Searching for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing the week of May 3 – 9, 2026 with three debut series. I hope a few of these books take you on a reading adventure!
May 4
Tides, Lies, and Alibis by Taffy Beach (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
In 1998 Manatee Bay, Florida, sunshine and small-town secrets go hand in hand—and no one knows that better than artist Kate MacGregor, the last heir to a faded Florida dynasty with a grand house and an empty bank account. When the Spring Berry Festival takes an unexpected turn, Kate’s lifelong friend Cindy—owner of the local gossip center, High Tides Bakery and Café—lands at the center of a scandal. Her signature “Immaculate Confection” strawberry cream puff entry in the Berry Bake-off is suddenly a “murder weapon,” and Kate decides it’s time to put her quick instincts and tactless charm to good use. Format: Digital
Last Seen in Sea Isle by Jane Kelly (Traditional Mystery)
Meg Daniels should know by now that wherever she goes, mystery follows. Her fiancé is taking classes at Stockton University and has befriended Grace Grant, a fellow later-in-life student. Under false pretenses, Grace asks Meg to visit her lavish beachfront house in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, on the same weekend she’s hosting a reunion of pals from the summer of 1969. Format: Digital, Print
May 6
Havoc at Hanover Square by Jenna Bennett (Historical Mystery, 1920s)
and all of England is enthralled by the disappearance of mystery novelist Agatha Christie. Miss Pippa Darling, her cousin and best friend Christopher Astley, and Christopher’s cousin Crispin, the newly-minted Duke of Sutherland, get in on the action as they speculate, surmise, and go off to the wilds of Surrey to look for clues. But while they’re preoccupied, trouble hits closer to home. Crispin’s nuptials to Lady Laetitia Marsden are scheduled for the third weekend in December, and when the bride-to-be is reported missing by her family, Detective-Sergeant Tom Gardiner gets involved. Format: Digital, Print
A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon (Cozy Mystery)
Leo can’t believe she’s back in Blue Oak. Her small, quirky Texas hometown feels suffocating after trying to make it big as an English professor in New York—especially due to her strained relationship with her overly hair-sprayed mother, Karina. But with Leo’s career in academia in shambles, at least she’s able to work as a photographer for her godmother’s real estate business. And her best friend, Emily, is around to help her navigate through the mess—and maybe force her to reconnect with her old high school boyfriend, Mack. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
A Murder in Hollywood by Michael Crichton (Thriller)
In the glitz and decadence of 1970s Hollywood, an era when sex and drugs were readily available on any movie set, the writer of the next Western blockbuster, Bloodrock, has just been found dead in his motel bathtub. Now publicist Harvey Jason is desperately trying to keep the project on track while the famed Harlow Perkins, a brilliant and ruthless investigator, begins to unravel the mystery and hunt the killer down. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Moonlight Murder by Uzma Jalaluddin (Traditional Mystery)
When Kausar Khan moved back to Toronto to be closer to her family, she didn’t expect to have another murder investigation on her hands so soon—or really ever. But when a young man named Qasim is found dead in their Golden Crescent neighborhood, and when she learns he was close to her granddaughter, Maleeha, what’s a grandmother to do but try and solve the case? Format: Digital, Print, Audio
The Great Houses of Pill Hill by Diane Josefowicz (Traditional Mystery)
Hannah “Cookie” Cooke, an interior decorator with a sideline making miniature reproductions of crime scenes for the local police department, lands her dream job when New Preston’s wealthiest couple hires her to renovate their historic New England home. But things go spectacularly wrong when her client Chuck—with whom she is having an affair—is murdered at the housewarming party. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
The Inklings Detective Agency by John R. Kelly (Historical Mystery, 1930s)
In the shadowy streets of Oxford, England, members of a secret society keep turning up dead. When J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and their fellow literary masterminds, known as the Inklings, are called upon to catch a killer, they trade their pens for magnifying glasses. With time running out, they get a helping hand from mystery writers Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers to unravel a sinister web of secrets. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
