Welcome to our weekly news column, where we always promise the latest crime releases. Let’s get things started with a new translation of Shizuko Natsuki’s Murder at Lake Ashinoko – could it be the ultimate Japanese whodunnit? This is followed by six further books including the latest from Cate Quinn, EA Coustaut, Keith J Hindenburg, Carter Wilson and Brendan Flaherty, and we’ve thrown in a short story collection too.
Be sure to nominate your top crime novels of the year for the Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2026. Here’s the nominations form. It only takes a few minutes.
Murder at Lake Ashinoko by Shizuko Natsuki
Time for some classic crime, courtesy of an author who’s been dubbed the Agatha Christie of Japan. Murder at Lake Ashinoko by Shizuko Natsuki, arriving on 12 November, first came out in 1978 and is now being released to a generation of new readers. Businessman Kohei Daigo and the mysterious Fumiko meet by chance in a hotel and spend the night in the shadows, swapping secrets. Both have good reason to want someone dead, and they fantasise about the perfect murder, then part ways. But the following day, Daigo is shocked to discover that Fumiko has kept her promise — and now it’s his turn…
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Before I Disappear by Cate Quinn
Criminologist April Anderson is in a bit of a pickle. She wakes up in a remote motel with a new name, new identity and no idea of how she got there. The police have her in protective custody ahead of a trial where she’s the star witness but April has no idea of what she saw, or when. Is the cop guarding her to be trusted? Is the fiancé who’s secretly tracking her every move? There’s something not right here, and as April strives to remember, and to sort out what’s truth and what’s fiction before she takes to the witness box, she’s about to be mightily surprised. Before I Disappear by Cate Quinn is out on 10 November.
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Nan’s Flowers by EA Coustaut
How lovely it is to receive a surprise bouquet! Not if you’re called Lily, and you were brought up by Nan – your evil godmother and the matriarch of a notorious international crime family. Life was hell for young Lily, forced to take conscience-ridding drugs while learning the tricks of the trade. She became an accomplished assassin, until she came to her senses and escaped. Now Lily is sober and happy, with a family of her own. Until the arrival of an innocent and unexpected bunch of blooms brings the sins of her past back into full focus… Nan’s Flowers by EA Coustaut arrives on 10 November.
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Deadly Melody by Keith J Lindenburg
Keith J Lindenburg takes us back in time to 1984 and the setting is Newport, Rhode Island, where DJ Rob Conley is on the wheels of steel. Greed is good has become a mantra for success in the US economy and people come to his club nights to enjoy the music and the excesses of the time. inevitably, things go a bit too far and the party grinds to a halt as a promising young basketball player is found dead on the shore. Conley’s best friend, Detective Rusty Miller, is on the case and the DJ himself is drawn into the investigation. The PA is off, the lights have come on, and a plenty of Newport’s secrets are now out in the open… Deadly Melody is out now.
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When They Find Me by Carter Wilson
Two women hiding in the shadows are the protagonists in Carter Wilson‘s When They find Me, published on 10 November. They are destined to meet in the tiny Expanse, Colorado, barely a dot on the map, with just 313 inhabitants. It’s where Annie Wolfe and her daughter, Coral have set up home in a remote cabin, trying to stay one step ahead of people she hopes never to see again. Riven and her family have lived off the grid for years, and now her father’s search for the man he claims ruined his life has brought them to Expanse, too. When the two women meet, their stories will become entwined, with results that nobody could have predicted.
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Middleman by Brendan Flaherty
Middleman by Brendan Flaherty, out 10 November, is a heist novel with a dead interesting premise. We’re in New England, where Jake Flynn is stuck in a tedious job and drowning under the weight of responsibilities that come with looking after ageing parents and his own growing family. With his boss on his back and his wife about to crack, Jake is drawn into a cunning plan – to break into three mausoleums in the town cemetery and steal all of the valuables hidden inside. With Edwina the local historian masterminding the job and a bored teenager as the remaining member of the gang, what could possibly go awry?
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The Shadow Lab edited by Brendan Deneen
If short sharp speculative crime fiction is your bag, then it’s time to add The Shadow Lab edited by Brendan Deneen to your wanted list. Out on 10 November, this collection features a host of diverse and genre-bending tales, including Nicholas Sansbury Smith’sHell Divers: The Lost Years, set in the radioactive wastes of what was once known as Earth. Or how about In Her Eyesby Rebecca Webb? It tells the story of Addie, a woman who discovers a pair of spectacles offer a portal into the minds of their previous owners.
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