Best Audiobooks UK 2026: 10 New Releases from £6.79

Quick picks

• Best overall: We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman, read by Nicola Walker, £13.57 to buy.
• Best budget: The Fires of December by Brandon Sanderson, read by Michael Kramer, £9.39 to buy, the lowest-priced adult title in this guide.
• Best for families: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight by Jeff Kinney, read by Dan Russell, £6.79 to buy.

The 10 audiobooks in more detail

We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman, read by Nicola Walker. Published 10 September 2026. Listening length 11 hours, unabridged. £13.57 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. At sunrise in the Italian hills, a body is found on the steps of a beautiful private villa, carrying a threatening note signed by a mystery man. Amy, Rosie and Steve take it on as the first proper case for We Solve Murders, even though their new client seems to have his own reasons for avoiding the police, and the chase runs from Italy to Palm Springs, Barcelona and Steve's village pub. Nicola Walker narrates, and the listing says the audiobook ends with a conversation between Richard Osman and Nicola Walker.

The Fires of December by Brandon Sanderson, read by Michael Kramer. Published 6 October 2026. Listening length 12 hours and 42 minutes, unabridged. £9.39 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. The publisher describes this as a standalone Cosmere novel. December, an orphaned foundling in a land sustained by rivers of demon blood, learns that a plague is coming that will curdle the rivers and ravage the kingdom, so she sails up the River Violet to warn the king's court, with a chatty priestess and a fledgling fashion designer for company. Michael Kramer narrates this Gollancz edition.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight by Jeff Kinney, read by Dan Russell. Published 20 October 2026. Listening length 2 hours and 7 minutes, unabridged. £6.79 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. Greg Heffley keeps a three-ring binder full of notes on his school's biggest bullies and his strategies for outsmarting them. When the binder falls into the wrong hands, he is in a race against time before the bullies work out who wrote it. This is book 21 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, read by Dan Russell for Puffin, and the listing files it under Humour for Children.

Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child, read by Jeff Harding. Published 20 October 2026. Listening length 10 hours and 24 minutes, unabridged. £11.99 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. General Susan Turner, based deep inside the Pentagon, needs Jack Reacher's help after a member of her team is murdered on covert duty, and she cannot trust anyone she works with. Reacher heads to Summertown, Colorado: one diner, one motel, five huge data centres, two solar farms and a population of four, one of whom is watching him. Jeff Harding reads this Transworld edition, listed as Book 31 of 31 in the Jack Reacher series.

Adam and Eve by Jeffrey Archer, read by Jeffrey Archer and Ben Miles. Published 6 October 2026. Listening length 15 hours and 38 minutes, unabridged. £14.99 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. On 11 November 1918, as the guns of the First World War fall silent, two babies are born: Eve, the daughter of an Earl, and Adam, a shepherd's son. From their first meeting they form a bond that neither privilege nor prejudice can break, and the publisher says their actions on a single September night in 1940 will help decide the fate of the nation. The story runs from the Norfolk Broads to the beaches of Dunkirk, and Jeffrey Archer and Ben Miles narrate this HarperCollins edition.

The Witch by Freida McFadden, read by Saskia Maarleveld and Marin Ireland. Published 6 October 2026. Listening length 9 hours and 31 minutes, unabridged. £13.19 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. After losing her job and her apartment, Julia Barlow has nowhere to go but Pemberton, her family's sprawling 17th-century estate in rural Massachusetts, where she is meant to be checking on her ageing grandmother. Every night the grandfather clock stops at 3:41 a.m., the lights flicker and a voice cries for help outside her bedroom door, and Julia starts digging into the story of a woman executed for witchcraft in 1692. Saskia Maarleveld and Marin Ireland are the narrators named on the listing.

Dead in Three Two One by Peter James, read by Daniel Weyman. Published 20 October 2026. Listening length 11 hours and 26 minutes, unabridged. £10.59 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. Brighton Pride is in full swing when the consigliere of an Albanian mob boss checks into the Royal Courteney Hotel with a lethal secret in his suitcase, having asked specifically for Room 321. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is already stretched coordinating the city's security operation, while his old enemy Albazi counts down to his revenge from a prison cell. Daniel Weyman reads this Macmillan edition, listed as Book 22 of 22 in the Roy Grace series.

Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? by Judi Dench, read by Judi Dench with Brendan O’Hea and Barbara Flynn. Published 22 October 2026. Listening length 10 hours and 20 minutes, unabridged. £11.99 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. Judi Dench tells the story of her life on the stage, on screen and behind the scenes, written in collaboration with her friend and writing partner Brendan O'Hea. She goes back to her upbringing in York and the parents, brother and teachers who shaped her, and covers pranks on and off stage, her screen roles, her marriage to the actor Michael Williams and her love of nature and animals. She reads it with Brendan O'Hea and Barbara Flynn, and it is the newest title in this guide.

Redwood by Ben Macintyre, read by Ben Macintyre. Published 10 September 2026. Listening length 17 hours and 30 minutes, unabridged. £12.70 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. In 1981, with Tehran in turmoil after the Iranian Revolution, the Soviets are planning to overthrow the new regime. This is the true story of a Russian intelligence officer, known to MI6 as 'Redwood', who revealed the Kremlin's plot and, the publisher says, helped prevent a nuclear confrontation, and of the high-stakes plan to smuggle him out of Iran when he faced exposure. Ben Macintyre reads it himself, and at 17 hours 30 minutes it is the longest listen here.

Royal Witch by Philippa Gregory, read by Gemma Whelan. Published 20 October 2026. Listening length 16 hours and 39 minutes, unabridged. £16.59 to buy outright on 23 October 2026. In 1420 Eleanor Cobham arrives at the court of Henry V, pretty but not highborn and hoping for little more than to marry well. As lady-in-waiting to a countess who commands her own army, she begins to dream of real power, perhaps even the crown, and turns to darker arts to get there. Gemma Whelan narrates, and the listing says the audiobook includes an exclusive Q&A between Philippa Gregory and Gemma Whelan.

How we chose these 2026 audiobooks

• Published in 2026. Every Amazon UK audiobook listing has a publication date in its product details. All 10 picks show a 2026 date, from 10 September 2026 (We Chase Shadows and Redwood) to 22 October 2026 (Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?).
• Out now, not pre-order. We left out titles that were still on pre-order when we checked, so every pick can be downloaded straight away.
• A spread of genres. The list covers a cosy murder mystery, action and crime thrillers, a haunted-house thriller, historical fiction, fantasy, a memoir, history and a children's comedy, so there is something for most listeners.
• A real price. Each pick showed a price to buy the audiobook outright on its Amazon UK listing on 23 October 2026. Titles without a price were skipped.

How to choose a new audiobook

• Check where it sits in a series. Chain Reaction is listed as Book 31 of 31 in the Jack Reacher series, Dead in Three Two One as Book 22 of 22 in the Roy Grace series and We Chase Shadows as Book 2 of 2 in We Solve Murders. Each has its own case, but if you like to start at the beginning, the earlier books are on Amazon UK too. The Fires of December is described by its publisher as a standalone novel, and Adam and Eve, The Witch, Royal Witch and the two non-fiction titles stand on their own.
• Match the length to your listening. Every listing shows the listening length. The picks here run from 2 hours 7 minutes (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight) to 17 hours 30 minutes (Redwood). The Witch, We Chase Shadows, Chain Reaction and Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? all come in at between about 9 and 11 hours, which suits a week of commuting.
• Author-read or actor-read. Judi Dench, Ben Macintyre and Jeffrey Archer all read their own books here, Judi Dench alongside Brendan O'Hea and Barbara Flynn and Jeffrey Archer alongside Ben Miles. Nicola Walker, Gemma Whelan, Daniel Weyman, Jeff Harding, Michael Kramer and Dan Russell read the others. Check the Narrator line on the listing if the voice matters to you.
• Look for audio extras. The listings say We Chase Shadows ends with a conversation between Richard Osman and Nicola Walker, and Royal Witch includes a Q&A between Philippa Gregory and Gemma Whelan.
• Think about who is listening. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight is listed under Humour for Children. The Witch involves a haunting and a witchcraft execution, and the crime titles involve murder, so read the publisher's description on the listing before choosing for younger listeners.
• Unabridged means the full book. All 10 picks are marked unabridged on their listings, so you hear the complete text rather than a shortened version.

Buy outright or use a membership?

Each title above can be bought outright on Amazon UK, and you keep it. Prefer a membership? At the time of writing, eligible new Audible members can get Audible Standard for £0.99 a month for 3 months, then it renews at the standard monthly price shown on Amazon. Offer ends 17 December 2026; terms apply, cancel anytime. See the Audible offer box near the top of this page for the details.

Prices were checked on Amazon UK on 23 October 2026 and can change at any time. Check the current price on Amazon before you buy.