There’s no thrill quite like the turn of a page when you know a mind-bending plot twist is just around the corner. For Serial Readers, long autumn nights are made for binge-worthy mysteries, dark psychological thrillers and multi-book series you just can't put down.
Dive into this season's most addictive mysteries and psychological suspense new releases, complete with unreliable narrators, shadowy secrets and shocking climaxes. Featuring gripping new titles from twist-masters like Freida McFadden, Lucy Foley, Lisa Jewell and Karin Slaughter, our latest staff picks will keep you up way past your bedtime. Sorry!
New Mystery and Suspense Books September 2026
Die Famous
by Michael Koryta
The Four Winds meets Bonnie and Clyde in this exhilarating historical thriller in which an unforgettable mother races to find the gangster she once loved--before the law gets to him first.
"The best gangster novel I've ever read." --Stephen King
"This story accomplishes the near-impossible: it is both big-hearted and thrilling." --Ariel Lawhon
"This will be the bar to which other historical crime fiction will be measured, and I do not say that lightly. In fact, I've never said it before." --David Baldacci
On the day Savannah Cody spots her first gray hair, she decides it's time to murder the father of her only child. Edward "Nickel" Terhune is the getaway driver for the Brady Gang, one of the FBI's most wanted criminals--with an enticing bounty set on his head. Dragging her son, Alford, and her father, Wendell, a retired railroad detective, along for the quest, Savannah embarks to find the man she once loved and the nation now fears, journeying across an America transformed by the Great Depression. But Alford--and soon, the FBI--notice that the closer the family gets to Nickel, the less clear Savannah's motivations seem to be.
As the Brady Gang races to escape the law--or get rich trying--Nickel realizes he might not be able to outrun his mistakes. He dreams of a route that will lead him to peace, but no map shows one like that. Will Savannah find him before the police do? And if so, who will return home alive?
Cleverly layered and emotionally taut, perfect for readers of The Lincoln Highway, The Frozen River, and The Alice Network, Die Famous follows a remarkable family as they race toward an impossible reunion--and asks us to consider where our own loyalties lie when ambition, devotion, and truth mean something different to each person telling the story.
The French Illusion
by John Grisham
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham delivers a gripping, suspenseful page-turner about a Paris honeymoon gone horribly wrong--and the nightmare that follows.
After Paul and Chelsea Tanner's fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would target them, and why? It turns out this is not the first crime of its kind. The search for clues soon stretches across borders, with the FBI, CIA, and French Intelligence trying to work together to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Struggling to find answers, a young lawyer is recruited to be the bait in an elaborate CIA operation.
Propulsive and surprising, The French Illusion is an unmistakable Grisham thrill ride--gripping and impossible to put down.
How to Write a Murder
by Jessica Brody
"Laugh-out-loud funny and featuring a sparkling cast of characters, How to Write a Murder is delightful. This cleverly constructed mystery delivers twist after surprising twist. Such fun!"--Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie
One dead body. Seven mystery writers who all know how to get away with murder. In this wickedly clever whodunit from the bestselling author of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, the only thing harder than writing the perfect plot twist ... is surviving it.
If you want to write a murder, you have to set it in the right location--like an old, converted monastery with an ominous past, hidden deep in the mountains. Then, you have to invite the right people--like a group of authors attending a prestigious mystery-writing conference.
Of course, someone should show up uninvited--like a disgraced literary agent accused of stealing from his top client. Everyone in the story must be hiding something so they can all become suspects when someone ends up dead. That's when they'll turn on one another, digging into the past to uncover dark truths--like a book canceled on the eve of publication, two million dollars in missing royalties, and an obsessive fan with a hidden agenda.
But don't forget to trap everyone there--a landslide should do the trick--so they can't escape when more people turn up dead. ...
Welcome to the perfect murder. Nothing will go wrong. Because if anyone can get away with murder, it's a writer.
London Station
by David McCloskey
A new US administration has taken office, installing a brash and unconventional CIA director skeptical of old alliances and determined to disrupt the Agency. When the axe falls on the chief of London Station, the agency veteran decides to spy for the Brits--a betrayal uncovered by his replacement, Artemis Aphrodite Procter. Caught between a turncoat spymaster and a ruthless new boss back at Langley, Procter must now navigate a tense environment as old friends become adversaries and no one knows whom to trust.
Adding to the chaos is a new breed of private intelligence agency: a secretive and powerful company run by a reclusive billionaire with a very different agenda than the two old allies who are suddenly at each other's throats.
When assets begin dying, Procter and her team in London Station must find out who is leaking the sources' identities--and why--before both agencies go blind. Soon they will have to decide whether loyalty to the Mission means disobeying the Agency they serve. Immersing readers in the technological revolution upending intelligence tradecraft, London Station explores the changing nature of the spy business and what happens when politics threaten to destroy the special relationship between America and Britain.
