A new year calls for fresh stories, and January brings a brilliant selection of fiction to sink into as the nights stay long and the resolutions are still intact. From gripping mysteries to queer stories from the 60s to rising voices in fantasy fiction, these brilliant books will pull you out of the winter chill. Scroll down to see this month’s upcoming releases that offer the perfect excuse to slow down, turn the page, and begin the year immersed in unforgettable storytelling.
The Island of Last Things by Emma Sloley
Text Publishing | 9781923058606 | PB | £11.99 | 29th January 2026
A propulsive and poignant novel about two zookeepers at the last zoo in the world.
Camille is a keeper at the last zoo in the world, on Alcatraz Island. Reserved around humans, she is happy to spend her days caring for chimpanzees and tree frogs, and a magnificent, restless jaguar, while outside nature crumbles. Resistance groups and brutal cartels are fighting to shape the world’s future, but Camille is safe within her routines. Then a new zookeeper, Sailor, arrives. Glamorous and reckless, she seems to see something in Camille that no one has before. When Sailor whispers about a secret sanctuary where wild animals roam free, Camille begins to imagine a new kind of life, with Sailor by her side. Sailor has a plan, and she wants Camille to be a part of it. Which means Camille must decide if she’s ready to risk everything for the promise of a better world. Propulsive and fiercely hopeful, with a heart-stopping final twist, The Island of Last Things is an elegy for a disappearing world, and a gorgeous vision for the future.
Persona by Aoife Josie Clements
Little Puss Press | 9781964322063 | PB | £13.99 | 27th January 2026
A trans woman discovers pornography of herself she has no memory of making, only to find herself led to an unimaginably deeper evil.
A feral shut-in discovers a disturbing internet porn video of what seems to be herself. A seance of coked-up artists summons unearthly forces in a studio apartment. The staircase of an exurban marketing company descends endlessly beneath the earth. In Aoife Josie Clements’ electric, nightmarish, intricately layered novel, the impossibility of goodness crowds in upon two young trans women barely surviving on sex work and zero-hours contracts. Below the familiar evils of capitalism and the bottomless depths of internet culture, a darker horror awaits. What curse follows these women? What are they escaping? What are they running towards?
An Enigma by the Sea by Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini
Bitter Lemon Press | 9781916725195 | PB | £10.99 | 22nd January 2026
A stylish coastal whodunit where wealth, secrecy, and murder collide in wintertime Tuscany.
On the wintry Tuscan coast, the wealthy elite retreat to their lavish holiday homes. But the season turns sinister when a couple vanishes from a locked villa, and the body of a disreputable count washes ashore, bludgeoned to death. With echoes of Agatha Christie and the erudite suspense of Umberto Eco (or it could be White Lotus taking on the Berlusconi era) this richly atmospheric mystery unfolds among an ensemble of eccentrics: a fraudulent aristocrat and his beautiful companion; a melancholic academic and the woman he adores; two elderly single ladies consulting ominous Tarot cards. With the local police floundering, it falls to the brooding Signor Monforti to unravel the mystery, triumphing as an amateur detective.
A Jingle Jangle Song by Mariana Villa-Gilbert
Lurid Editions | 9781068690600 | PB | £11.99 | 29th January 2026
A seductive portrait of fame, desire, and self-invention in 60s London.
Late 60s London, folk star Sarah Kumar arrives to give a concert. She is hot stuff and a hot mess — androgynous, awkward and alluring. Kumar attends hip parties, sings to adoring fans and passes out wasted. She is a picture of consummate coolness, hid nervously behind huge sunglasses. Kumar’s world is turned upside when she meets an older woman, the intoxicating Mrs. Stankovich.
The Dark One (Vicious Lost Boys Book II) by Nikki St. Crowe
Zando | 9781638934387 | PB | £16.99 | 6th January 2026
The second book in the bestselling BookTok viral Vicious Lost Boys series, a Peter Pan-inspired enemies-to-lovers spicy romantasy where the villain gets the girl.
