Crime Thriller Short Stories

Are you a Law & Order Junkie? Then take the challenge. Read each chapter. Find the evidence. Solve the case. Become a Couch Detective.

Mystery sensation Pelecanos pens the lead story and edits this groundbreaking collection of stories detailing the seedy underside of the nation's capital. This is not an anthology of ill-conceived and inauthentic political thrillers. Instead, in D.C. Noir, pimps, whores, gangsters, and con-men run rampant in zones of this city that most never hear about.

The most civilized and 'decent' among us find that we are complicit with the most brutal murderers. We enter into literally unspeakable alliances - of which we dare not speak except through the obliquities and indirections of fiction, poetry, and visual art of the sort gathered here in New Jersey Noir.

John Lovering Benedict had more than most men - more money, more mansions, more cars, but most of all more women, including three ex-wives with little in common but their extraordinary physiques. For Ellery Queen the question was which one of them had bashed in Benedict's skull with a hunk of iron statuary? The clues were many…but puzzling. All had been planted at the scene of the crime, but by whom, and for what purpose? And who was the last woman in John Benedict's life?

Death and Madness in Four Tales A. M. Arimont shows in his stories that true horror is always and everywhere lurking around us. Just where we feel safest, horror strikes hardest. Four tales in which horror unexpectedly invades the everyday world. Jack Ketchum: "I've read his stories, A.M.Arimont is talented!" Daybreak A new summer day begins in a quiet suburban town. Here, where house after house is lined up, there is still peace and order. But how well do you really know your neighbors? What if death and madness lived right next door? Tunnel vision You feel safe in your apartment, but ...

Comprising 10 short stories, The Confessions of Arsène Lupin first appeared in 1913. Each story features the eponymous gentleman-burglar, who deploys his remarkable wit and skill to plot a path through aristocratic society, outwitting both police and criminals along the way. This collection contains tales of romance and mystery, with Lupin himself never above performing the occasional good deed, while pocketing his own rewards, in the course of his adventures.

A city equal parts darkness and hope. A scarred city. An often violent one. But a resilient city, too. That's our Memphis. Like many cities we have a namesake - in Egypt, Men-nefer became Menfe became Memphis, enduring and beautiful, on the banks of the Nile. Centuries later, another continent, another people, another river: Memphis, Tennessee, the soul of the Mississippi Delta, was formed.

At Mr. and Mrs. Unkerton's party in Greenway's House, Mr. Satterthwaite learns of a haunted window: No matter how many times it is replaced, it always contains the image of a gentleman in a plumed hat. When gunshots are heard, Satterthwaite finds that two of the guests have been shot dead, which is shortly followed by a sighting of the gentleman in the newly-replaced windowpane. Can Mr. Quin shed light on the mystery?

Brand-new stories by: Diana Gabaldon, Lee Child, James Sallis, Luis Alberto Urrea, Jon Talton, Megan Abbott, Charles Kelly, Robert Anglen, Patrick Millikin, Laura Tohe, Kurt Reichenbaugh, Gary Phillips, David Corbett, Don Winslow, Dogo Barry Graham, and Stella Pope Duarte.

Crimes happen in a flash. Before you even know it, the shots have rung out, the jewels have been stolen, and the bodies are cooling on the floor. In this anthology, over eighty authors - including veterans such as Chuck Hogan, Ken Bruen, and Tasha Alexander - come together to tell tales of murder and mayhem, all in one thousand words or less. Dare to confront these fearful, furious tales, each offering a glimpse of the darkness lurking in the human heart.

DI Logan McRae and his infuriating boss, DCI Roberta Steele, investigate a chilling dispute between neighbours that escalates out of control. Includes an extract of the new Logan McRae novel, The Missing and the Dead. CID isn't what it used to be.... It's been a bad week for acting detective inspector Logan McRae. Every time his unit turns up anything interesting, DCI Steel's Major Investigation Team waltzes in and takes over, leaving CID with all the dull and horrible jobs.

Detective Jake Sharpe pulls his son Darrell away from video games and joins Tom Stone and the boy he’s befriended, Andrew, on an early morning hike in the foothills above Los Angeles. A father and son jaunt becomes a fight for survival when they take a wrong turn on a little-used path. An armed homeless man with a link to an unsolved cold-case murder is camping in a secluded ravine, and without warning opens fire on them. Stone and his group have to outwit and outmaneuver his shots in this deadly action-filled short story.

The Minerva Club might look like any other London gentlemen’s club, but behind its respectable and discreet façade, some of the most ambitious schemes for heists, money-making, and evasion of the law are being worked out. It’s an exclusive club for criminals. Entry qualification: Members must have served a prison sentence of two years minimum. Though the club’s criminal ventures don’t always go as planned…

A serene retreat. A high-stakes mission. A city of secrets. Chris "Magic" Kassner's peaceful getaway is shattered by an urgent call to action. In the heart of Istanbul, where the Bosphorus Strait divides continents, Magic must track down a notorious arms dealer amidst the opulence of an exclusive masquerade ball at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski. But in this world of masks, every encounter could be deadly. Leading a team that includes his trusted colleague Echo and an enigmatic Turkish operative, Magic delves into a web of deception. Each move brings them closer to uncovering a dangerous ...

Sara non vuole esistere. Il suo dono è l'invisibilità, il talento di rubare i segreti delle persone. Capelli grigi, di una bellezza trattenuta solo dall'anonimato in cui si è chiusa, per amore ha lasciato tutto seguendo l'unico uomo capace di farla sentire viva. Ma non si è mai pentita di nulla e rivendica ogni scelta. Poliziotta in pensione, ha lavorato in un'unità legata ai Servizi, impegnata in intercettazioni non autorizzate. Il tempo le è scivolato tra le dita mentre ascoltava le storie degli altri.

Pittsburgh has recently (and more than once) been called the most livable city in America; yet the old image of smoky skies and steel mills spewing forth grit has never quite disappeared. Its history as a dirty industrial center is a part of its residents, a part of their toughness. The people of the steel city fight.

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Brand-new stories by: Wilfredo J. Burgos Matos, Ernesto Quiñonez, Mayra Santos-Febres, José Rabelo, Luis Negrón, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Ana María Fuster Lavín, Janette Becerra, Manolo Núñez Negrón, Tere Dávila, Edmaris Carazo, Alejandro Álvarez Nieves, Charlie Vázquez, and Manuel A. Meléndez. Translated by Will Vanderhyden.

The O’Connells of Livingston, Montana, are not your typical family. Follow them on their journey to the dark and dangerous side of love in a series of romantic thrillers you won’t want to miss. Raised by a single mother after their father’s mysterious disappearance 18 years ago, the six grown siblings live in a small town with all kinds of hidden secrets, lies, and deception. This boxed set collection in The O’Connells series includes The Neighbor, The Third Call, and The Secret Husband.

Movie star Mary Marvell consults with Hercule Poirot after receiving threatening letters that warn her to return her diamond, the famous "Western Star", to its rightful owner. But who does own the diamond, and is it even the genuine article?

Berlin does not make it easy to write noir fiction - or perhaps Berlin makes it too easy. Noir tradition casts a long, influential, and even daunting shadow. Neither Döblin nor Benn, Brecht nor Lang, catered to any crime fiction traditions. They merely steeped their literary projects in a great deal of noir. And so it is with most of the stories in our anthology: they do not necessarily follow the usual patterns of crime fiction, but regard noir as a license to write as they wish, a certain way of approaching the city, and a prism through which its nature is viewed....