Start 2026 With 5 Must-Read Books

2025 delivered an incredible line-up of masterfully crafted stories, and there’s no better way to launch into 2026 than with a stack of standout reads. These books are rich with tension, courage, discovery and the kind of storytelling that stays with you long after the final page. If you’re ready to start 2026 with a bang, here are five unforgettable 2025 releases to dive into.

Burning Mountain by Darcy Tindale

Five went up. Only four came down. In April 2006, fifteen-year-old Oliver went hiking to the lookout on Burning Mountain – and vanished without trace. His schoolfriends – Bob, Bell, Phil and Paul – were the last ones to see him on the trek, yet the teenagers were never able to explain his disappearance. Almost twenty years later, Detective Rebecca Giles is called to bushland on nearby Mount Wingen. There a skull has been dug up, reviving the mystery that has haunted the Upper Hunter area for years. Giles is convinced that they have finally found the missing boy, and that his four friends – all now in their mid-thirties – have always known much more than they revealed. In particular, about the argument that caused Oliver to head down the mountain on his own. But when she discusses the case with her father, retired Superintendent Benjamin Giles, another suspect is thrown into the mix. One that for Giles is uncomfortably close to home…

Buy a copy of Burning Mountain here.

My Name is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende

Emilia del Valle was always destined for great things. Abandoned at birth by her Chilean aristocrat father, Emilia comes of age in nineteenth-century San Francisco as an independent and fiercely ambitious young woman, decades ahead of her time. She will do whatever it takes to pursue her life’s passion for writing, even if it means publishing under a man’s name. When Emilia lands a position as a journalist for the Daily Examiner, her unwavering sense of adventure – and new-found determination to survive in her own name – leads her to seize the chance to cover a brewing civil war in Chile alongside another talented reporter. But the assignment offers Emilia more than just an opportunity to prove herself as a writer. Before long she embarks on a treacherous, life-changing journey in a homeland she never knew, to uncover the truth about her father – and herself. A masterclass in historical storytelling from Isabel Allende, My Name is Emilia del Valle is a powerful tale of love and war, discovery and redemption, told by a valiant young woman who confronts monumental challenges, survives and reinvents herself along the way.

Buy a copy of My Name is Emilia del Valle here.

Melaleuca by Angie Martin

A country town, a brutal murder, a shameful past, a reckoning to come… The injustices of the past and dangers of the present envelop Aboriginal policewoman Renee Taylor, when her unwilling return to the small outback town of her childhood plunges her into the investigation of a brutal murder. Renee Taylor is planning to stay the minimum amount of time in her remote hometown – only as long as her mum needs her, then she is fleeing back to her real life in Brisbane. Seconded to the town’s sleepy police station, Renee is pretty sure work will hold nothing more exciting than delivering speeding tickets. Then a murdered woman is found down by the creek on the outskirts of town. Leading the investigation, Renee uncovers a perplexing connection to the disappearance of two young women thirty years earlier. As she delves deeper and the mystery unfurls, intergenerational cruelties, endemic racism, and deep corruption show themselves, even as dark and bitter truths about the town and its inhabitants’ past rise up and threaten to overwhelm the present…

Buy a copy of Melaleuca here.

The White Crow by Michael Robotham

As the daughter of a London crime boss, Police Constable Philomena McCarthy walks a thin blue line keeping the two sides of her complicated life apart. On patrol one night she discovers a child in pyjamas, wandering alone. Taking Daisy home, Phil uncovers the aftermath of a deadly home invasion, as three miles away a prominent jeweller is found strapped to an explosive in his ransacked store. The crimes are linked, and all the evidence points to Phil’s father as the mastermind. Phil’s two worlds are colliding, trapping her in the middle of a vicious gang war that will threaten her career and everyone she loves. Who can she trust – the badge or her own blood?

Buy a copy of The White Crow here.

Liar’s Game by Jack Beaumont

While recruiting a Russian human source embedded in the shadows of illicit financial networks, French spy Alec de Payns is abruptly pulled from the field. His new mission: exfiltrate a North Korean walk-in from Beijing who claims to know the details of a massive cyberattack that could destroy the world’s economy. But before the defector can utter a word, he dies in de Payns’ arms on the journey home. The failure of such a routine job enrages France’s new prime minister, who views the covert actions of the DGSE – the French external spy agency – as a political liability. When de Payns’ next mission mysteriously collapses, the Company has no choice but to disavow him. Now exposed, hunted across South-East Asia and cut off from official support, de Payns must survive alone, untangle a deadly conspiracy and protect his family. But in a world of deception, who can he trust? And who is truly pulling the strings in this deadly liar’s game? Based on Jack Beaumont’s experiences as a former DGSE operative, Liar’s Game delivers the incredible authenticity, action and suspense that have made the bestselling Frenchman series an international success.