English Detective Noir

Jessica Fletcher knows better than anyone that creativity is meant to be nurtured. So when a young lady from Cabot Cove shows promise as a country-and-western singer and songwriter, Jessica and a local citizens’ committee send the talented teen on a scholarship trip to Nashville, Tennessee, where she can benefit from professional instruction.

A Flash of Noir is a collection of flash fiction and short, short stories, laid down old-school style by master mystery writer Christopher Pinto. Writing in the genre of gumshoe detectives and sultry dames, creepy horror and hep cat jive, Pinto has put together a series of mostly one-page, 60-second reads that will transport you to another time...a darker, more sinister time. From smokey bars in New York City to the tropical islands of the Florida keys, A Flash of Noir takes you for a spin through the seediest gin joints and darkest alleys. One minute you're speeding down I-95 in a hot rod,...

Artemis Black's world is coming apart in the days leading up to Christmas. His relationship is on the rocks, he's struggling to make ends meet, he's gone days without sleep, and when he's called in to investigate a brutal murder at a big box store in Long Beach, he's at the end of his rope. Racing the clock to clear a young woman's name before she's charged with homicide, Black gets more than he bargained for, and finds himself enmeshed in a web of deceit and betrayal that will require every ounce of his and Roxie's sleuthing prowess if they're to survive the night.

When the grandmother of a student blamed for a deadly school shooting hires attorney Etch Danielson to clear her deceased grandson’s name, Danielson and legendary Texas lawman Red Roper open an investigation into the killings. The facts they uncover force them to conclude things are not as they appear and that responsibility for the tragedy lies on the person the community has deemed a hero. Sufficient Certainty is a cautionary tale about the rush to judgment, an indictment of a system that turns a blind eye to sexual harassment and racism, and a reminder that justice, even if it is ...

It's not every afternoon that an enigmatic, comely blonde named Stilton (like the cheese) walks into the scruffy gin joint where Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin tends bar. It's love at first sight, but before Sammy can make his move, an air force general named Remy arrives with some urgent business. 'Cause when you need something done, Sammy is the guy to go to; he's got the connections on the street.

Inspector Hogarth is in deep trouble. The two men who once sought his blood now aim to eliminate each other. Only Hogarth stands between them. To stop them, he must plunge into deadly danger—and to protect his colleagues, he must do it alone. With the town teetering on the edge of a gang war, Hogarth faces a harrowing truth: he has become the catalyst for a new crimewave. He will fight on, alone. He will attempt to conceal the truth. But DS Palmer won’t stand idly by. Nor will the other woman in his life… The trouble is, their intervention might make things far, far worse… Against ...

A Felix Nightwhisker Mystery – A charmingly gritty feline noir series packed with sharp claws, sharper wit, and shadowy secrets. Step into the whiskered world of Felix Nightwhisker, a hard-boiled feline detective with a knack for uncovering secrets others would rather keep buried. Set in the moody streets of Whisker City, where alley cats barter in whispers and the scent of treachery lingers behind every fish market and fencepost, Felix prowls the night to solve the cases no one else dares touch. Each mystery delivers a tightly-woven tale of suspense, unexpected humor, and unforgettable ...

This collection by crime fiction master Raymond Chandler features four long stories in which private eye Philip Marlowe is hired to protect a rich old guy from a gold digger, runs afoul of crooked politicos, gets a line on some stolen jewels with a reward attached, and stumbles across a murder victim who may have been an extortionist.

Phoebe Siegler first meets Charles Heist in a shabby trailer on the eastern edge of Los Angeles. She’s looking for her friend’s missing daughter, Arabella, and hires Heist to help. A laconic loner who keeps his pet opossum in a desk drawer, Heist intrigues the sarcastic and garrulous Phoebe. Reluctantly, he agrees to help. The unlikely pair navigates the enclaves of desert-dwelling vagabonds and finds Arabella is in serious trouble - caught in the middle of a violent standoff that only Heist, mysteriously, can end.

In a land scarred by war and haunted by its own dark secrets, betrayal and bloodshed rule the night. Across a shattered American landscape—from the electric pulse of New York to the rusted alleys of Detroit and the wind-battered streets of Chicago—the boundaries between hero and villain have long since blurred. In these cities on the edge, a ragtag band of pulp heroes, relentless detectives, tenacious private investigators, and uncompromising vigilantes collide with a ruthless underworld of mobsters, deranged serial killers, and wildly unpredictable madmen. When a series of brutal ...