It is a dark reimagining of Peter Pan and Wendy. Characters have been aged-up for this darker, grittier version. If you like your enemies-to-lovers romance with hot, ruthless, morally grey love interests, you’ll enjoy The Dark One. You can expect an island with darkness and secrets and no true hero in sight, with a found family atmosphere, ‘touch her and I’ll unalive you’ vibes, and a tantalising cliffhanger…
The Undead by Svetlana Satchkova
Melville House Publishing | 9781685892197 | PB | £14.99 | 15th January 2026
In this gripping tale of contemporary Russia, a young filmmaker and her friends run afoul of the government and its ruthless oppression of artists who dare to satirize the regime…
When Maya, a young Russian filmmaker, makes a low-budget horror movie with her friends, it seems like a promising start to a career in indie film. Little does she know that her jokey lo-fi satire will soon attract the attention of the autocratic censors at the highest levels of the Russian police state. What follows is a gripping narrative of an artist being crushed by state power, and the choices that one makes within a system where free expression is literally illegal. The first novel published by a dissident emigre from Putin’s Russia, The Undead, is a tense, piercing story that serves as a parable of oppression — and as a warning…
Killing Hares by E. M. Duffield-Fuller
Honno Welsh Women’s Press | 9781916821415 | PB | £10.99 | 22nd January 2026
Feminist literary fantasy rooted in folklore, duty and defiance.
Everyone expects miracles from the village huder Cerys Steadman. She can command every living thing in Mervale with her voice, yet still struggles to be heard. After her mother dies saving the village from the Iron Crow, Cerys carries the weight of inherited duty. Bound to the land by ancient magic, she refuses to pass on her burden, resisting marriage, motherhood, and even the use of her power — except in dire need. When a terrified stranger appears at her door and signs of a returning enemy appear, old tensions erupt. Cerys finds herself more isolated than ever — until she realises she doesn’t have to fight alone. Rich with folklore, dragons and village politics, it is a tale of resistance and transformation from a rising voice in fantasy fiction. Killing Hares is a compelling high fantasy novel about maternal love, duty and the quiet magic of choosing your own path.
The King’s Evil by Will Heinrich
Thousand Horsemen Press | 9781068209703 | PB | £10.99 | 19th January 2026
A horrific story of an emotionally abusive relationship between a grown man and a lonely child.
Joseph Malderoyce begins painting at a very young age, but when he encounters Mondrian’s artwork, he realises he would never match his skill and ultimately gives up. After receiving a large inheritance from his family, he leaves his job at a law firm and moves to a small town in the far north. Living a solitary life in his house near the forest, one morning he finds a badly beaten child sleeping on his porch. Abel, who is clearly alone and helpless, dives into Joseph’s life and quickly becomes his closest friend. As their relationship grows, Abel, who possesses a cunning intelligence, starts to behave strangely. Eventually, Joseph must face the problem he has unknowingly nurtured within his home. This meticulously crafted, thought-provoking, and irresistibly unsettling novel delves into the darker aspects of the human soul. The King’s Evil is one of those books where events unfold not only between characters but also secretly between the reader and the characters.
Crucible by John Sayles
Melville House Publishing | 9781685892272 | PB | £20 | 22nd January 2026
From the Oscar-nominated filmmaker comes a complex and sweeping historical novel about Henry Ford and the violent rise of the Ford Motor Company in 1920-30’s Detroit, featuring strikes, riots, misbegotten jungle expeditions, and the story behind Fords’ private army…
As the Depression hits Detroit, Henry Ford — who doesn’t like change — finds himself having to confront the crash of the economy, which he blames on the Jews. But his mass firings and severe salary reductions lead to an uproar, including massive hunger protests at the factory. It also heightens ethnic tension in the city, because Ford, who resisted hiring African-Americans in the first place, lays them all off first. Can his private army — consisting of ex-cons and gangsters from the Chicago Mob — keep things under control? And what about the rubber plantation he’s trying to build in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, so that he can wrest control of the rubber industry for tires? It’s off to a disastrous start, with a food riot by the indigenous employees that led to Ford having to borrow the Brazilian army. There also seems to be a blight affecting the thousands of newly planted rubber trees… Piercing the image of one of our most vaunted historical figures, and bringing forth the brave and inspiring story of the people who actually built Ford’s empire, Crucible is the kind of griping, revealing look at the American character that John Sayles has become famous for.
