2026 has been a ridiculous year for thrillers. Half the biggest names in the genre published within months of each other, as if they had agreed to ruin everybody’s bedtime at once. A couple of them even tried something completely new, which in this genre counts as an extreme sport.
Every book below was published in 2026. I have kept the descriptions to the set-up only, so you can choose one without anything being spoiled. If you would rather go back to the classics first, start with the best thriller books of all time.
10 of the best new thrillers of 2026
My Husband’s Wife
Alice Feeney · January 2026
An artist comes home to find another woman living in her house, claiming to be married to her husband. That is the first chapter. Feeney is the undisputed queen of the rug pull, and this one starts with a premise so wrong you will want to check who is in your kitchen.
Side effects: an overwhelming urge to count the toothbrushes in your bathroom.
Read it if: you loved Rock Paper Scissors or Sometimes I Lie.
Find My Husband’s Wife on AmazonDear Debbie
Freida McFadden · January 2026
A biting, darkly funny thriller about what happens when a woman finally stops being polite about it. McFadden has called Debbie one of her favourite characters, and you can tell. This is the book you read while silently cheering for someone you probably shouldn’t.
Side effects: composing very calm, very firm emails in your head.
Read it if: you want a “good for her” revenge read.
Find Dear Debbie on AmazonIt’s Not Her
Mary Kubica · February 2026
On a family holiday at a lakeside resort, Courtney finds her brother and sister-in-law dead and their teenage daughter gone. Is the girl a victim, or something much worse? Kubica keeps flipping the answer until you stop trusting yourself.
Side effects: deep suspicion of anyone who suggests a nice relaxing lake break.
Read it if: you like a missing girl mystery with a family at the heart of it.
Find It’s Not Her on AmazonThe Ending Writes Itself
Evelyn Clarke · April 2026
Six writers are invited to a private island to finish a dead bestselling author’s final book. Only six writers and one ending. You can probably see where this is going. You can’t. The pen name hides V. E. Schwab and Cat Clarke, and it is a gloriously twisty locked-room mystery.
Side effects: never again accepting an invitation to a writing retreat.
Read it if: you love And Then There Were None and books about books.
Find The Ending Writes Itself on AmazonCaller Unknown
Gillian McAllister · May 2026
A mother’s teenage daughter vanishes on a trip to Texas. Then the phone rings, and the caller wants her to do something terrible in exchange for getting her child back. McAllister writes impossible choices better than anybody alive.
Side effects: letting every unknown number go straight to voicemail, forever.
Read it if: you want your heart in your mouth from chapter one.
Find Caller Unknown on Amazon
An opening line to keep you up tonight
“The woman I used to be died the day I signed the tenancy agreement under this name. Nobody sent flowers.”
It Could Have Been Her
Lisa Jewell · July 2026 (UK)
Jane returns a lost dog to a house she remembers from twenty-five years ago, and slowly realises it might hold the answer to a missing teenager. Nobody does dysfunctional families like Lisa Jewell, and this one is properly rotten.
Side effects: never again returning a lost dog without backup.
Read it if: you loved None of This Is True or Don’t Let Him In. I also have a list of books like Lisa Jewell.
Find It Could Have Been Her on AmazonBig Little Truths
Liane Moriarty · August 2026
Ten years after Big Little Lies, Moriarty goes back to the same group of mothers, who are still tangled up in lies they thought they had buried. Funny, sharp and quietly menacing, like the school gates.
Side effects: you will look at the school WhatsApp group with fresh eyes.
Read it if: you watched the TV series and wanted more.
Find Big Little Truths on AmazonAgrippa
Robert Harris · August 2026
The author of Conclave goes back to Ancient Rome for a story of power, ambition and rivalry. Harris writes history like a thriller, which is exactly why people who swear they never read historical fiction keep reading him.
Side effects: casually dropping Roman facts into conversation until someone asks you to stop.
Read it if: you want a clever, grown-up page-turner.
Find Agrippa on AmazonThe Witch
Freida McFadden · October 2026
Julia Barlow loses her job and her flat and retreats to Pemberton, her family’s old estate in Massachusetts. Part ghost story, part psychological mystery, with a second timeline set during a seventeenth-century witch trial. McFadden doing gothic is exactly as fun as it sounds.
Side effects: a sudden reluctance to visit elderly relatives in large old houses.
Read it if: you love a gothic house with something buried in it. Fans should also try my list of books like Freida McFadden.
Find The Witch on AmazonThe Hollow
Michael Connelly · November 2026 (UK)
Harry Bosch goes back to the children’s home where he spent part of his childhood, and to a boy whose death there was covered up and never solved. Reviewers are calling it one of the most powerful books Connelly has written.
Side effects: staying up far too late for a man who should be retired.
Read it if: you like a detective whose past refuses to stay buried.
Find The Hollow on Amazon
A quick detour
Which kind of thriller reader are you?
Not sure what to read next? Take the 60-second quiz.
Which thrillers are still to come?
The year isn’t over, and 2027 already looks enormous. I keep a separate list of the most anticipated psychological thrillers of 2027 and update it as release dates are announced. For what is selling this month, see the top 10 thriller books right now.
Your questions answered
What is the best thriller book of 2026?
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister and My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney are two of the strongest psychological thrillers of 2026. For crime fans, The Hollow by Michael Connelly has had some of the best reviews of his career.
What new thriller books came out in 2026?
Big 2026 thrillers include My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney, Dear Debbie and The Witch by Freida McFadden, It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica, Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister, It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell and The Hollow by Michael Connelly.
What is Freida McFadden’s newest book?
The Witch, published in October 2026, is her latest full-length thriller. It is a gothic, two-timeline story set on an old family estate.
Are there spoilers in this list?
No. Every description covers the set-up only.
Which thriller should I read next?
If you can’t choose, take the 60-second quiz.
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- New thriller authors to watch in 2027
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- The top 10 thriller books right now
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- The most anticipated new psychological thrillers of 2027
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