Crime Noir

In 1930, young Archie Goodwin comes to New York City hoping for a bit of excitement. In his third week working as a night watchman, he stops two burglars in their tracks - with a pair of hot lead slugs. Dismissed from his job for being “trigger-happy”, he parlays his newfound notoriety into a job as a detective’s assistant, helping honest sleuth Del Bascom solve cases like the Morningside Piano Heist, the Rive Gauche Art Gallery Swindle, and the Sumner-Hayes Burglary. But it’s the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson that introduces Goodwin to the man who will change his life.

Even a city that boasts three hundred days of sunshine a year has its sudden, often violent storms—and writers have long taken advantage of that metaphor. Renowned authors Katherine Anne Porter, Jack Kerouac, Stephen King, Rex Burns, Robert Greer, Michael Connelly, and Kali Fajardo-Anstine—among many others—have brilliantly portrayed this picturesque but often merciless city. Today, Denver is home to a thriving literary scene, with writers of all stripes finding inspiration in its people and streets. The authors and stories featured in Denver Noir are no exception....

Sammy Dee is a mid-level Long Island mafioso in witness protection. Didier Onyekachukwu was the corrupt minister of finance of the former Upper Volta. Both men find themselves in middle age, living in the Southern California version of genteel poverty in a down-market condo complex called Paradise Gardens. Enter Marcy Gray, a "mature" actress barely getting by on a meager SAG pension.

Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there? Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case.

While suspended from the Philadelphia Police Department, Mitch Tanner travels to Savannah, Georgia, to visit Cassie, the medium who assisted on his last case, in hopes of uncovering a clue to the whereabouts of his estranged wife and son. When he arrives in Savannah, he finds himself embroiled in a triple homicide and kidnapping that Cassie has been called upon to assist in by the local detectives. It isn't long before the case gets personal. Very personal. Now, Mitch is in a race against the clock to stop a deranged madman before he kills again.

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder. Every year, Dr. Clark searches for the worst man at Gorman University - professor, student, or otherwise - and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself…but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus.

Sam Monroe thought his steamy love affair with Manhattan socialite Laura Nielson was dead and buried, but when she didn’t show up after unexpectedly calling him late at night and asking to meet, he decides to investigate. He finds her naked on her penthouse balcony, strangled, his dog tags wrapped around her neck. With a bull’s-eye on his back as the prime suspect, Sam begins a search for the killer that reveals Laura’s involvement with several men, some with ties to a well-known crime family.

Have you ever hated a lawyer? Michael St. John never lost a criminal case. He wasn’t a nice guy. He cheated his clients, destroyed criminal evidence, paid off judges, and ran around on his wife. He was an albatross around the neck of the Richmond Police Department. The District Attorney’s office loathed him until they found his mutilated corpse one beautiful, crisp fall morning, after an unusual outburst in Court the day before. Little did they know that Attorney St. John’s body was key evidence in a far more heinous crimes to come. Mic, K9 Angel and Dottie must solve this case before...

Voodoo mambo Mama Mulate suffers a fate worse than death A grieving couple hires paranormal investigator Wyatt Thomas to find the person who killed their son. But is it murder if the victim isn’t dead? Wyatt goes undercover to discover the answer and soon learns death isn’t always a person’s worst fate. Will Wyatt solve the sticky mystery or fall victim to the seemingly supernatural killer and suffer a fate worse than death? Half Past Midnight is Book 10 of Eric Wilder’s intoxicating French Quarter Mystery Series set in that ‘exotic, erotic Mecca known as New Orleans. Visit the ...

A detective on the edge. A hit-and-run. A dangerous truth. DI Joe Hogarth's private troubles have exploded out of control. When reformed villain Benny Spencer becomes the victim of a hit-and-run, a new case opens—one that threatens to be the end of DI Hogarth in more ways than one. ★★★★★ “Fast paced - difficult to put down!” As Hogarth grapples with his secret crisis, he's forced to investigate the hit-and-run. Stretched to his limits, Hogarth's bad choices and mistakes could cost him his job—or his life. ★★★★★ “Gripping… He writes so vividly that it's almost...

Deadly. Ruthless. Eighteen. Bent on murder. Despite not being old enough to drive, Rose was easily the most skilled assassin in Eva Santella’s Italian boot camp. But then Rose decided to leave that life behind and spent her teen years playing soccer and chess and lying on the beach in Barcelona. The Sultan took all that away. When he killed her boyfriend on the night she turned 18, Rose made a vow that either she would kill The Sultan or die trying. At that moment, she knew despite her best efforts to live a normal life, she was destined to be a killer. Now, after years of hunting The ...

Noir contains three classic thrillers by Richard Matheson, the grand master of suspense. Originally published in the 1950s, at the very beginning of Matheson’s distinguished career, these page-turning classics are finally on audio for your listening pleasure. Now listeners everywhere can savor three unforgettable tales of crime, corruption, and cold-blooded murder.

Bo Luxton has it all - a loving family, a beautiful home in the Lake District and a clutch of best-selling books to her name. Enter Alice Dark, an aspiring writer who is drifting through life, with a series of dead-end jobs and a freeloading boyfriend. When they meet at a writers' retreat, the chemistry is instant, and a sinister relationship develops.... Or does it?

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask. The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture.

Austin joins Dallas and Houston in Akashic's deep dive into the Lone Star State's darkest dimensions. Featuring brand-new stories by: Gabino Iglesias, Ace Atkins, Amanda Moore, Jeff Abbott, Scott Montgomery, Richard Z. Santos, Alexandra Burt, Lee Thomas, Miriam Kuznets, Jacob Grovey, Chaitali Sen, Molly Odintz, Amy Gentry, and Andrew Hilbert.

Florida private eye Doak Miller agreed to help the local cops by posing as a hit man to catch a woman looking to get rid of her husband. But then he met the wife - and fell, hard. Now he's plotting with her to commit a murder that could net them millions of dollars and the chance to be together. But to pull it off under the watchful eyes of the police, it'll have to be the perfect crime....

When his addict son gets in deep with his dealer, it takes everything Raymond Mathis has to bail him out of trouble one last time. Frustrated by the slow pace and limitations of the law, Raymond decides to take matters into his own hands. After a workplace accident left him out of a job and in pain, Denny Rattler has spent years chasing his next high. He supports his habit through careful theft, following strict rules that keep him under the radar and out of jail.

Sam Kelson is a PI like no other. As a consequence of being shot in the head while working undercover as a Chicago cop, he suffers from disinhibition: He cannot keep silent or tell lies when questioned. But truth be told - and Kelson always tells the truth - he still feels compelled to investigate and, despite the odds, he's good at his job.

When DI Joe Hogarth is called to a snowbound country house, he discovers a body slumped by a broken boiler. What appears to be a tragic accident takes a sinister turn when Hogarth spots a telltale footprint nearby. On the hunt for a killer, he uncovers a web of motives among business rivals, a bitter ex-wife, a duplicitous groundskeeper, and perhaps even the dead man’s sons. But as Hogarth delves deeper into the victim's plans, he soon uncovers a motive that eclipses them all… Meanwhile, property developer Dina Cruxley is targeted by a dangerous criminal campaign that hits at the heart ...

An in-depth and personal exploration of Scandinavian crime fiction as a way into Scandinavian culture at large.