Crime Novel for Christmas 2026: Which One to Pick for Which Reader, No Duplicates Under the Tree

Three crime novels are strong contenders for Christmas 2026: Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden (City Éditions, 7 October 2026), The One You Call by Riley Sager (Verso, 3 July 2026) and I Think I Killed Her by Andrea Mara (Méra Éditions, May 2025). The right gift depends on the reader, not the bestseller charts.

Three crime novels that stand the test under the tree

"Dear Debbie", this season's new release

Out on 7 October 2026 from City Éditions, 384 pages, translated by Laura Bourgeois. Freida McFadden, known for The Housemaid series and for The Dinner released in July 2026, follows Debbie Mullen, who dishes out advice in the local paper's agony column while her own life falls apart. Husband, neighbours, teenage daughters: everything slips out of her control. Until the day she decides to take her own advice.

"The One You Call", the long-form locked-room mystery

Riley Sager takes us back to 1929, in Maine, the night the Hope family is murdered. The youngest daughter, Lenora, has always denied it. More than seventy years later, unable to speak after a series of strokes and confined to a wheelchair, she types out the whole story to her carer, Kit McDeere. Expect 528 pages (Verso, 3 July 2026, translated by Dominique Haas). The author has published nine thrillers, sold in over twenty countries.

"I Think I Killed Her", the neighbourhood investigation

Andrea Mara sets her plot in a quiet Dublin suburb: Joanna moves into the former Murphy house, where little Lily went missing ten years earlier. Released on 28 May 2025 by Méra Éditions, 380 pages, translated by Iris Le Guinio and Anna Durand. Listed at €19.99 in paperback on fnac.com, a price worth double-checking before you buy.

Which crime novel for which reader

Format matters just as much as plot when gifting a book. Three scenarios:

• Fast reader who ploughs through thrillers: Dear Debbie, the most fast-paced of the three.
• Patient reader who loves gothic atmosphere and clifftop manors: The One You Call, with its 528 pages and slow burn.
• Reader who prefers everyday suspense, neighbourhood secrets and overly helpful neighbours: Andrea Mara's novel.

All three titles fall into domestic suspense, a genre widely read by women: if you're after more ideas, our Christmas gift ideas for women page pairs well with a selection of novels.

The real risk is gifting a book already read

Two of these three crime novels have been in bookshops for months. A keen reader may have already finished them. Three simple habits avoid disappointment on 25 December: ask what's actually missing from their shelf, check whether they already own the title in paperback rather than hardback, and keep the receipt for an exchange in store.

The easiest solution is to have the person fill in a free Christmas list, then tick off the chosen title so no one else buys it too. Our no-duplicate method for organising your list explains exactly how to do it as a family. And for someone who already owns the full back-catalogue of their favourite authors, a whole novel printed on a poster offers a different take while staying firmly in the world of books.