From the return of Stefania Auci to Don Winslow, the new releases for 2026 in bookstores

Stefania Auci’s is one of the most anticipated books for the beginning of the year but it is in good company. From January 27th fans of Georges Simenon they will be satisfied: Adelphi will propose ‘The Old Woman’ written by Maigret’s father in 1959 but never translated in our country. A novel, which does not have the Parisian commissioner as its protagonist, whose action takes place entirely in an apartment on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris. A house in which four women, who distrust each other, observe and spy on each other, ready at any moment to humiliate and hit each other. January is also a delicious month for those who follow one of the most influential and discussed writers in contemporary literature, Salman Rushdie. ‘Languages ​​of truth’ will arrive on January 13th with Mondadori, a collection of essays in which the novelist – victim of a serious attack in 2022 – reflects on the value of the works of literary protagonists such as Shakespeare, Cervantes, Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty and Toni Morrison. For lovers of the crime genre, there are several books to consider. The first is ‘The Last Shot’ by the American Don Winslow on shelves from January 27th with HarperCollins Italia: a collection of six stories in which humanity, action and drama come together. The second is ‘All death ahead’ signed by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado (former FBI officer) in the bookshop with Longanesi in February. Another high-voltage thriller for lovers of the genre: in fact, the American master is also back in bookstores Michael Connelly with ‘No way out’ available from February with Piemme. A volume in which readers will find one of the most significant characters of the Philadelphia writer, Mickey Haller, the Lincoln lawyer made famous by the books and the Netflix series.

Moving from foreign crime writers to our own, Maurizio de Giovanni takes up the threads of the story of the Bastards of Pizzofalcone series. With Einaudi Stile Libero ‘Sons – For the Bastards of Pizzofalcone’ will arrive in March, the 13th title of the series, which began in 2012. Alessandro Robecchithen publishes ‘Omicidi Srl’ with Sellerio on shelves from 3 March. The book is presented as a ‘black comedy’ staged on the side of the bad guys with two main protagonists, ‘The Blonde’ and ‘The One with the Tie’, i.e. two professional killers.

Not just yellows, though. Among the novelties of the year that has just begun, it is worth mentioning the new book by Niccolo Ammaniti‘The custodian’, also published by Einaudi Stile Libero which will be in bookstores in March. Book in which – explains the publishing house – the writer “returns to tell us about the shadows of adolescence”. The publication of the autobiography of a great master of volleyball and sport, Julio Velasco, which is told in ‘Gracias a la vida’ is also scheduled for March. An autobiography coming out with Feltrinelli. From childhood to political struggles, from victories in the nineties to recent success: these pages signed by Velasco testify to what it means to work as a team to achieve a common goal. For the month of March, with Bompiani, the arrival of an extremely current pamphlet is expected, ‘Scimmia Sapiens’ by Marco Malvaldi. Current because the author of the noir series published by Sellerio on the ‘old men of BarLume’ deals this time with artificial intelligence which for him is neither good nor bad. “It is a faithful mirror of us, and we are the ones who can decide how it should be, what it should become”, says Marvaldi.

As regards the essays, there are at least two titles to note: the first is ‘The system strikes again. How to save the Italian judiciary from the vice of currents and from the hands of politicians’ to be released by Rizzoli on 13 January. In the wake of the previous essay, ‘The system’, the former magistrate Luca Palamarainterviewed by the journalist Alessandro Sallusti, returns to talk about interests, strategies and behind the scenes of the Italian judicial system; the second is ‘The antidote‘ Of Claudio Cerasareleased by the publishing house Silvio Berlusconi Editore. From February the director of the ‘Foglio’ will propose an essay in which he aims to dismantle “the dogmas of contemporary pessimism”. Another report for Veronica Raimo, author of ‘Don’t write about me’ (Einaudi) in bookstores in February. It is “a powerful novel about love obsession and the toxic narratives that condition our lives, about failure and its power of seduction, about writing and shame”. (by Carlo Roma)