Searching for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing the week of February 1 – 7, 2026 with three debut series. I hope a few of these books take you on a reading adventure!

FEBRUARY 1
The Surly Secretary by D.S. Lang (Historical Mystery)
College librarian Doro Banyon’s dream job turns into a nightmare when her surly new secretary is found shot—soon after their heated confrontation. Suspended and suspected, Doro needs a miracle—a miracle comes in the form of her fiancé Ev, now back with the Prohibition Bureau and investigating a bootlegging ring with ties to the victim and other members of the campus community. Eager to clear her name, Doro goes undercover with Ev—as his moll. Navigating the treacherous world of bootlegging and speakeasies in Depression-era America proves perilous. Ev puts everything on the line to protect Doro, but she shows her pluck when their real identities are leaked. Format: Digital, Print

Hooked by Caitlin Rother (Police Procedural) *first book in a new series*
When investigative reporter Katrina Chopin and surfing homicide detective Ken Goode lock eyes, there’s an immediate attraction. Sparks fly as they bond over cocktails, sharing their common experiences of being orphans and losing loved ones to suicide. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

FEBRUARY 2
The Body at the Windmill by Kate Hardy (Cozy Mystery)
After a class of children falls mysteriously ill and their teacher dies from eating poisoned sausage rolls, suspicion falls on mill owner Louise Wilkins. And when Georgina’s beloved spaniel Bert eats the same contaminated food, the case becomes deeply personal. Working with her aristocratic friend Sybbie and the ever-sceptical DI Colin Bradshaw, Georgina delves into the mill’s dark history and uncovers a chilling parallel: over a century earlier, the miller’s daughter was accused of poisoning a local family with arsenic-laced flour. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

FEBRUARY 3
To Kill a Cook by W.M. Akers (Traditional Mystery)
Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It’s 1972, and she is the city’s busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiancé and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for anything–or anyone–that gets in her way. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Nailing Nick by Jenna Bennett (Cozy Mystery)
A few months ago, Gina Beaufort Kelly’s husband left her for a woman young enough to be his daughter. Then he died, before he could make an honest woman out of her. Now she’s back, and she wants to hire Gina to find out whether her boyfriend is cheating. The irony alone is almost enough to get Gina to agree to take the case. The retainer seals the deal. Format: Digital, Print

More Than You Know by Anne Canadeo (Historical Mystery 1940s)
The dark clouds of WWII have scattered and America revels in the sunshine of a new era. Heroes have returned to marry their sweethearts, and the best jobs must go to them. Or so Grace Russo is told. But the typing pool doesn’t suit this Brooklyn girl. Working for Harry Shaw is not her first choice either, but she persuades the skeptical private detective to give her a chance. Very soon after, her brother Joe, a troubled vet and jazz musician, is charged with the murder of a beautiful, Black night club singer, Lana Delmar. Format: Digital, Print

Rough Cut by Wendy Church (Thriller)
Chef and reluctant FBI informant Sagarine Pfister has a new assignment: Infiltrate one of Chicago’s wealthiest families and uncover what billionaire diamond kingpin Richard Nottingham is planning behind closed doors. The FBI knows Nottingham is a long-dormant Russian sleeper agent who’s just been activated, and now it seems he’s planning something lethal—but for whom, and on what scale? Format: Digital, Print

The Foundling House by John A. Hoda (Historical Mystery 1880s)
After surviving Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror, Doctor Henry Jekyll and Francine Murphy dream of a peaceful future together. But their fragile hopes are shattered when Francine’s estranged husband, Seamus, reappears—begging her to help find his sister’s missing baby, stolen from a long-term foster home. Format: Digital, Print

Jigsaw by Jonathan Kellerman (Thriller)
This one looked like a slam dunk: a young woman found dead at her kitchen table, DNA on cigarette butts linking quickly to an ex-boyfriend with a criminal record. Or so homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis thought. Then everything changed and a quick close turned into a mind-bending whodunit. That’s when Milo called in psychologist Alex Delaware, his best friend and a long-term consultant on “those cases.” The ones that are different. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica (Psychological Thriller)
Courtney Gray’s peaceful vacation turns into a nightmare when she discovers her brother and sister-in-law dead in their lakeside cottage. Her niece Reese is missing. Her nephew Wyatt is asleep upstairs—unharmed. As police swarm the quiet resort, dark truths about Courtney’s family—and the town itself—begin to surface. Is Reese a victim… or the killer? Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Sacred Light by Kathryn Lasky (Historical Mystery 1930s)
Painter Georgia O’Keeffe is excited for her trip to the intriguing wilderness of the Bisti Badlands—a common site for archaeological excavations, it’s a historical place with enchanting desertscapes but also perilous natural structures. Her trip is overshadowed by the sad news of her friend and native Juan Nez going missing. No one knows where he is, and it’s unlikely he’s gotten lost. He knows these lands like the back of his hand. Has something happened to him and, if so, was it an accident, or has a horrible crime taken place? Format: Digital, Print