Mother Daughter Sister Stranger
by Hank Phillippi Ryan
ZIBBY OWENS A Most Anticipated Fall Book
BOOKBUB A Buzziest Thriller coming in 2026
LIBRARY JOURNAL "Terrific!"
What if your own family history turns out to be a terrifying lie? Every family has its story, and this one's deadly. Two sisters. One secret. And a race against time to find the explosive truth in this twisty and captivating thriller by USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan.
The sole survivors of the fiery plane crash that killed their parents, Eliza Ramsey and her sister Bea share an unbreakable bond. But now, on the eleventh anniversary of the tragedy, Bea fails to retrieve her pre-teen daughter from a sleepover at Eliza's.
Eliza knows her sister would never leave her precious Piper behind, and fears the worst. But did Bea plan her own disappearance?
The Ramseys' lives have already crashed and burned once. Now, Eliza discovers she's the only one who can protect her niece from the horrifying legacy of her family's sinister history. Together, the two must prevent their lives from going up in flames once again.
A missing mother. Her frightened daughter. And a sister on a desperate search for a happy ending. But someone knows the deadly key to their shared past, and won't stop until they've written a devastating final chapter. Mother, daughter, sister--stranger.
The Munich Affair
by James Patterson - David Ellis
"The Munich Affair is a master class in tension and a perfect historical thriller." --Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls
"This World War II-era thriller feels startlingly modern and essential. As you watch a detective, a journalist, a resistance leader, and a professor race to solve past crimes, the boundaries of time quickly give way to pure suspense." --Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The Nazi Conspiracy
A suspenseful thriller from the world's #1 bestselling author, James Patterson, that spans a century--set in motion by the murder of Adolf Hitler's young lover by his own hand.
A determined detective, Thomas Bauer, obsessively pursues Hitler--putting Bauer's Jewish wife and children in grave danger.
A courageous journalist, Fritz Gerlich, writes story after story detailing the murder--making Gerlich a target for Hitler's Gestapo.
An American professor, Eleanor Robbins, picks up the trail of evidence from present-day Neo-Nazis guarding the Führer's long-held secrets to the death.
"Much more than a historical murder mystery, this lively and engaging story--from two masters at the top of their game--reminds us that 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' You need to read this one and never forget." --Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author
Our Cut of Salt
by Deena Helm
In this lyrical debut, three generations of Palestinian women must put the haunting of their ancestral home to rest, before the secrets of the past drown them all. Our Cut of Salt is a powerful and intimate look at what it means to make a home, to lose it, and to return, only to find it irrevocably changed.
"A one-of-a-kind haunted house." --Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author
There is something haunting Nuhad's childhood home in Haifa. Cats avoid its perimeter, strange noises come from within, and residents have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948, she always held a place for the house in her heart.
And, in return, the house did the same for her.
After Nuhad passes away, her granddaughter, Marina, is determined to visit her grandmother's home after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and family history. Marina's mother, Haifa - named for the city that was lost to their family - reluctantly agrees to her trip, though she knows firsthand that some secrets are better left buried.
But the house is no longer a home. It is a painful, festering wound that infects everything it touches. The more Marina digs into her family's past, the sicker she becomes. Despite Nuhad's ghostly warnings, Haifa rushes to help her daughter.
As the three women converge in their ancestral home, they must put the haunting to rest before the secrets of the past drown them all.
Tom Clancy Pressure Depth
by Jack Stewart
Some secrets are best left at the bottom of the ocean. But since that's not in Jack Ryan, Jr.'s nature, he'll battle all of China to stop them from finding a weapon of immense destructive power in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Jack Ryan Jr. is on Guam to work on a project for Hendley Associates. It's a perfectly ordinary insurance matter, but trouble finds the Ryans wherever they go. So, it's no surprise when Jack's involvement with a US Navy dive team working off the coast uncovers a threat to international security.
For years, rumors persisted that the Soviets had placed a device for tracking American submarines on the sea floor. By now, the technology should be outdated. But the Americans are still interested in recovering it. It's a seemingly routine mission until they make a shocking discovery: the defensive network they thought they were looking for is actually a weapon unlike anything they've ever seen.
That explains the arrival of a Chinese special operations team who seem determined to get their hands on the aging tech, even if they have to kill to do it. They're sure they can handle the Americans. But they don't know Jack.
Our book recommendations for Serial Readers focus on mysteries, thrillers and psychological suspense. For horror, action/adventure and true crime, visit our page for Stunt Doubles. You can also check out our past Serial Reader recommendations from Spring and Summer 2026.