Books to Look Out For in 2026 Q2

I love looking at all the wonderful books that are coming out in the next few months. I normally keep these posts to around 5-6 books, but Q2 has proved particularly challenging – there are a lot of books coming out between April and June that I can’t wait to read. I’ve managed to trim it down to 8, but will give an additional shout out to Jane Harper and Matt Haig whose novels Last One Out and The Midnight Train are published in April and May respectively.

Covers and publication dates are correct at time of writing.

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Storm Over Camelot by Sophie Keetch
(Magpie, 2 April)

I loved the first two books in this series and can’t wait to see it brought to its conclusion.

Grieving over a devastating loss, Morgan has retreated to the sanctuary of Belle Garde behind a veil of fairy magic, after swearing vengeance upon King Arthur and Camelot.

Steeped in her rage, she becomes a storm of retribution, battling to avenge her brother’s wrongs while trying to undo a terrible tragedy. But with her resurrection skills elusive and Camelot growing in glory and strength, Morgan is failing, her freedom under threat in the wake of her chaos and treasonous reputation.

All appears futile, until her efforts bring news of scandal in the Royal Court, and Morgan is once again drawn inside Camelot’s golden walls. When an encounter with Arthur’s trusted knight, Sir Lancelot, sparks suspicions of Queen Guinevere’s adultery, Morgan falls deeper into obsession, the need to punish those who betrayed her driving her further away from her loved ones, and the woman she once wished to be.

As the Age of Camelot darkens, and the forces of love, fate and truth collide, she must choose between her thirst for vengeance and the power to heal what is broken, and decide who Morgan le Fay truly is, in her own future and for all time.

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The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
(HQ, 9 April)

This sounds like a lot of fun, and I’m really interested in V. E. Schwab’s approach to mystery writing (Evelyn Clarke is the pseudonym for V. E. Schwab and Cat Clarke).

It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.

Six authors.
One private island.
Seventy-two hours to write the ending.

World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won’t write itself.

When six struggling authors are invited to Fletch’s private Scottish island and presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the plot thickens: whoever writes a worthy ending will receive a game-changing book deal and two million dollars.

Why have they been chosen to attend? Who is behind the invitation? And just how far would they go to secure a place on the bestseller list?

They have just seventy-two hours, a typewriter and a blank page. All they have to do is write…

Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.

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The Bone Door by Frances White
(Michael Joseph, 7 May)

I really enjoyed Voyage of the Damned and can’t wait to see what White has in store for us next.

What lies beyond The Bone Door?

When Hop awakens in an ancient labyrinth, he has no memory of his life before, or how he got here.
He does not recognise the mysterious girl trapped with him.

And he certainly cannot identify the shadowy figure stalking him, whispering terrible things . . .

But there is one thing he is certain of.

He must escape.

The only way out of the labyrinth is through The Bone Door. But it lies behind a series of other locked doors hidden across an array of strange realms. To open the way, Hop must complete impossible tasks before his time runs out.

As Hop travels deeper, he discovers that he and his companions may be more connected to the place and its horrors than he could ever imagine.

Unless Hop is able to unravel the true mystery of the labyrinth, including his own role within it, the Bone Door and any hope of escape will be lost forever.

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Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd
(Faber & Faber, 21 May)

I cannot wait to be reunited with Nora Breen!

Sharp-eyed former nun Nora Breen is back, as the latest attraction in Gore-on-Sea turns deadly . . .

On a brilliant December morning, Nora finds her customary seaside walk rudely interrupted: she’s been summoned, with Detective Inspector Rideout, to the home of Doreen Chimes, Gore-on-Sea’s resident medium. Chimes would like to report a robbery – and to personally invite Rideout to that evening’s private séance.

It’s an invitation he will regret accepting: the evening ends in a suspiciously spooky murder. And in the coming days, more of the attendees will find themselves in peril. Can Nora figure out who – or what – is behind these spectral killings before it’s too late?

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The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty
(Harper Voyager, 21 May)

I adored The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi and can’t wait for more adventures on the high seas.

Set sail into the second adventure of Amina al-Sirafi as her quest to track down magical artifacts brings her to the island lair of a sorceress whose woven enchantments are impossible to flee…

Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down magical artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savour the occasional adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter.

But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.

Forced to leave her daughter, Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unravelling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced.

A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.

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Body of Lies by Jo Callaghan
(Simon & Schuster, 21 May)

Having binge-read the first three books in the Kat and Lock series last year, this was an easy choice to include.

Human suspicion. AI manipulation.
Who can you trust when truth has no meaning?

DCS Kat Frank returns to work at the Future Policing Unit after a tragic loss, only to find herself thrust into a new high-profile case. On the night of Halloween a local MP is found murdered, with a taunting message written in binary code that seems to target Kat specifically: Catch me if you can.

The victim’s anti-AI sentiments suggest a political motive, and as Kat investigates with her partner AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI detective – she finds herself once again battling her own prejudices about the technological future he represents. But when a cyberattack takes out the National Grid, Kat and Lock have to race against the clock to track down the hacker before thousands die.

Tangled in a web of suspicion and deception, Kat must choose who and what to believe when the truth seems to defy both instinct and logic.

Can she set aside her old doubts and put her faith in her AI partner one last time?
Or will this case send Lock down a path she just can’t follow – a path that will leave humanity behind for good?

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The Tinder Box by M. R. Carey
(Orbit, 23 June)

I love M. R. Carey’s work.

In a kingdom forgotten by history, a legend unfolds . . .

Wounded in his county’s endless wars, former soldier Mag Tresti finds work in the home of a reclusive widow, Jannae Mirchella. But Jannae is more than she seems. A witch of great skill and might, she hides her powers and her deep-laid plans behind a mask of harmless respectability.

When a dead demon falls out of the sky, the fates of the soldier and the witch are irrevocably intertwined. On the demon’s body Mag finds a tinderbox – an artefact of terrifying magical power that can not only grant his every wish, but also change the fate of nations.

This is a tale of spellcraft and devilry, of witchcraft and trickery – of the wickedness that resides within a few, the goodness that lies deep within us all, and the choices on which our lives turn.

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The Knight Watch by Thomas D. Lee
(Orbit, 23 June)

I really enjoyed Perilous Times and can’t wait for more queer, messy Knights of the Round Table shenanigans.

A thousand years ago, the Knights of the Round Table made an oath to protect the realm forevermore.
It’s safe to say they didn’t think it all the way through.

Now Britain is embroiled in the Second World War, and the knights are still fighting the enemies of the realm. They’re also fighting each other – Kay and Lancelot haven’t spoken since Agincourt, and everyone wishes Agravain would stop speaking entirely.

Isolde – known in myth and legend for her tragic romance with the knight Tristan – is fed up with her tragic reputation. In a time when women have more freedom than ever before, she’s determined to strike out on her own. But when she discovers old enemies working alongside the Nazis, she realises she can’t fight all of them by herself. It might be time to get the old band back together . . .

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These are just a few of the wonderful books coming out in the next few months that I’m really excited about. Anything here take your fancy? Anything you’re particularly looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!