The Asset by Mike Lawson (Thriller)
In the middle of the night, on a winding road in a suburb outside of Washington D.C., a homeless veteran is killed in a hit-and-run—a tragedy that barely catches the attention of the media and police. Days later, John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, is confronted by Diane Lake, an ex-CIA agent turned political researcher with a knack for digging up unsavory intelligence on some of D.C.’s biggest players. Diane is there with a gift for Mahoney: the news that Lydia Chang, the wife of one of his biggest rivals, might be working undercover as a Chinese agent. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Murder in the Reading Room by Con Lehane (Traditional Mystery)
Raymond Ambler, crime-fiction curator at New York City’s prestigious 42nd Street Library, doesn’t consider it a big deal when he misses a call from visiting professor Robin Cartwright . . . until she turns up dead in a hotel room. Who killed the quiet academic, and why? Ambler feels duty-bound to find the culprit, and not just because the police half-suspect he’s guilty of the crime. It wasn’t just Professor Cartwright’s phone call he missed, but any sign that she was in danger. Format: Digital, Print

Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbo (Thriller)
When a small-time criminal and gun dealer is shot down in the street, all signs point to Tomas Gomez, a quiet man with a mysterious past—and deep connections to a notorious gang—who has seemingly vanished into thin air. Other murders soon follow, and it appears Gomez is only getting started. Meanwhile, Bob Oz, a down-and-out suspended police officer with a dubious past of his own, becomes fascinated by the case: he is obsessed with the notion of hunting down a serial killer who only he can understand, a killer with a story as tragic as his own. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Steep and Deep by Catherine O’Connell (Thriller)
The last thing ski patroller Greta Westerlind expects to find during routine avalanche training is the severed hand of her best friend. Evie Kearney is the latest woman to mysteriously disappear in the Aspen Mountains. Yet while an investigation is launched to find the rest of the body, Greta is relegated to the sidelines. The sheriff believes she’s too close to this one, but that’s exactly why she can’t possibly stop. Format: Digital, Print

The Flack by Brad Parks (Thriller)
Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish are like a Hollywood buddy flick come to life: former college roommates turned lifelong best friends who always have each other’s backs. So when Angel offers Curt the chance to leave his job at a failing newspaper and take a lucrative position as head of corporate communications at Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company, Curt takes the leap. Format: Digital, Print

Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb (Police Procedural)
A blow to the head with a block of amethyst has left multibillionaire Nathan Barrister dead—while nearby, a vault, its door ajar, sits filled with priceless paintings, jewelry, and other treasures. Lieutenant Eve Dallas’s husband, Roarke—who misspent his youth in Ireland as a scrappy thief—recognizes at least two stolen pieces among the hoard. The crime scene suggests a burglar caught in the act. But only one item seems to be missing. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

A Study in Secrets by Jeffrey Siger (Traditional Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Michael A— lives a quiet, comfortable life since his retirement from the intelligence services. Practically a recluse, he spends his days imagining the lives of the anonymous people he watches in the park beneath the window of his elegant New York townhouse—number 221—his every need tended to by his housekeeper, Mrs. Baker. For weeks, a girl has sat in the park every morning at dawn. Always alone. Always watchful. And when the sun rises, she vanishes, as if she was never there. Format: Digital, Print

The Alphabet Sleuths by Laura Jensen Walker (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
At sixty-nine years old, Claire Reynolds is changing things up. She’s volunteering. Learning to rollerblade. She’s rescued a shelter dog. And today, she’s killed a man. It wasn’t on her to-do list, but stuff happens. Besides, the man in question was strangling her good friend Daphne, and what’s a gal to do? Scream, possibly. Call the cops. Or―at retired officer Daphne’s insistence―call in the rest of their senior gal pals, roll up the body in a blanket, and toss it off a cliff. Format: Digital, Print

FEBRUARY 4
Misery Cove by Jan Rydzon (Cozy Mystery)
When her estranged mother drowns under suspicious circumstances, Erin Brady is forced to confront a past she thought she escaped. But her return home sets off a cascade of unsettling events, including arson and more deaths. Besides her investigation, Erin must also heal fractured relationships and restore the family’s crumbling shorefront motel. Format: Digital, Print

FEBRUARY 5
Madame Pompette Cracks the Case by Libby Castle (Cozy Mystery)
Forty years ago, Janey Stone was found beaten to death in a field outside Saint-Luke’s-Upon-the-Water. The only suspects? Her close-knit group of friends, known as The Six. But no arrest was ever made, and the case went cold. As autumn settles over the village, Charlotte Pompette, ex-circus fortune teller and current tea shop owner, is looking forward to cozy evenings by the fire with good books, Tarot purring in her lap, and endless cups of tea. A forty-year-old murder mystery is the last thing on her mind. Format: Digital, Print

FEBRUARY 6
A Deadly Hook by Karen A. Phillips (Cozy Mystery)
Rocky was looking forward to a carefree camping trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with her fraternal twin sister, Bridget, and their two favorite men. A recent Bigfoot sighting lures Bridget’s new boyfriend, Jeff, into a search for the elusive beast, but the weekend turns deadly. When Jeff becomes the prime suspect, Bridget pleads for Rocky’s help. Reluctantly, Rocky is pulled back into the role she thought she’d left behind, and once more heads back into the wilderness—this time hunting not a myth, but a murderer. Format: Digital, Print

The Richards File by Diana Xarissa (Cozy Mystery)
Andrew still isn’t fully recovered from his surgery, but he’s determined to hold the next cold case meeting anyway. While he’s spending much of his time sleeping, Bessie takes some time to help Helen look for the perfect office space and home on the island. Helen’s estate agent, though, has something besides properties that she wants to discuss with Bessie. Format: Digital, Print

Note: in some cases, print releases for digital titles will be forthcoming.