Crime Thriller Short Stories

Over the years, Ian Rankin has amassed an incredible portfolio of short stories. Published in crime magazines, composed for events, broadcast on radio, they all share the best qualities of his phenomenally popular Rebus novels. Brought together for the first time, and including brand-new material, this is the ultimate Rebus short-story collection and a must-have book for crime lovers and for Ian's millions of fans alike. No Rankin aficionado can go without it.

INSTA-LOVE LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN . . . ANNABELLE WINTERS STYLE! Why am I still here, standing under a streetlamp, my heart pounding, knees weak, head spinning from what just happened? I should be long gone by now. The guy is a freak at best, a criminal at worst. I'm a fourth-grade teacher! I'm a role model! I'm . . . I'm . . . I'm . . . I'm his. OMG, I'm his! A scorching hot new series from Annabelle Winters featuring curvy women and the studs who can't get enough of them! If you've read my novels, you know what to expect: Drama, madness, and over-the-top steam! Twists, turns, and a happy ...

Sixteen delightful holiday short stories by some of your favorite Soho crime authors! This captivating collection of short mysteries and crime capers - which features New York Times best-selling authors, Crime Writers Association Gold and Diamond Dagger winners, and Edgar Award nominees - contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season.

Alex McLeod paid dearly during the war for independence from Earth. It left the detective disfigured, jaded and alone. In the aftermath of victory, Alex seethes as criminal factions and cold-blooded killers clash over control of the newly-liberated confederation. In his crusade for justice in the free states, he's willing to break more than a few rules along the way...

The only home Alex knows is the slums of Slab, an orbiting city teeming with lowlifes, back-stabbers and gene-spliced monstrosities. From the grimy streets of his city to the lawless Asteroid Belt, Alex goes toe-to-toe with a sharp-clawed vigilante, a mythical serial killer, and a gorgeous vampire with an ominous message. His quest won't end until his homeland earns the freedom it was promised…

But even Alex may not be able to stop the impending Reckoning and a voyage to the one place he swore he'd never return: Earth...

Each of these ingenious tales is a gem, sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to listen to Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers" ( San Diego Union-Tribune). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her.

Twenty classic authors from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction are brought together in the latest “Bodies from the Library” anthology series of previously unpublished and uncollected stories of crime and suspense.

Seventeen-year-old Amish boy Noah Kline is struck by a car as he walks alongside a dark country road late one night in Painters Mill. Seriously injured, he lapses into a coma. Initially, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder believes it’s a straightforward hit-and-run, a driver that panicked and fled. But evidence soon emerges that the incident wasn’t accidental at all - and Kate uncovers a story of teenage passion and jealousy that may have led to attempted murder.

Two hitmen in a depressed rust belt town struggle with a job gone wrong. A girl witnesses a horrifying accident and carries it with her for the rest of her life. Medical students bring a severed foot to a college party. Five-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Joyce Carol Oates has made a career of exploring the forbidden corners of human experience, and the stories collected here, spanning her first three decades as a writer, are among her most unsettling and unforgettable works to date.

Kellyn had always loved Elias Stratton with all her heart and probably always would. She'd trusted him...but never again. Elizabeth had always believed there was nothing more magical than the precious gift of love...even now in the heart of danger, she still believed it...she always would. After telling the story of Simon's magical cowboy ranch for more years than she cared to count, Elizabeth Fountaine wondered if there might be more to the fanciful fairy-tale than being an elaborate bedtime story to tell children. More than ever before, she very much needed for even just a small piece of ...

Chrysalis, the glass-skinned queen of the Joker underworld, has been found brutally murdered in her popular restaurant, the Crystal Palace. Now two men are out to find her killer: Jay Ackroyd, the Ace private investigator who discovered her ruined body, and the vigilante archer known as the Yeoman, who has been framed for the crime. Their quest leads them on a nightmare odyssey of madness, violence, passion, and political intrigue that will forever alter the fates of Aces and Jokers everywhere.

Wayne Sharp newer expected his life to turn like that. Dishonorably discharged, he tries to build his life from the beginning in Clayton, New Mexico. He never expects to be attracted so deeply to the woman in trouble, in trouble beyond hope… Trying to help her, he becomes involved in the dark secrets of the town. Just what can a man do?

CAUTION! Keep away from bodies of water while reading this novel. Or not, if you're courageous enough. Ghosts. Hidden mysteries. A world of silence awaits you. In the summer of 2001, the bodies of three children were recovered from the waters of Lake Champlain, Vermont. Among them was Anne Austen, the love of the then twelve-year-old Eric. Now twenty-seven, Eric finds a book that was supposedly written by the same Anne Austen, in which she details the crimes which occurred that summer. But who really wrote that book? A witness? The killer himself? Or has Anne's spirit gained enough ...

Do you love to read children’s mysteries? If so, you will find The Pleasantville Junior Detective Agency enjoyable. It’s about a 9-year-old boy named Perry Winkle who becomes the neighborhood junior detective. The reader tries to uncover each clue and solve the case. For those that haven’t cracked the case by the end, they can turn to the last page of each chapter and see how Perry solved it.

In the heart of Haiti's treacherous mountains, Night Team, led by Captain Chris "Magic" Kassner, embarks on a high-stakes mission to capture the notorious warlord Lucian "Black Viper." Utilizing the cover of night, this elite five-person team sets out to ambush Black Viper's heavily armed convoy on a remote bridge over a flowing river. As they neutralize guards and immobilize vehicles, each member's unique skills are put to the test. Facing the combined threats of heavily armed guards and unforgiving terrain, Night Team must execute their plan with precision and stealth. Will their courage,...

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”....

Semi-Finalist in the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Award Competition. (Florida Writers Association) People Behaving Badly is a collection of thirteen short mystery stories exploring the folly of criminal behavior. Welcome to a world filled with strange and quirky characters where murder, vigilantism, jealousy, infidelity, sex, violence and people behaving badly are the norm. These short mysteries were written as individual bite-size stories that can be devoured in one sitting. Perfect reading for your bus, train or subway commute to work, while you’re waiting at the doctor’s or dentist’s ...

Trapped in the clutches of a Zombie apocalypse, the City of Chicago, the murder capital of the U.S., unleashes the ultimate weapon, capitalism, by paying $1,000 for every Re-Killed Zombie brought to city hall, ushering in "The Great Zombie Gold Rush". Zombies never have a chance in a world where people realize 75 Zombies pays off their student loans, 40 Zombies buys them a Tesla, 5 Zombies wipes out their Visa debt...

This follow-up to the national best-seller A Study in Sherlock is a stunning new volume of original stories compiled by award-winning Sherlockians Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger.

In these eight intriguing tales, Holmes and Watson solve cases that range from the suspicious to the downright strange. They encounter mysteries as diverse as vanishing staff, secret plans and eccentric lodgers as Holmes is struck down by a rare tropical disease and, later, lured away from retirement to help his country on the eve of war.

Some of the best-known and most influential pieces of crime fiction have been from African American writers. Be it Walter Mosley's great Detective Easy Rawlins, or the mean streets of Harlem at the hands of Chester Himes, the stories and characters in this anthology have shaped the mystery genre with their own unique viewpoints and styles. Contributors to the collection include Robert Greer, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Cary Phillips, Frankie Bailey, and Richard Wright.