New in crime for 2026: Gamache, Allon, Cal Hooper and the Thursday team’s successors

It has been a strong year for returning detectives. Here are some of the new books in established series, all now on their authors’ pages with reading orders and character charts.

Louise Penny’s Miss Wolcott’s Ghost sends Armand Gamache’s team to a man who seems to have died over a century ago, lying on an unmarked grave, in a case that touches Clara Morrow’s family.

Daniel Silva’s Ransom has Gabriel Allon searching for a socialite who vanished on holiday with old Cambridge friends, a case that pulls him back into the dangerous world he left behind.

Tana French’s The Keeper returns to the Irish village of Ardnakelty, where retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper and Lena are drawn into a death that splits the community.

Richard Osman’s We Chase Shadows sends Amy, Rose and Steve from a villa in the Italian hills to Barcelona and Palm Springs.

Karin Slaughter’s The Secrets We Hide is the second North Falls thriller, Stuart MacBride’s Blood, Rust and Steel gives Roberta Steel one last case before retirement, and Peter James’s Dead in Three Two One brings danger to Brighton Pride for Roy Grace.