🖤 The Crows Are Back: Leigh Bardugo Announces Six of Crows: A Darker Shore, Letters from Ketterdam

Hello, lovely reader —

Some announcements you see coming. Others land in your notifications and immediately rearrange your entire week. This one falls firmly in the second category — because Leigh Bardugo is bringing us back to Ketterdam, and the Dregs are not done with us yet.

🖤 The Announcement

Leigh Bardugo's new Grishaverse short story arrives June 30, 2026: a mystery told through found documents, set after the events of Crooked Kingdom. The book is called Six of Crows: A Darker Shore, Letters from Ketterdam — and if that title alone didn't already make your pulse quicken, the synopsis absolutely will. 

🐦⬛ What's the Story?

In the years since the violent upheaval caused by the auction of Kuwei Yul-Bo, the merchants of Ketterdam have been under attack. Secret businesses exposed. Ships sunk. Slavers hunted as they once hunted their victims — all the work of a mysterious sea captain and her ship, the Wraith.

Now, two investigators meet to uncover the truth behind the latest disaster: a massacre on an island off the shores of Ketterdam. Among the evidence collected is private correspondence between notorious crime boss Kaz Brekker and an anonymous sailor aboard the Wraith known only as "I." 

A mystery. Told in letters. With Kaz Brekker's handwriting somewhere in the evidence pile. We don't need to tell you twice.

The story comes with new illustrations, original music composed for the release, and in-world collectible elements woven through the format itself — which feels exactly right for a book that's already structured like something you'd find tucked inside a Ketterdam case file rather than read off a shelf. 

🎉 How to Celebrate Launch Day

Bardugo shared the details herself, and there are two ways fans are showing up for this one.

There's a midnight release party at Barnes & Noble Union Square in NYC, complete with games and goodies for "all you fine criminals," as she put it. Bardugo won't be in attendance for this one — but the celebration is happening regardless, and midnight release parties have a magic of their own even without the author in the room.

On the other coast, there was a signing event at Barnes & Noble The Grove in Los Angeles, where Bardugo herself was set to appear — though that event has since sold out, so if you were hoping to grab a ticket, that window has closed.

The good news: there's still a way in. Vroman's Bookstore is taking pre-orders for signed copies of the book, which also come with exclusive art from illustrator Kevin Wada. The catch is timing — pre-orders need to be placed before 6/29 to be included, so if a signed copy is on your wishlist, this is the moment to act.

📚 Why This One Matters

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom aren't just beloved — they're the kind of duology readers return to again and again, the one they hand to a friend with a slightly dangerous look in their eye and the words "trust me." A new story set in this world, told through the kind of fragmented, found-document format that rewards close reading and second guesses, feels like exactly the kind of release this fandom has been waiting for.

It's not a full sequel. It doesn't need to be. Sometimes the best way back into a world you love is a single letter, a single clue, a single voice you didn't expect to hear from again.

🫘 A Small Note From Us

If Ketterdam has a permanent home in your heart, we feel that deeply — our Six of Crows collection was made with exactly this kind of devotion in mind. Whether you're celebrating launch day with a midnight release or simply marking the date on your calendar, you can browse the collection at Six of Crows Collection.

We'll be reading along with you on the 30th.

With love, The Bean Workshop 🫘