From charmingly clever mysteries to dark and twist-filled thrillers, this season’s crime fiction line-up has something for every kind of reader. Whether you’re in the mood for witty amateur sleuths, classic Golden Age intrigue, atmospheric detective stories, or pulse-racing psychological suspense, these new releases deliver mystery in all its forms. So settle in with your next favourite read — because spring 2026 is blooming with crime, chaos, and plenty of suspects. Check out our crime highlights from Spring below!
Holy F*ck by Joseph Incardona
Bitter Lemon Press | 9781916725256 | PB | £9.99 | 23rd April 2026
A provocative, original crime thriller with breakneck pacing and acerbic wit.
Stella works miracles. Literally. She heals the sick and the paralysed. The Vatican is overjoyed — imagine, a real saint in the 21st century, and in Georgia, the heart of the American South. The only hitch? Her method: she heals the people she sleeps with in her motorhome. And she sleeps with a lot of people — it’s what she does for a living. And that’s precisely what’s bothering the Vatican. A saintly prostitute isn’t exactly presentable. A martyred saint, on the other hand, with a conveniently rewritten past. That’s a job tailor-made for the Bronski twins — the best contract killers in the business.
Hard Light by Elizabeth Hand
Influx Press | 9781914391361 | PB | £11.99 | 23rd April 2026
Strobe-lit against an apocalyptic background of rock and roll, rave culture, fast drugs, and transgressive photography, Hard Light continues the breathless saga of Cassandra Neary.
Strobe-lit against an apocalyptic background of rock and roll, rave culture, fast drugs, and transgressive photography, Hard Light continues the breathless, breathtaking saga of Cassandra Neary in the series that began with Generation Loss and Available Dark. Fleeing Reykjavik and a cluster of cult murders, Cass lands in London to rendezvous with her longtime lover Quinn, a person of interest to both Interpol and the Russian mob. Only Quinn doesn’t show up. Alone in London and fearing the worst, Cass hooks up with a singer-songwriter with her own dark past, who brings her to the wrong party. Cass becomes entangled with the party’s host, Mallo Tierney, an eccentric gangster with a penchant for cigar cutters and neatly-wrapped packages, and a trio of dissolute groupies connected to a notorious underground filmmaker. Forced to run Mallo’s contraband, Cass is suddenly enmeshed in a web of murder, betrayal, and artistic and sexual obsession that extends from London to the stark beauty of Land’s End, where she uncovers an archaeological enigma that could change our view of human history — if she survives.
The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips
Soho Crime | 9781641297912 | PB | £9.99 | 5th May 2026
Inspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan, this gripping series debut introduces archaeologist Dr. Gul Delani, whose investigation into the discovery of a mummy gets complicated—and personal.
When Dr. Gul Delani receives a call in the middle of the night from the Sindh police, she thinks they may have finally found her niece, Mahnaz-a precocious, politically conscious teenage girl who went missing three years prior. Gul has been racked with grief since Mahnaz’s disappearance and distracts herself through work: a talented curator at the Museum of Heritage and History in Karachi, she is one of the country’s leading experts in archaeology and ancient civilizations, a hard-won position for a woman. But there is no news of Mahnaz. Instead, Gul is summoned to a narcotics investigation in a remote desert region in western Pakistan. In her wildest dreams, Gul couldn’t have imagined what she’d find there: amid a drug bust gone wrong, there is a mummy-life-size, seemingly authentic, its sarcophagus decorated with symbols from Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The discovery confounds everyone. It is both too good to be true, and for Gul, too precious to leave in careless or corrupt hands. Aided by her team of unlikely misfits, Gul will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it, even as her quest for the truth puts her in the throes of a dangerous conspiracy and threatens to collide with her ongoing search for Mahnaz. A portrait of a city fueled by corruption and a woman relentlessly in pursuit of justice, The Museum Detective is an exciting, gritty new crime thriller that announces a whip-smart and brilliant sleuth and builds to a stunning, emotional conclusion that readers won’t soon forget.
Why Did She Die? by Joan Coggin
Galileo Publishing | 9781917543248 | PB | £10.99 | 4th June 2026
A witty post-war country house mystery where charm, secrets, and murder lurk beneath the perfect façade.
This novel takes place over a year, a short while after the end of WW2, and begins very light-heartedly and comically with Penelope Stevenson, her brother Dick and her pregnant sister-in-law, Betty worrying about the guests they have coming — Lady Lupin and her husband, Andrew Hastings. Many jokes are had about the guests, with the usual stereotypes clouding their perceptions of them. However, this is soon debunked by the young and vivacious Lady Lupin, who quickly warms to Betty and Dick. The seemingly idyllic country village, country house and family begin to crumble further as the weird power and role Penelope possess are revealed. For example, Betty may have just given birth, but the congratulations from well-meaning villagers (including from the admiration-struck local vicar Mr Baker) go to Penelope, a woman who slept through the entire event. She is a fascinating character in the novel, whose initial helpful nature and unselfishness start to peel away, with both Lady Lupin and Andrew beginning to see a much darker side to her. It is therefore not a surprise when Dick and Betty find Penelope shot in the garden. But was it suicide or murder? In life Penelope caused a lot of grief and pain, which the investigations by the police, Lady Lupin and her private detective friend Mr Borden expose, despite being viewed by the general populace as saintly and the epitome of the unselfish woman. But in death Penelope also causes further trouble as guilt-ridden, defensive and unreconciled to one another, Dick and Betty do not present a picture of innocence. Additionally, Penelope’s death creates a vacuum, with many individuals acting out of character at her funeral, which also draws several annoying distant relatives that are comic genius on Coggin’s part. With a pile of possible motives, multiple people confessing to murdering Penelope, and the suspiciously absent Colonel being nowhere to be found — despite the fact he went for a walk with Penelope on the fatal day — this is a mystery which will keep you guessing until the very end.
