Searching for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing the week of August 23 – 29, 2026 with four debut series. I hope a few of these books take you on a reading adventure!

AUGUST 25
No Rest for the Wicked by Kat Anderson (Private Investigator Mystery)
Beneath the flickering neon of the Las Vegas Strip, private investigator Max West thought he had encountered every enigma the desert could conjure. But when a young socialite vanishes from a powerful family, Max is drawn into a case that defies conventional logic. What begins as a missing-persons investigation quickly spirals into a dark web of ritualistic murder, high-society intrigue, and a centuries-old secret guarded by shadows who will kill to protect it. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Not A Word by Linwood Barclay (Psychological Thriller)
Every family has secrets, but when Reece visits his parents’ house, he’s shocked to find them in bed, dead. At first glance it looks like a murder-suicide perpetrated by his father, but on closer inspection there’s clearly more to the story. For starters, inconsistencies in the crime scene suggest his dad may not have shot himself. As Reece, shaken by his horrifying discovery, awaits questioning from the police, his phone lights up with a call. It’s the last person he ever would have expected to hear from. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Dog Park Murders by Angela Barker (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Juliette Macintyre has never met a dog she didn’t love. For one thing, dogs don’t judge, unlike the human residents of Labrador Falls. Most locals look at her with suspicion because her father was once a dirty cop, even though Juliette is upbeat, helpful, and the best pet groomer around. She just needs to prove it…starting with new resident Joel Cunningham, an enigma wrapped in a checked shirt and a scowl. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Woman Who Wouldn’t Die Quietly by Katarina Bivald (Traditional Mystery)
If you’ve spent your entire life running your family as ruthlessly as you’ve run the family business, it is perhaps not the best idea to gather them all on a cold and dark remote island to celebrate your eightieth birthday. At the very least, it makes for a tense dinner party. And at worst… Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Killer Donuts by Ginger Bolton (Cozy Mystery)
Emily and her friends Izzy and Monique are traveling the Donut Trail in style in Deputy Donut’s vintage, donut-topped car. With them are Emily’s cat, Dep, and Monique’s tiny dog, Gigi. Amid the spectacular fall foliage they stop at an orchard that includes a bistro and a vast corn maze. But while sampling some apple cider, they find that not everyone shares their friendly, festive mood . . . Format: Digital, Print, Audio

To All the Men I’ve Killed Before by Katy Brent (Humorous Thriller)
If a man hurt your best friend – like, really hurt her – what would you do? Key his car? Or hunt him down and chop him into little pieces? Tough decision, I know. I’ve tracked this lowlife to LA and brought my little sister Antoinette along for the ride. I’m trying not to be irritated that she’s found a taste for murder and is leaving body parts all over our hotel. Because this girls’ trip needs a Hollywood ending.
Format: Digital, Print, Audio