I, Spy by L.M. Kemp (Thriller)
Kendal Carter is out in the cold and she wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been four years since her daughter Rosie was born and Kendal has kept her miles away from the danger of her former life as a spy. But when their hiding place is discovered, Kendal is forced to turn to old contacts for help. Her longtime friend and ex-handler Rico doesn’t miss his chance to pull his best spy back in. Whisking them to London, Rico offers them a luxury safe house in an area with good schools. How can Kendal resist? Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Lost in Yellowstone by Nicole Maggi (Traditional Mystery)
When a human foot is ejected from a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Special Agent Emme Helliwell of the National Park Service is assigned the chilling case. Tasked with identifying the victim and uncovering what led to such a grisly end, Emme is drawn into the park’s vast, unforgiving wilderness—and into the orbit of a private school for at-risk teens where extreme backcountry excursions are part of the curriculum. Format: Digital, Print
Everything Must Go by Shelley Marsh (Cozy Mystery)
Emma Stewart and her best friend, Laura, finally land a new client—but this one comes with strings attached. Claire Weston wants to liquidate her high-end belongings… quietly. No open house. No curious neighbors. And absolutely no gossip about why a wealthy widow suddenly needs cash. Emma isn’t convinced. Format: Digital, Print
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister (Domestic Thriller)
There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal… Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Dragged to Death by Frank Anthony Polito (Cozy Mystery)
Invited to participate in the glittering event, Peter and his real-life Domestic Partner in Crime, JP, expect good cheer, friendly competition, and plenty of sequins. Instead, the celebration comes to a screeching halt after one of the show’s brightest stars, Melody Mansion, is found dead in her dressing room—smothered by her own wig. Format: Digital, Print
The Author Weekend by Laura Zigman (Traditional Mystery)
Everything needs to be just right for bestselling mystery writer Faye Wader’s first ever fan weekend. Her sales might be slipping—only a little!—but her readers still love her enough to pony up for three days and two nights on Great Misery Island. The retreat is precisely planned, from the small batch artisanal donuts to the perimenopausal Mermaid Meditation, by Faye and her beleaguered assistant Jade—an aspiring author who can’t seem to finish her own novel. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
May 7
The Body that Floats by Jayne Chard (Cozy Mystery)
Julia, a retired head teacher with a fondness for order, and her half-sister Frankie, who believes that rules are more like vague suggestions, are back—this time in the picturesque Cornish village of Portscatho. Their morning swim off Tatum’s beach is rudely interrupted by a floating corpse. The police declare the death accidental, but the sisters have other ideas. Format: Digital, Print
Seldom Seen Road by John Degen (Police Procedural) *first book in a new series*
Seldom Seen Road is the first in the Burnt River series of murder mysteries featuring the Roth family detective trio: Mark, his daughter Stephanie, and his cousin Jeremy. Of the three, Mark has the least solid claim on the art of solving murders, but he is driven by the insistent busybody nature of the recently retired. Profoundly hard-of-hearing after a career in musical performance, and equally disappointed with finding himself alone in his world after the death of his beloved wife, Mark stubbornly and clumsily puts himself in harm’ s way to draw out the truth. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Murder at the Second–Hand Shop by Anna Grue (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
The elderly volunteers at the second-hand shop keep dropping dead. Heart attacks. Strokes. A simple case of old age, say the police. Sad but inevitable. Newly retired Mrs Mortensen begs to differ. This “Danish Miss Marple” and her dachshund, Mortensen III, sniff a sinister pattern. Format: Digital, Audio
May 8
Good Homes and Homicide by Rachel Rose (Cozy Mystery)
Agatha Graycobble has hung up her gardening gloves. No more meddling. No more “accidents.” No more taking care of problems her own way. That was the plan. Then someone starts killing again in ways that feel…familiar. Format: Digital, Print
Note: in some cases, print releases for digital titles will be forthcoming.