Big Breath In by John Straley
Soho Crime | 9781641297394 | PB | £9.99 | 17th March 2026
A retired marine biologist turned amateur sleuth has an axe to grind and a child to save.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer, retired marine biologist Delphine is on the brink of throwing in the towel. She has outlived her PI husband and worries she’s become a burden to her son and his growing family. One night, while contemplating how to go on, Delphine witnesses a violent argument between a man and his girlfriend. When Delphine discovers the woman has gone missing along with her young child, Delphine embarks on a quest to find them. What begins as a chance encounter balloons into a rescue mission across the Pacific Northwest. Along the way, Delphine encounters the dregs of humanity-grappling with schemers, kidnappers, and murderers-as well as its joys. With the help of a few friends, a retired PI, and a queer biker gang, Delphine is determined to see her mission through . . . knowing full well it may be her last. While Big Breath In stands alone, longtime Straley fans will recognise the characteristic wit, heart, and contemplation of life that threads through every one of his books—and discover a new heroine to fall in love with.
Villainous Saltpetre by Clifford Witting
Galileo Publishing | 9781917543255 | PB | £10.99 | 14th May 2026
Set against the dramatic Cornish coast, this atmospheric mystery blends family secrets, revolution, and murder to dazzling effect.
In 1930, Guy Brangley, an unsuccessful playwright, stages his own disappearance in order to provoke publicity. Twenty-five years later his body was recovered from the sea, three days after he was last seen by anyone. Was this the tragic result of yet another publicity stunt? Or had Brangley been pushed from the battlements of his home, Pengawnen Castle? Villaneous Saltpetre is one of Clifford Wittings most engaging novels, set in that favourite corner of the British Isles for murder mysteries, Cornwall. However the book opens with a scene from the French Revolution in a little coastal town in Brittany where the Comte de Tournel is preparing to leave the country with his wife and daughter and join the emigres who were plotting to restore the former regime. What could possibly connect these events?
Bad Chemistry by Nora Kelly
Galileo Publishing | 9781917543316 | PB | £10.99 | 15th May 2026
A 90’s crime mystery where science, contemporary more, and old traditions produce a volatile mix in Cambridge.
The death of a brilliant young scientist in the department of chemistry at Cambridge shocks both the university and the town. As the police scramble to investigate, Gillian Adams, in Cambridge for the summer, finds herself in the midst of the enquiry. Adams, a historian from Canada, is both linked to the victim by old friends and to the Cambridge police by her affair with Scotland Yard detective chief inspector Edward Gisborne. Venomous professional rivalries and a clandestine affair are only two of the possible explanations for the murder. When a second body turns up there appears to be no connection. Yet everybody knows that if the two deaths can be tied, the thread will lead to the murderer. In this compelling story, Nora Kelly, author of In The Shadow of King’s, takes a new look at “town and gown”, showing us a Cambridge in which science, contemporary mores and old traditions produce a volatile mix.
Paradise by Ben Tufnell
Influx Press | 9781914391583 | PB | £11.99 | 5th March 2026
A world on the brink of collapse. Dense woods, mountains, a standing stone, a barrow, and a very old house. But if you’ve only ever known concrete and glass, how do you live in a place like this?
A world on the brink of collapse. Dense woods, mountains, a standing stone, a barrow, and a very old house. But if you’ve only ever known concrete and glass, how do you live in a place like this? Recruited by a mysterious organisation, Nash thinks things are finally going his way. But when a job goes badly wrong, he is taken to an isolated location to await a decision on his fate. Paradise is a crumbling cottage deep in a forest; Nash is free to leave the house but must not leave the woods. It is winter, and this wild and remote place is unknowable and terrifying. He attempts to map his surroundings to find a way out, but they resist him, the land seemingly shifting and changing. Moreover, he begins to suspect that his employers’ intentions may be much darker than anticipated. Forming an unlikely friendship, Nash finally begins to understand the consoling power of the place that has become his home. Brigid is sure of herself and at home in the natural world, while he is urban, lost. But she longs for his world, and he longs for hers. Now the wheel of the year is turning. As winter gives way to spring Nash’s fate has been decided, and they are coming to deliver their verdict… Paradise is the brilliant new novel from Ben Tufnell, an uncategoriseable Kafkaesque eco-thriller combining elements of noir, folk horror and nature writing, addressing the most urgent of contemporary issues.
The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully
Berkley | 9780593816790 | PB | £16.99 | 12th May 2026
A great detective’s young assistant yearns for glory, but first they must learn how to get along in this delightful feel-good mystery.
Olivia Blunt doesn’t want to be an assistant detective for the rest of her life. She’s determined to learn everything she can from her mentor, renowned investigator Aubrey Merritt — but the latter is no easy grader. After weeks of fielding phone calls from parties pining for the celebrated detective’s help, a case comes across Olivia’s desk that just might be worthy of Merritt’s skills. On the evening of her sixty-fifth birthday party, Victoria Summersworth somehow fell to her death over her balcony railing on the rocky shore of Lake Champlain. She was a happy woman — rich, beloved, in love, and matriarch of the pre-eminent Summersworth family. The police have ruled it a suicide, but her daughter, Haley, thinks it was murder. Merritt is ever the sceptic, but Olivia believes Haley. Plus, she’s resolved to prove her investigative skills to her aloof boss. But the Summersworth family drama is complicated. Olivia realises she might be in over her head with this whole detective thing… or she might be unravelling a mystery even bigger than the one she started with.
