Short Crime Thriller

Not every crime is committed with intent, but each has one thing in common: The guilty party was asking for trouble. In "Making Ends Meet", Richard can’t stand the idea of supporting his deadbeat in-laws anymore, so he decides to remove them from his life - permanently. Matt is ready to reform his brawling ways, but the group he joins doesn’t turn out to be a typical 12-step program, in "The Taskmasters". "Protecting the Innocent" features Nick, who fails to heed the warnings of his girlfriend’s possessive brother....

A cop as well as an art historian, Marco Valoni leads a crack team of investigators in a race to solve a crime he's certain is about to shock the world: someone is planning to steal the Holy Shroud of Turin.

With gimlet-eyed cool and razor-sharp wit, these spare, stylish stories from a master of modern-crime fiction assemble a world of gangsters and con men, of do-gooders breaking bad and those caught in the crossfire. The uncle of an FBI agent spends his life as sheriff in different cities, living too close to the violent acts of men; a cocktail waitress moves through several desert towns trying to escape the unexplainable loss of an adopted daughter; a drug dealer with a penchant for karaoke meets a talkative lawyer and a silent clown in a Palm Springs bar.

AFTER the SUNRISE, a short story introducing Kat Martin's Maximum Security series, plus an excerpt from her new novel, THE CONSPIRACY.They Called Him the Hero of St. Andrew'sWhen an active shooter in full body armor strides down the center aisle of St. Andrew's church, Kurt Layton knows he’s the congregation’s only hope of survival. As petite, auburn-haired Erin McCallum looks into the barrel of an assault rife wielded by a ruthless gunman, she knows she is going to die.But sometimes, in the instant between life and death, a connection is forged between two strangers—as strong as ...

***A new beachside thriller novella written by bestselling author Vanessa Jones*** When Emma flees her past to Safety Cove, she settles in to finish writing her breakthrough book. She grows fond of the small beachside town, getting to know the neighbours, even the distressing ones that threaten her to leave. But when she finds something unspeakable in the shed, she realises that there is more than just heavy morning mist that hangs over the small town. There are secrets that, once uncovered, are dangerous to know. This is a short story/novella. Praise for The Tens - a gripping thriller ...

Emmy award-winning actor Sir Derek Jacobi reads all 12 stories from this last collection to feature Holmes and Watson. The Adventure of the Illustrious ClientThe Adventure of the Blanched SoldierThe Adventure of the Mazarin StoneThe Adventure of the Three GablesThe Adventure of the Sussex VampireThe Adventure of the Three GarridebsThe Problem of Thor BridgeThe Adventure of the Creeping Man

Tammy Partridge and her boyfriend, Kevin, are on a photo-ready road trip across America in pursuit of influencer fame. Only a couple hundred followers so far, including Roxanne, a superfan of the beautiful young couple. But when Tammy’s body is discovered in the Utah wilderness, and Kevin is nowhere to be found, the picture-perfect adventure suddenly goes wrong—and viral, with three million followers and counting. Motives are questionable. Conspiracy theories cloud the dark corners of the internet. As everyone spins their own version of the truth, reality is getting harder to see.

Some cases get buried. Vicky Pearce digs them up. Detective Vicky Pearce has a reputation: sharp-tongued, relentless, and unafraid to walk into the shadows others avoid. When a string of missing rough sleepers is dismissed as just another tragedy of the streets, Vicky’s instincts tell her there's more beneath the surface — and she’s determined to uncover it. With a new detective sergeant by her side, still battling his own ghosts, Vicky follows the trail into the heart of a hidden world where society’s most vulnerable vanish without a trace. As the case escalates, her investigation ...

Maria Packington suspects her husband of having an affair. In an attempt to revitalise her marriage, she responds to an ad from Mr. Parker Pyne - who promises to provide solutions to unhappiness. Maria's life soon undergoes a rapid transformation....

