Crime Thriller Short Stories

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”....

When Simon Serrailler was a rookie constable with the Met, he did something reckless in the course of a night's work which caused a man's death. But his act was praised by his colleagues, and he was called a hero. Years later, now a detective chief superintendent who has been badly injured in the course of duty, he receives a medal for bravery at Buckingham Palace while recollecting that fateful night of his early career, when chance disguised itself as bravery.

Here for the first time are three never-before-published mysteries by Edmund Crispin, Ngaio Marsh and Leo Bruce. Together with a newly unearthed short story by Ethel Lina White that inspired Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, and a complete short novel by Christianna Brand, this diverse mix of tales by some of the world’s most popular classic crime writers contains something for everyone.

When a wealthy politician’s twelve-year-old son disappears, the family’s driver witnesses the aftermath. A field investigator for the World Health Organization travels the globe giving presentations about a biomedical enzyme that will lead to the extinction of the human race. And Father Augusto Saenz, the Jesuit priest and forensic anthropologist from Smaller and Smaller Circles, returns to investigate the murder of a woman whose secretive life holds the key to her death.

A vanished hostage. A mercenary haunted by fate. A city where every choice cuts deep. In the labyrinthine heart of Istanbul, Firebird-a philosopher-mercenary with a violent past-leads a covert team on a mission that will test the limits of loyalty, destiny, and survival. When a Palestinian doctor with ties to hostage negotiations disappears from Turkish protection, Firebird’s crew is thrust into a deadly game of deception. Mossad, Turkish intelligence, and rival militants close in, and the city’s ancient streets become a battleground where myth and modern violence collide. As the stakes...

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?

COLLEGE INSTALOVE LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN. ANNABELLE WINTERS STYLE. I was almost free. Just dropped out of college, about to buy my dream ride, about to hit the open road to an unknown future out west. But then I see her standing under a tree, those delicate lashes unable to hide what I see in her big brown eyes. The eyes of a prisoner . . . Someone trapped in a life she didn't want . . . Those eyes whisper, "Save me. Set me free. Please." But I'm no white-knight savior. I'm a loner dropout whose only assets are his fists. Besides, this girl just said she's engaged! That's drama like I don't...

THE CICADAS ROAR For all of the years of his young life, Jackson had been told never to go near the river. It was just a fact of life. If he called out to his mother saying he was going out into the yard to play, she would always call out behind him, ‘Don’t you go near that river.’ He would feel dejected and upset. He always hoped that one day she would forget to tell him. Then that day came. OTHER TALES OF TERROR AND TORMENT Hide under the covers and keep the light on as you go on a journey into the darkness and evil of the human mind.

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?

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

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 ...

Here are three more Sherlock Holmes adventures from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and read by Edward Hardwicke, who has become the definitive Dr. Watson of the 80s and 90s due to the spectacularly successful Granada television series in which he appears with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes.

CAUTION! This isn’t for the faint of heart. 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. Eric has returned to Swanton. His goals? Discover what happened to his childhood friends and get peace for their souls. His problems? No one wants to talk about what happened, the local sheriff doesn’t want anyone to talk about what happened, and Eric may or may not know how to… investigate. Yeah. The echoes of the past and supernatural sights of the now are dragging him to the brink of insanity....

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...

Elijah Benjamin is a hired gun. A hitman who has used almost every killing method known to man, Elijah has grown tired of methodical assassinations. He wants his marks to see him coming. More importantly, he wants to have a conversation with those on his hit list. As the holidays approach, Elijah is called upon to take out an entire criminal organization. When he finds out the reasons their deaths have been ordered, he sets aside some time to get to know his targets. Soon, he issues final warnings. How his prey reacts to the news will determine their fates, but someone else is watching to ...

In The Thumbmark of St Peter Miss Marple tells how she was able to help her niece when the poor girl was accused of poisoning her husband. In The Herb of Death foxglove leaves are picked with sage for the dinner with disastrous results, and a burglary at a riverside bungalow sets off an unusual chain of events in The Affair at the Bungalow. In the final story, Sir Henry Clithering, ex-commissioner of Scotland Yard, is staying with his friends Colonel and Mrs Bantry, when news arrives that the village innkeeper's daughter has met her 'death by drowning.'

Brand-new stories by: Tom Abrahams, Robert Boswell, Sarah Cortez, Anton DiSclafani, Stephanie Jaye Evans, Wanjiku Wa Ngugi, Adrienne Perry, Pia Pico, Reyes Ramirez, Icess Fernandez Rojas, Sehba Sarwar, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Larry Watts, and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton.

Diverse, provocative, eerie, and twisted, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best crime stories exhibits amazing range and the signature plot twists that have made him a perennial best seller. With nods to O. Henry and Edgar Allen Poe, these beautifully crafted pieces are suspenseful spoonfuls of Deaver at his best. Listeners will be surprised by the subtlety of some of these stories and, as always, by the plot surprises.

At an annual party to celebrate the success of the racing season, everything seemed to be running well to form, including the need for more champagne. Then a runaway horsebox ploughed into the marquee. A witness to the terrible death and destruction, wine merchant Tony Beach knows it is just one of those tragic accidents. But when his expert advice is called into play over sub-standard alcohol in a local night club, connections start to click, and another person dies, horribly.

An unlikely vigilante slips through the alleys of Old Korvosa, the armor of the insidious Gray Maidens - former stormtroopers of an insane queen - imprisoning her within a past she can neither forget nor atone for. But when an innocent comes to her in need, this mercenary avenger must test her mettle against a foe just as resolute and merciless as she once was.