her brother was innocent and blaming the victim’s father. Now Rose is forced to return home when her younger sister disappears.
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The Names We Buried by Mia Siegert
For fans of twisty, queer YA!
Jaden’s seventeenth birthday does not go as planned. While at the courthouse with his dad to legally change his name, his father is arrested, accused of forging Jaden’s birth certificate. Wanting to know what is going on, he takes a DNA test, and his life totally changes: not only are his parents not his biological parents, but he was kidnapped seventeen years ago.
The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev A.C. Rosen
For fans of multiple POV, witnessing a crime, and New York City!
Brandon is a night-shift concierge who breaks hotel policy and sleeps with a guest, which is how he ends up in possession of a mysterious bag with a cell phone and ends up witnessing a murder with one of his best friends. Now Brandon and his group of friends are on the case!
Strangers Behind Closed Doors by Catherine Adel West
For fans of police procedurals and missing women cases!
Giovanni Mason is a concierge at an exclusive hotel when she becomes suspect number one in Natalie Moore’s disappearance. Moore is a makeup influencer who happens to be Giovanni’s former best friend, and Giovanni is on camera slapping her the night before. However, the only person not jumping to accuse Giovanni is Detective Redding Stark because Redding feels like there might instead be a connection to all the Black women going missing in Chicago.
Together We See by Ari Tison
For fans of Indigenous YA mysteries and multiple POV!
Ulá Dominguez travels with her brother Kabék to Costa Rica for their estranged father, Andres Dominguez’s, funeral. While navigating her complicated relationship with her father, Ulá finds a note that seems to question Andres’ death as a murder, and there’s a journalist from Limón looking into his activism around land rights and Bribri liberation. Clearly, there is plenty for Ulá and Kabék to look into.
The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee
For fans of did-he-or-didn’t-he murder mysteries and Hollywood and Bollywood!
The once Hollywood star James Abercrombie decides to marry the beloved Bollywood star Sweety Sahota to revive his career. But once he’s living his new married life in a luxury condo in Mumbai, he’s miserable. Especially since Sweety’s career continues to soar, and now the papers are claiming she’s having an affair. After a drunk night, he wakes up beside her murdered body. Certainly, he’s not responsible? Guess he’ll have to look into it!
Every Lie I Told by Hilary Davidson
For fans of twisty thrillers!
Jackie Swift works for a public relations firm that is not on the up-and-up. So she knows what to do when her young sister calls after an overdose and instead finds her sister gone and a dead body to cover up. And she knows this dead body…
The Fervent Whites by De’Shawn Charles Winslow
For fans of tense mysteries set in a small town in the ‘80s!
In the early ‘80s, after almost two years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit, James and Ella White return to their community in upstate New York. There is no happy welcome back. There is instead a secret being held, harassment, a murder, and a whole lot of tension.
The View From Here by Rachel Howzell Hall
For fans of psychological mysteries!
This is a reissue following a married couple, Nicole and Truman, who aren’t in a honeymoon stage. After Truman goes missing during a scuba trip, Nicole is left reeling. Not only is she dealing with grief and guilt, but she’s also becoming increasingly paranoid over strange things happening as if Truman is still alive.
New in Mystery Series
- Self-Help for Serial Killers (A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage #2) by Asia Mackay -— For fans of dark humor, domestic mysteries!
- The Clock House Murders (House Murders #4) by Yukito Ayatsuji, Ho-Ling Wong (Translator) -— For fans of clever Japanese puzzle mysteries!
- Death on the Lanai (Golden Girls #2) by Rachel Ekstrom Courage -— For fans of cozy mysteries and The Golden Girls!
- Missing in Soho (A Misty Divine Mystery #2) by Holly Stars -— For fans of fun quozies!
- She Walks at Night (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi #3) by Seishi Yokomizo, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator) -— For fans of Japanese detective murder mysteries!
- Grave Intentions (Harith Athreya Mystery #2) by RV Raman -— For fans of nods to the Golden Era mysteries set in current day India!
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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