And Then There Were Bun by Vivien Chien (Cozy Mystery)
With the help of Lana’s parents and close friends, Megan packs the family restaurant with a guest list that includes friends—both old and new—to help celebrate her best gal’s birthday. But when one of their guests brings an unsavory plus one that Lana just happened to date back in her college days, tensions build between her old beau and her current boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Find Me by Holly Craig (Psychological Thriller)
When their brother Pete went missing two years ago on Mount Mercy, officials shook their heads. “He never should have been here; he was warned. Mount Mercy takes things.” After a disastrous first attempt to locate him, they called off the search. Estranged sisters Hallie and Gertie are drawn back together when their mother’s dying wish is for her girls to find their brother. To bring him back home. Their brother was last seen at a mysterious commune at the foot of the mountain, where members perform strange rituals to keep a sinister presence that comes from deep in the woods at bay. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Murder At The Toy Soldier by Maddie Day (Cozy Mystery)
Mac is extra busy these days as she and Tim do their best as working parents of a preschooler and a baby, not to mention Mac’s participation in the Cozy Capers book group. With Ella’s 4th birthday approaching, Mac uses her lunch break to shop for a gift at the Toy Soldier, which is run by June Fadiman. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Hysteria at the Historical Society by Emmeline Duncan (Cozy Mystery)
When it comes to adding a touch of Halloween to Christmas, Elyan Hollow is in peak form. Downtown sports Nightmare Before Christmas decorations, and activities include a “Santa Claws” sasquatch game. And this year, there’s something else to celebrate: The Elyan Hollow Historical Society has just received a Historical Preservation grant to map out the town’s tunnel systems. Jude, their director, is thrilled. But Graham, the leader of the competing historical society, not so much . . . Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Quilt Whisperer Investigates by Peggy Ehrhart (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
As Associate Director and Curator of Special Collections at the Yates Museum, Caroline is excited to pick up a prized antique quilt from Nancy Critchley, one of Banburyport’s wealthiest residents, for an upcoming exhibit. . . . Until she discovers Nancy dead on the floor of her beautiful Federalist home. The muslin bag that held the quilt is empty. On the table is a napkin smeared with what appears to be tomato juice—in a design that may have been Nancy’s final message. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen (Thriller)
When a renowned disease expert and Russian defector dies mysteriously during a global affairs conference in Purity, Maine, the tight-knit band of former spies in the Martini Club once again sees their quiet coastal retirement interrupted by international intrigue. And when a waitress at the conference hotel is found murdered, Ingrid Slocum sees chilling links to a disastrous mission that nearly killed her three decades ago. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Apple Pies and Poisoned Lies at the Cider Falls Festival by Traci Hall (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
In the foothills of Washington’s Cascade mountains, the Smith family’s Cider Falls Orchard is at its busiest amid the bustling autumn season—but when murder enters the mix, one bad apple may have spoiled the whole barrel . . . Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Opposite of Murder by Sophie Hannah (Thriller)
Jemma Stelling walks into a police station and confesses—not to a murder she’s committed, but to the one she’s terrified she might. Jemma can’t stop herself from thinking about murdering her stepmother, Marianne Upton. The only way to stop herself might be to confess before she snaps and does the unthinkable. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Danger Looms by Betty Hechtman (Cozy Mystery)
Yarn retreat host Casey Feldstein has solved more murders than she can count, but this is the first time she feels like committing one. A former TV heartthrob is leading a seminar for travel writers at Vista Del Mar, and when he’s not making excessive demands of the staff, his people are disrupting her yarn sessions. Casey would love to take the condescending man down a peg or two, but someone beats her to it, as she discovers when she stumbles over his dead body. Format: Digital, Print

Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier (Psychological Thriller)
Twenty-five years ago in Seaside, Washington, a charming drifter named Sam met three inseparable teenage girls at the local amusement park. Days later, one of them was found dead, her body surfacing in a flooded cranberry bog not far from where she was murdered. Barb and Nicolette were shocked to learn that the man they all met at Wonderland was the Carnival Killer. After he’s arrested for the murders of five young women – one of whom was their best friend, Lorelei – Nicolette moved to the city to pursue her dreams of being famous. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Bravest Hour by Anna Lee Huber (Historical Mystery 1920s)
Dublin, Ireland. Verity’s efforts to foil a contemptible plot by the traitorous Lord Ardmore and save countless lives—as well as the British government’s reputation—has exposed her to detrimental scrutiny, bringing her contact with the Irish rebels to light. Crushingly, she finds herself incarcerated in Dublin Castle, the “Dread Bastille,” where she must withstand interrogation from her own countrymen. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Paws of Death by Cindy Kirk (Cozy Mystery)
A young woman comes to Cornwall looking for answers. She doesn’t live long enough to find them. When her death at the Cornwall Inn is quickly explained away, most of the town is ready to accept the quietest version of events. Penelope Penrose isn’t. The woman had been asking questions, making plans, and noticing things someone may have wanted left alone. Format: Digital, Print

Darkness Falls by James L’Etoile (Thriller)
Not all darkness flows into the Valley of the Sun from our southern borders. Detective Nathan Parker discovers a double murder in a Phoenix drug lab, and all the evidence points at a connection to his son, Miguel. Was his adopted son swept up in a drug rip-off and murder? Did he play a role in the distribution of illicit designer drugs in the valley? As authorities close in on Miguel, Parker discovers a border militia group rushing to control the drug flow. Format: Digital, Print

