Crime Suspense Anthology

The social worker and the cop, an unlikely couple drawn together on a small, secluded Pacific Northwest island where nothing is as it seems. Protecting the innocent comes at a cost, and what seems to be a sleepy, quiet town is anything but. Includes The Trap, Above the Law, and The Stranger at the Door.

THE 'HITS' KEEP COMING: SUSPENSE FICTION WITH A DIFFERENCE Hired killers. Vigilantes. Executioners. Contract killers. Assassins working from a moral or political motivation. You’ll find them all in this thrilling suspense anthology. But these are not ordinary killers, not your run-of-the-mill hitmen. The emphasis is on the "uncommon" here—unusual characters, usual situations, and especially unusual means of killing. Here are tales by some of the best suspense/thriller writers today, including F. Paul Wilson, Ken Bruen, J. Carson Black, Billie Sue Mosiman, Laura DiSilverio, Joseph Badal,...

Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge - between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter's boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family's disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and more.

Stories by: Desmond Barry, Ken Bruen, Stewart Home, Barry Adamson, Michael Ward, Sylvie Simmons, Daniel Bennett, Cathi Unsworth, Max Décharné, Martyn Waites, Joolz Denby, John Williams, Jerry Sykes, Mark Pilkington, Joe McNally, Patrick McCabe, and Ken Hollings. Cathi Unsworth moved to Ladbroke Grove in 1987 and has stayed there ever since. She began a career in rock writing with Sounds and Melody Maker, before co-editing the arts journal Purr and then Bizarre magazine. Her first novel, The Not Knowing, was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2005.

The last people to die in Mary King's Close had been plague victims. But that was in the 1700s. Now a body has been discovered, brutally tortured and murdered in Edinburgh's buried city. Inspector John Rebus, ex-army, spots a paramilitary link.

Some stories are all about the crime. These stories are about the maelstrom of what happens afterward. A hard-bitten crew of professional thieves pull of the score of their lives, coming away with millions in cash, enough to change their lives, make new identities, start fresh. But that's when the real trouble begins. In this linked anthology, we follow each member of the crew of culprits after the heist and watch as this perfect score ends up a perfect nightmare.

More tales of crime and mystery, of those who walk crooked paths and pay the price for it. People on the spot when things have taken a bad turn. A young woman facing a deadly challenge. A man who walks into the wrong bar with the wrong attitude. A boxer who refuses to quit. An officer of the court with a grudge. A rich man who finds his motives questioned by the police. These are the stories of the darker side of life, when people decide to harm others.

Buffalo, New York, is still the second-largest metropolis in the state, but in recent years its designation as the Queen City has been elbowed aside by a name that's pure noir: The City of No Illusions. Presidents came from here; and in 1901 a president was killed here while visiting the Pan-American Exposition, by a man who checked into a hotel under a name that translates as Nobody.

This story originally appeared in the anthology Protectors 2, edited by Thomas Pluck. It is based loosely upon several cases I worked during my years riding with Bikers Against Child Abuse. The influence of my mentor, Andrew Vachss, is clearly evident. It is about a member of a motorcycle club similar to BACA who went above and beyond, throwing it all away for a girl under his protection, who died when he was prevented from helping her. This is a hard story to hear and will leave a lasting impact.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," the old song tells us. But that doesn't mean the people celebrating it are always so nice. Criminals get the Christmas spirit, too! In this collection of hilarious short stories, you'll see what the thieves, killers, psychos and scumbags are up to come the holidays...and it's not caroling door to door. Well, not unless they're casing the neighborhood for a break-in, as a rag-tag gang does in the title story.

In Mississippi Noir, literary crime fiction master Tom Franklin has assembled a phenomenal short-story collection that highlights a mesmerizing and diverse set of styles and subject matter. Urban, suburban, and rural settings alike unveil new shades of darkness that fall upon Mississippi's past and present.

The Edgar-winning short story from the author of Gone Girl. A young woman is making a living, faking it as a cut-price psychic working at Spiritual Palms (with some illegal soft-core sex work on the side). She makes a decent wage - mostly by telling people what they want to hear. But then she meets Susan Burke. Susan moved to the city one year ago with her husband and 15-year-old stepson, Miles. They live in a Victorian house called Carterhook Manor, built in 1893.

One of the most popular of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, "Silver Blaze" focuses on the disappearance of a famous race horse on the eve of an important race, and on the apparent murder of its trainer.

"There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly, and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it." — Chanakya WICKEDNESS RULES IN THESE SHORT STORIES Avaricious, cruel, depraved, envious, mean-spirited, vengeful, evil—the wicked have been with us since the beginnings of humankind. You might recognize them and you might not. But make no mistake. When the wicked cross your path, your life will never be the same. Do you know someone wicked? You will. The 21 suspense, horror, and fantasy stories in the Someone Wicked anthology were written by the...

Even if you’re pressed for time, you will be able to steal enough to listen to one of these short murder mysteries. The best part is you get to be the sleuth! Make it a game and listen with the family to see who cracks the most cases. Will you be able to figure out whodunit in these 13 solve-it-yourself mysteries?

In a future where humans and synthetics coexist in an uneasy peace, a mysterious string of murders threatens to undermine this hard-fought balance. Now, it's up to detective Dhata Mays to find the killer before the case goes public. But can he be unbiased in a black and white world that forces him to take sides?

This is a story from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II collection. In this collection are four of the finest cases of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, narrated by his faithful friend and admirer Dr. Watson. What was the mystery of the engineer's thumb? What was behind the disappearance of the race horse? Why did masked royalty walk up to see Holmes in Baker Street? These and other puzzles are solved in this collection by this bloodhound of a genius.

Presenting an American voice for this legendary Agatha Christie mystery with one of her best denouements.

The Classic Crime Collection is a collection of 12 classic detective novels, read by an esteemed cast of award-winning narrators. Included here are stories by some of the most iconic crime writers in history, including Arthur Conan Doyle; Wilkie Collins; Josephine Tey; AA Milne; and more.

From a "master of suspense" ( Library Journal) and writer of "heart-whamming" fiction ( Publishers Weekly) comes an all new suspense collection by James Scott Bell. In the full-length novella One More Lie, high-flying divorce attorney Andrew Chamberlain is on top of the legal world. He buys his suits in Beverly Hills and wins his cases in court. But one day he's approached by a friend to handle the split with his wife. That's the day things start to go very wrong for Andrew Chamberlain...up to and including murder.