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It’s the officially new year, and that means it’s time for a new mystery TV series based on the works of the great Harlan Coben. For the last four years, Netflix has either ended a year or started the year with a new Coben mystery, and we have a new one to watch in 2026.
Run Away premiered on Netflix on Jan. 1, 2026, and it’s already a smash hit in many countries around the world, including the US and UK. It’s not putting up Stranger Things numbers, but it’s officially the second-biggest Netflix show in the world to start the year.
For those unfamiliar with Coben, he’s the author of more than 35 novels. Of those, a dozen have been adapted into TV shows. Most of the shows are set in the UK, with a handful in Spain, France, Poland, and more.
While all of those shows are solid mysteries, there are four of Coben’s adaptations that stand out as the best of the bunch!
Run Away
Run Away is the most recently released of Coben’s adaptations, as mentioned, and it’s based on Coben’s 2019 novel of the same name. It’s easily one of the best. The story revolves around Simon Greene, played by James Nesbitt, who appears in several of Coben’s shows. After his daughter battles substance abuse issues and leaves the family, Simon goes on a wild goose chase to find his daughter as the bodies pile up around him.
There are many Coben adaptations that focus on the investigation into a missing child, but Run Away handles it uniquely. I haven’t enjoyed one of Coben’s shows this much since The Stranger and Safe, which is a TV show written by Coben but not based on one of his books.
Minnie Driver, Alfred Enoch, Ruth Jones, Ellie de Lange, Jon Pointing, Amy Gledhill, and Maeve Courtier-Lilley round out the rest of a great cast.
Stay Close
Stay Close is the most fun, at times, of Coben’s adaptations. There are some ridiculous storylines in this one, but it features the most satisfying conclusion and twist of Coben’s shows. The series premiered on Netflix on Dec. 31, 2021, and it’s based on the 2012 novel of the same name.
Stay Close follows Megan (Cush Jumbo), a mom with an interesting past she would love to keep secret. When a local man goes missing around the anniversary of another unsolved missing persons case, Detective Broome (James Nesbitt) tries to put the pieces together and connect the dots.
Richard Armitage stars in the series alongside Jumbo and Nesbitt.
Fool Me Once
Fool Me Once is officially the most popular of all of Coben’s Netflix adaptations, and it’s easily the most-watched of all his shows, including Shelter and Lazarus on Prime Video. The series is based on Coben’s 2016 novel of the same name. It premiered on Netflix on Jan. 1, 2024. I can’t believe it’s been two years since this show premiered, but here we are.
The series tells the story of Maya (Michelle Keegan), who returns from her military position after a disaster. Shortly after returning, her husband is killed in a random act of violence… or was he? One day, Maya notices her dead husband in her house on her nanny cam. Is he back from the dead, or is someone playing a horrible trick on her? Maya has to get to find the answers in a mystery that also involves other murders, missing people, and more.
Fool Me Once is a little bit silly at times, but it’s super dramatic, and Keegan is excellent. You’ll also enjoy great performances from Adeel Akhtar and Joanna Lumley.
The Stranger
The Stranger, to me, is probably the best of Coben’s adaptations, but it’s all about preference. The Stranger is the most interesting premise of Coben’s adaptations, and I love how the story comes full circle at the end.
In The Stranger, Adam Price, played by Richard Armitage, who also stars in many other Coben series, is contacted by a mysterious woman who claims to have knowledge of secrets Adam’s wife isn’t telling him. When Adam’s wife goes missing, he does everything he can to find her and get to the bottom of the mystery. Meanwhile, he’s not the only person contacted by this mystery person threatening to expose secrets.
Hannah John-Kamen stars alongside Armitage in the series. They’re joined by a great cast that includes Siobhan Finneran, Jennifer Saunders, Shaun Dooley, Paul Kaye, and Dervla Kirwan.
The Stranger is based on the 2015 novel by Coben. The series premiered on Netflix in 2020, and it’s the show that made the most impact in terms of Coben’s future productions with Netflix. Had The Stranger not landed as well as it did, I don’t think we’d have 12 shows based on Coben’s novels or produced by him at the network.
The Stranger started it all, and the deal continues to go strong with more shows in the works.