Miss Morton Takes the Waters by Catherine Lloyd (Historical Mystery)
On the advice of her doctor, Mrs. Frogerton has arranged a visit to Bath to take the waters and regain her health and good spirits. While she reflects on her own next steps in light of her changing circumstances, Caroline goes with her to ensure the good lady’s well-being. Daily life in Bath takes on a routine of its own, with visits to the spa interspersed with social occasions and new acquaintances, including a group of women who live on Queen Square and gather to drink tea, play cards, and gossip. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Murder at Rosecliff by Alyssa Maxwell (Historical Mystery 1900s)
Emma and her husband Derrick are among the men in white tie and tails and the women wearing white gowns from the House of Worth at Tessie Oelrichs’s Bal Blanc, or White Ball, at Rosecliff, her grand cottage on Bellevue Avenue. There to cover the event of the season is young Ethan Merriman, society reporter for the Newport Messenger, the newspaper owned by Emma and Derrick. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

They Say a Girl Died Here by Sarah Pinborough (Thriller)
Anna Maybourne never imagined herself living in a place like Harper’s Creek, a nowhere town full of dusty farmland plagued by drought. It’s supposed to be a new start for her and her family, but after dropping out of college, Anna feels stuck in place—working a part-time job, watching her little sister grow up, and taking care of her grandmother with dementia, whose paranoid episodes have started to unnerve her. The only interesting thing about her new town, it seems, is the string of grisly murders attributed to a killer called the Farmhandman—and the clue she discovers that reveals the case is yet unsolved. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

A Pinch of Assault by Misty Simon (Cozy Mystery)
With things at her Sunny Side Up Diner sailing along smoothly for once, Jax Tapman has turned her attention to her personal life. It’s time to meet the boyfriend’s mother in person. And while Jax isn’t totally certain she’s up to the challenge, she agrees to show Eliot’s mom around a local retirement home. It sounds innocent enough, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to sell the woman on the idea of moving to be closer to her son. But instead of making her case, when Jax enters the model apartment, she and her potential in-law find one dead body and a whole lot of secrets! Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Well-Forgotten Past by Kari Lee Townsend (Paranormal Fantasy)
Lyra Wells is losing her grip. As the Solstice Sun-Sail begins on Lake Mistfall, the magic that once defined her as a Guardian is flickering out, leaving her more human than she has been in three centuries. She wants to focus on the festival’s curated charm, but her Seismic Sense has gone dangerously quiet, leaving her blind to whatever is building beneath the water. Format: Digital, Print

Bad Intentions by Iliana Xander (Psychological Thriller)
Josie Boots messed up. Really badly. So she returns to her small hometown of Burnville to care for her ailing grandmother. It’s been twenty-five years since an unspeakable crime rocked Burnville. Twenty-five years since her grandmother’s trial. Twenty-two years since her mother’s death. Six years since Josie was called the “bad seed.” Two months since she proved them right. Josie just can’t catch a break. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

AUGUST 27
The Silent Sister by Angela Henry (Psychological Thriller)
When an accident killed her husband, Taylor Ambrose lost everything else with him. The house was his, and now it’s being sold out from under her. The money’s gone. Her memory of that day is gone too. She has no family, no savings, and no one to call. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Knit One, Heist One by Donna Moore (Cozy Mystery)
Janus Lodge isn’t your typical retirement community. Sylvia Abercrombie and her knitting-obsessed gang of octogenarians are feisty, foul- mouthed, and fiercely protective of their home. So when a shady developer plots to evict them and build a ‘gentlemen’s club’, they hatch an audacious plan to save their sanctuary – by starting a secret knitwear empire with a scandalous twist. As sales skyrocket, secrets unravel, and Sylvia’s ex-husband lurks in the shadows, the gang must pull off the ultimate heist to protect their beloved Lodge. Format: Digital, Print

Flimflam Fairy by Elizabeth Pantley (Paranormal Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Best friends Willa and Lucy buy an enchanted bookstore full of charmed books. One wisp of magic later, they’re whisked inside a story, transformed into amateur sleuths, and joined by Banjo, a charming talking cat. There is no way out until the mystery is solved. Format: Digital, Print

Note: in some cases, print releases for digital titles will be forthcoming.
Publication date subject to change