A dying billionaire offers Tanner contracts on numerous targets, people who are the worst of the worst. Instead of going after them alone, Tanner gets help from a few of his friends.

An early Agatha with romantic heroine, Anne Beddington, up against an unknown evil tyrant. Great fun as the mystery progresses from England to on shipboard. A charming change of pace for Agatha fans from Poirot and Marple. An American narrator.

Henrietta and her daughter, Mary Grace, are sold and taken to Charleston, South Carolina, to be auctioned. Separated from her husband, Henrietta now faces an uncertain future and the possibility of becoming estranged from her child. Luckily, fortune shifts in her favor when Olivia Hendricks—the wife of a wealthy planter—purchases her as a nursemaid for their unborn infant. During her years at Livingston Plantation, Henrietta finds sanctuary and safety in the big house, eventually becoming a caregiver to both Mrs. Hendricks and her child.

This anthology, with stories set in different prisons across the US, presents an absolutely new perspective on prison literature. Featuring brand-new stories by: Christopher M. Stephen, Sin Soracco, Scott Gutches, Eric Boyd, Ali F. Sareini, Stephen Geez, B.M. Dolarman, Zeke Caligiuri, Marco Verdoni, Kenneth R. Brydon, Linda Michelle Marquardt, Andre White, Timothy Pauley, Bryan K. Palmer, and William Van Poyck.

‘A bloody confrontation at a massage parlor leaves a customer fighting for his life as a masseuse flees into the night. Detective Tom Stone swings into action, searching for the suspect while monitoring reports on the victim’s condition. He investigates a nearby bar where the owner, Jasmine, is closing for the night and wants nothing to do with the police. A shadowy figure huddles at a back table and Stone approaches to question her, but she escapes to the back parking lot and takes off in her car. Jasmine, fearful of the power that law enforcement wields, offers to show Stone where the...

A short read cozy series filled with mystery, romance, and a touch of magic. This is the story of Paul Madison PI, an idealistic cop turned private investigator. He will not rest until he figures out the real reason so many “accidents” are happening in his neighborhood. To his way of thinking, these “accidents” are too coincidental and need to be taken seriously. Travel back to Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s and step into the lives of… A handsome and determined Private Investigator protected by a rather unique spirit guide. A smart and beautiful Medical Examiner who won’t give ...

From "Trench Town" to "Half Way Tree" to "Norbrook" to "Portmore" and beyond, the stories of Kingston Noir shine light into the darkest corners of this fabled city. Joining award-winning Jamaican authors such as Marlon James, Leone Ross, and Thomas Glave are two "special guest" writers with no Jamaican lineage: Nigerian-born Chris Abani and British writer Ian Thomson.

WHEN WIZARDS WAR Deep in the woods lives a wizard called the Professor. In the depths of the Depression, the residents of Fester, Pennsylvania call on “powwowers” such as the Professor to heal ailments, tell fortunes . . . and exact revenge. When an upstart powwower threatens to horn in on the Professor’s business, he starts making plans for his own revenge. The sinister forces he sets in motion spiral out of control, and soon threaten to consume the leading citizens of the town.

A drizzly Manchester night, a hit and run. A chance meeting decades later leads ultimately to the exposure of a transatlantic crime family. Their story begins during the twenties New York prohibition era and follows its evolution into a modern-day underworld business.Jake Hughes and DI Jonty Ball threaten the empire and as a web of murder and deceit is exposed, the crime family bares its’ teeth, leading to an explosive finale where the winner takes all! Or do they?

Come sit on the veranda and pour yourself a glass of sweet tea, fortified with a slug of bourbon. Put your feet up and enjoy these stories set in Atlanta, a city sewn from the ashes, where everything that grows is both fertilized and corrupted by the past.

In number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris’s "Dahlia Underground,” venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a ghost assigned to assist humans in trouble, steps into the middle of a marital dispute with surprising twists in Carolyn Hart’s “Riding High”....