It doesn't seem to matter how many hundreds of unread books are loading down my bookshelves, my head still swivels when I see a shiny, new release! I haunt NetGalley and Edelweiss, always on the lookout for my next great read. If you are like me, then today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is one you've been looking forward to as well: Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026. (As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.) Thanks to the websites mentioned above and generous publicists sending me physical ARCs, I've actually already read a lot of my most anticipated new releases for July-December, including:

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (July 7) - ***1/2

Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman (July 21) - ****

How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz (July 21) - ****

The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen (August 4) - ***

Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (August 4) - ***1/2

The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie (September 15) - ***1/2

A Map to Murder by Michelle Chouinard (September 22) - ****

The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (September 29) - *** 1/2

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (October 6) - ****

The ones I have not been able to get my hot little hands on yet are on my list today. And because I really can't resist them, I have thirteen new releases instead of ten. #TheStruggleIsReal

1. Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Casey (July 16)—In this standalone mystery/thriller, two friends are enjoying a month-long holiday on the Irish coast. One morning, Ruth wakes up, covered in someone else's blood. Maura is nowhere to be seen. Ruth becomes the number one suspect in her friend's murder, but she's also the only witness. What happened to Maura? Does Ruth know more than she's telling?

2. The Unknown by Riley Sager (August 4)—Actress Marin Keane is stunned when she secures a role in what promises to be a blockbuster movie. The gig requires a month of research on location at New Avalon, Vermont, where five women mysteriously disappeared 100 years ago. As Marin and her castmates settle in on the island, they notice weird noises and strange symbols that seem to confirm rumors that something supernatural took the missing women. When the island's occupants are stranded there, things get even more sinister. What is happening on New Avalon? Is someone trying to sabotage the movie or is something even more nefarious at work?

3. A Thousand Little Goodbyes by Lucy Gilmore (August 11)—Gilmore's newest is receiving mixed reviews, but I'll still give it a go. It's about two lifelong friends who decide to finally take the road trip they've been planning for forever. As the journey goes on, it becomes apparent that it's about more than having fun—it's about saying goodbye.

4. My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru (August 11)—Jayshree Devi's family reunions are never without drama. She's still shocked, though, when her wealthy Grand Mom has an accident that looks suspiciously like something much more sinister. With the help of her irritating cousins and their hot friend, Jay launches an investigation, one that will unearth long-buried family secrets on the way to finding out who was behind her grandmother's "accident."

5. My Sister is Going to Kill Me by Nina Simon (August 18)—For this year's sisters trip, Liv and Mandy Chisolm have booked a rafting excursion through the Grand Canyon. Although they will be traveling with a group of strangers, they're looking forward to bonding with each other while enjoying an incredible adventure. The two get more than they bargained for when one of their number is found dead and another body is discovered in the water. Trapped on a raging river with a killer and a bunch of people they don't know, all of whom seem to be hiding dangerous secrets, Liv and Mandy have to unmask a murderer before it's too late for all of them.

6. Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty (August 25)—The much-anticipated sequel to Moriarty's well-loved Big Little Lies, this novel is set ten years after the events of the previous book. The moms are back and all of them are dealing with their own challenges and troubles. When the principal of the high school their children attend receives a severed human finger in the mail and a strange man is spotted lurking around campus, the parents are up-in-arms. Confronting this new problem will mean facing secrets from the past, secrets they hoped their children would never have to know. But now? The stakes are too high to keep hiding...  

7. Find Me by Holly Craig (August 25)—Two years ago, Pete went missing in the Tasmanian wilderness after visiting a mysterious commune whose members enact rituals to appease a malevolent presence they say dwells in the mountains. From her deathbed, Pete's mother begged his estranged sisters to work together to find their brother. This is easier said than done as they navigate the mountain, the issues between them, and another perplexing disappearance.

8. The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon (September 8)—Inspired by a real Irish sea captain, this historical novel tells the story of Grace O'Malley, the proper daughter of an Irish clan chief who defied all the odds and became a famous pirate.

9. Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult (September 15)—After her mother died in the 9/11 tragedy, Molly Fitzgerald developed a fear of disasters. Now the director of the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, she channels her anxiety into saving others in crisis situations. When an unexpected crisis descends on Molly and her husband, their lives turn upside down. Can she save herself from disintegrating under the pressure of her own disaster?

10. We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman (September 15)—This book is actually #1 in terms of 2026 releases I've been looking forward to. I adored We Solve Murders, so I'm stoked for this sequel. This time, Amy, Rose, and Steve team up to solve the case of a suspicious death at a private villa in the Italian hills. Everybody is hiding something. Whodunit?

11. The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay (October 6)—Book lover Gemma Brown has just moved to a sleepy village in the Cotswolds, where she runs the town's first-ever bookstore. Finding it difficult to fit in, Gemma is thrilled to make friends with the enigmatic local baker. It's not long, though, before she begins to suspect that her new pal is a spy. It's 1950; anything is possible. Or is Gemma's fiction-fueled imagination running amok? Soon, she finds herself embroiled in an international intrigue the likes of which she's never seen outside of a book.

12. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder by Ally Carter (October 13)—The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year was a super fun read. This companion novel (as far as I can tell, it's not a sequel) sounds equally as entertaining. The story revolves around a billionaire's son and the housekeeper's daughter, who have been rivals since childhood. When the former goes missing, leaving only a pool of blood behind, it's up to the latter to prove he's alive—and find the person who desperately wants him dead. Sounds confusing, but entertaining.

13. A Reunion to Die For by K.J. Whittle (October 26)—When a group of classmates gather for a reunion, talk turns to the school bully who tortured all of them with his cruel taunting. As the drinks flow, the victims joke about ways they could get revenge on the guy who made them all so miserable. The next day, the bully is found dead, killed in a way that is suspiciously similar to the hypothetical plans made by the classmates. When a recording of that conversation is given to the police, the group members become suspects. Desperate to clear their names, they scramble to solve the murder they unknowingly planned.

There you go, thirteen books releasing in the second half of 2026 that I want to read. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which up-and-comers are you most excited about? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Today's TTT prompt—Top Ten Books That Defied My Expectations (books you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving, books you thought you'd love but didn't, etc.)— is a good one, but I'm just not feeling it. Even though it's early September and it's still a million degrees outside, I'm gearing up for some cozy Fall reading. To me, that means mysteries, mysteries, and more mysteries! Yes, I read this genre throughout the year, but it just seems especially suited for the cozy/spooky season. Maybe that's why there are so many intriguing-sounding ones still to be published this year. I'm going to highlight ten up-and-coming mystery/thrillers that I want to read.

First, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our host, Jana, some love. If you want to join in the TTT fun (and you do!), all the details are there.

1. The Darkness Surrounds Us by Gail Lukasik (releases today!)—With the Spanish flu wreaking havoc on her Chicago home, nurse Nellie Lester needs to get out of town. She takes a job at a crumbling mansion on an isolated island in Michigan, hoping for a new start and to find answers to her mother's mysterious past. Not only does the place feel haunted by her mother's presence, but the discovery of the previous nurse's dead body proves there's something very sinister going on. Can Nellie figure out the island's deadly secrets before it's too late?

2. The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson (available September 19)—During a Gilded Age party at her family's castle in New York's Thousand Islands area, a young girl goes missing while her father lies dead in the smoking room. Seventy-five years later, a mysterious girl arrives on the island, prompting the owner of the island to look into the old mystery. What really happened to Poppy Pendleton?

3. Death and the Sisters by Heather Redmond (available September 26)—This opener begins a new historical mystery series starring a teenaged Mary Shelley, her stepsister, and Mary's future husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. When Mary discovers a man—who happens to be Percy's classmate and rival— dead in her home after a party, she and her cohorts use their collective smarts to solve the murder. 

4. The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok (available October 10)—Because of China's One Child Policy, Jasmine Yang's infant daughter was snatched away from her. Now in New York City without a penny to her name and on the run from her controlling husband, Jasmine is on a desperate hunt to find her stolen child. A wealthy publishing executive, Rebecca Whitney has the perfect life—including an adopted Chinese daughter. When the lives of these two very different women collide, it causes both to question everything they both know about identity, motherhood, and the true meaning of family.

5. What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim (available October 10)—A year later, the Kim Family is still baffled and devastated by their matriarch's mysterious disappearance. When they find the dead body of a stranger in their backyard, they're even more shocked, especially since he's carrying a letter addressed to the missing woman. Who is the unknown man? And what does he have to do with Sunny Kim? Where is Sunny and why did she vanish?

6. Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (available October 17)—It's 1875 and Lydia Weston is a professor and anatomist at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. When the body of a dead chambermaid is found in a Philadelphia river, a supposed suicide, Lydia becomes suspicious. Following clues on the corpse and in the dead woman's diary, she sets out to discover how the young woman really died.  

7. People to Follow by Olivia Worley (available October 31)—"In Real Life" is a hot new reality show that takes ten well-known teen influencers to a Caribbean island where they will completely unplug for three weeks of televised, non-filtered living. When the production crew fails to show and one of the influencers dies violently, the remaining nine find themselves stranded in a remote paradise with a killer. 

8. Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James (available November 7)—The Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed by volunteers who are also Tinseltown stars, is the place to be in 1943. Aspiring playwright Annie Laurence hopes to make enough of a splash there to get the murder mystery film she's written produced. When a hated film critic is killed at the Canteen, Annie joins a group of amateur sleuths to figure out who murdered her.

9. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (available November 14)—When a man's dead body is found in the iced-over Kennebec River in 1789, the local midwife and healer is called upon to examine the corpse. A keeper of her town's secrets, Martha knows the dead man is one of the possible perpetrators of an alleged rape that happened several months ago. As both crimes are investigated, her small town is torn apart by scandal and prejudice. What will the truth do to Martha, her family, and her community?

10. The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski (available December 26)—As the heirs to a copper fortune, the Van Ness siblings are constantly in the spotlight. They gather yearly at a luxury winery for the R&R they all desperately need. This year, their vacation is beset with the usual family drama as well as a torrential rainstorm and a shocking murder. Whodunit?

There you are, ten upcoming mystery/thriller novels I want to read. Which Fall releases are you excited about? If you did today's prompt, which books defied your expectations? I'd truly love to know. Leve me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.