When private investigator Detective Sebastian Clifford is asked by his former society girlfriend to locate her fiancé—who’s disappeared along with some valuable pieces of art—he’s reluctant to help. He’s left the aristocratic world behind, and for good reason. But when his ex starts receiving threatening letters, Clifford is left with no choice. When he enlists the help of his partner Lucinda Bird, aka Birdie, they start digging and find themselves drawn into London’s underworld.

In the seedy depths of Angel City a new kind of scum is taking root. Working girls are going missing and when they show back up again it's bad news. The pervs and freaks seem to be winning but the deal is they never counted on Mel Thompson. Not just any shamus or private dick, Mel has a certain, shall we say, connection to another place down under but it's not Australia. The clock is ticking for Mel to solve the case because the deeper he gets into it, the better the odds that he's going to get his block knocked off, and then it's not just curtains, but a one-way ticket back to Hell for the...

The most exciting Sterling P.I. instalment yet! In this episode, a spouse in denial hires Sterling to overturn her husband's murder conviction - the Crown Prosecution's, "Silver Bullet Case". A dog, a diary and DNA are his only clues in this twisting tale with dark turns. But is Sterling on a wild goose chase or honourably trying to reset the scales of justice? Even he is not sure... Follow Sterling in his latest case. A standalone Film Noir-inspired novella.

Brilliant. Complicated. Psychopath. That's the Four Monkey Killer, or 4MK. A murderer with a twisted vision and absolutely no mercy. Detective Sam Porter has hunted him for five long years, the recipient of box after box of grisly trinkets carved from the bodies of 4MK's victims. But now Porter has learnt the killer's twisted history and is racing to do the seemingly impossible - find 4MK's latest victim before it's too late....

Spank Me Disgraced ex-cop Gleason runs an elite fetish and sex club known as Discreet Hosts serving the richest and most powerful citizens of LA. When famous action film star Darren Cross is kidnapped, all fingers point to Gleason. Why? Because everybody hates his guts… Even his own attorney, Beauregard O. Gilpenny. Gleason’s only option is to solve the case himself, even though a renegade mercenary force, numerous crazed celebrities, and the LAPD are determined to take him out in the process. Luckily when you have the dirt on the highest icons of society, a belt fed machine gun, and...

When Detective Kim Stone is called to a local business, what she sees leaves her speechless. The photo on the driving license bears little resemblance to the man laid out before her, and she knows she’s up against the most twisted killer she has ever encountered. But as she breaks the devastating news to the victim’s wife, Diane Phipps, Kim can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right about the woman’s reaction.

A detective ensnared. A deadly trap. A race against time. When DC Simmons' father asks him to help a newly bereaved widow, the young cop senses trouble and turns to DI Joe Hogarth for assistance. Hogarth can't decline, but he'll soon wish he had, as they find themselves caught in a trap they must escape before the weekend ends—or be implicated in the gravest of crimes. Social media entrepreneur Grant Dawn goes missing on a Friday night. His classic car spins out of control into a cold marshland river. He's almost certainly dead, his alcoholic wife is in despair, and their business is on ...

A mysterious suicide. A detective under pressure. A deadly investigation. DI Joe Hogarth planned to spend the weekend saving his superior, but when he's called to investigate Dina Corbett's death, everything changes. Locked alone inside her holiday park caravan, Dina died from a single gunshot wound to the head. A gun is found by her hand, but no suicide note is in sight. ★★★★★ “Fast paced - difficult to put down!” Suicide seems obvious, but nagging doubts lead Hogarth to suspect murder. With no evidence of foul play and every witness having a solid alibi, Hogarth can't let go...

When the body of a man is found dead in his remote, isolated home, DI Tom Janssen and his team struggle to understand what motive there could be to murder such an inoffensive, seemingly placid local character. The man lived alone and was well known in the community, but kept his distance from others, leading a haphazard way of life almost entirely off the grid. What secrets did he hide in his private life that might be worth killing for? As the team are about to understand, even the most nondescript of people can exist in a world darker than most of us will ever see....

In Undercover: Karma, Detective Carlo D'Scenzi finds himself stretched thin between two high-stakes cases and a ticking clock. Tasked with investigating the Michigan Patriots militia, he and his partner Big Lou must determine if the group poses a real threat or is simply exercising free speech. Meanwhile, they’re also assigned to track down the elusive duo of robbers, Benny and G, wreaking havoc across Detroit. Short on manpower, Carlo reluctantly brings in Red for backup, hoping it’s enough to get the job done while avoiding a mountain of follow-up work. But as the cases twist through ...