Readers on the hunt for the next great mystery or thriller book need not look any further. Goodreads has taken the guesswork out of the process by compiling a list of the most popular 2026 novels in the genre.
Goodreads released a list titled “136 Reader-Approved Mysteries and Thrillers of the Past Decade” on Wednesday, April 1. Using data from users on the platform, the company selected 12 novels that were especially popular during each calendar year for the past 10 years. While the article noted the picks “aren’t necessarily the 12 most popular books of a given year,” the assembled collections were “chosen from among the popular books, year to year, with an eye toward variety and interesting digressions.”
The 12 books selected as among the most popular mysteries and thrillers with Goodreads users in 2026 so far include It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica, This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum, My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney, Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden, Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston, Strangers in the Villa by Robyn Harding, Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams, How to Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson, Whidbey by T Kira Madden, The Keeper by Tana French, Missing Sam by Thrity Umrigar and Little One by Olivia Muenter.
For the 2026 roundup, Goodreads only featured titles that have already been published, excluding highly anticipated novels that have yet to be released.
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Of the dozen novels chosen, five are New York Times bestsellers. My Husband’s Wife and Dear Debbie have spent nine weeks on the list since their January releases, with Dear Debbie debuting at No. 1. Anatomy of an Alibi and It’s Not Her both occupied the list for four weeks following their respective January and February releases, while This Story Might Save Your Life made the list for one week after its March debut.
Several of the books on the reader-approved list for 2026 boast average Goodreads ratings of four or more stars, including The Keeper, Her Last Breath, My Husband’s Wife, This Story Might Save Your Life, It’s Not Her and Dear Debbie.
The Goodreads article goes on to reveal 12 of the most popular mystery and thriller books from each year of the past decade. Seven of the authors mentioned in the 2026 roundup make additional appearances in previous years: Feeney three times with His & Hers in 2020, Rock Paper Scissors in 2021 and Daisy Darker in 2022; McFadden twice with The Boyfriend in 2024 and The Intruder in 2025; Adams once with No Exit in 2017; French once with The Searcher in 2020; Kubica once with Local Woman Missing in 2021; Harding once with The Drowning Woman in 2023; and Elston once with First Lie Wins in 2024.
Other authors highlighted multiple times for their popular mysteries and thrillers include Lisa Jewell, Riley Sager, Harlan Coben, John Grisham, Richard Osman, S.A. Cosby, Shari Lapena, Stacy Willingham, Ruth Ware, Stephen King, Karin Slaughter and Jeneva Rose.