Mystery Anthology

Get ready for seven electrifying short stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. In "Family Meeting," a college student calls her parents in a desperate bid for help—only it’s a matter of life and death. "New Year, New Me... Now What?" follows a woman willing to go to any lengths to reinvent herself for the man she’s obsessed with, but at what cost? "If You're Reading This Letter" tells the heart-wrenching story of a young man who must convince a stranger—and himself—that he deserves to die before he can take his own life.

Amid a landscaped dotted with farms, trailers, and genteel homes, there lives a talented baker who desperately needs to win a cooking contest but must team up with a down-on-her-heels society matron to do it...the Bramble sisters, whose husbands tend to be short-lived and wealthy but whose latest prospect arrives with complications...a widow who becomes dangerously obsessed with a snake-charming televangelist...and a lonely florist who will do anything for the sake of a ruthless local mechanic.

Graham is a detective inspector with London’s Metropolitan police force. He’s a career police officer, an educated, reserved, thoughtful, some might say, complex man. He has suffered tragedy in his life that serves to exaggerate his more introspective characteristics and, like many of us, has to look his demons in the eye from time to time and make tough choices. This box set contains the first four mysteries in this bestselling series.

Lights! Camera! Action! The latest book in the Big Book Series takes us behind the curtain to uncover the stories that became some of the greatest films of the silver screen. Among these are Robert Louis Stevenson's horrifying tale that was later turned into the iconic movie The Body Snatcher, starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff; and "Cyclists' Raid", the short story that formed the basis for the legendary Brando film The Wild One.

Fashion designer turned amateur sleuth Maddie Springer can't wait to spend the holidays with her boyfriend, LAPD Detective Jack Ramirez. It's their first Christmas together, and Maddie wants it to be perfect. But between her zany family and wacky friends, Maddie's having a hard time finding alone time with her man. But come Christmas morning, this is one holiday she'll be sure to remember - naughty or nice!

Secrets buried in gardens, courtrooms, and memory. A skeleton appears where flowers once grew. A stolen heirloom sets off a chain of revenge. A quiet man carries a guilt he can no longer silence. Historical mysteries, quiet crimes, and hidden reckonings—each story reveals more than meets the eye. In this collection of twist-filled short stories, ordinary lives conceal extraordinary truths. From a long-buried secret unearthed in a quiet garden to moral reckonings in distant courtrooms, each tale blends mystery, memory, and consequence. A missing skeleton surfaces in The Gardener’s Secret...

Robert A. Heinlein's The Long Watch is a powerful and emotional science fiction short story that explores themes of duty, sacrifice, and the moral courage of an individual standing against tyranny. First published in 1949, this story is part of Heinlein's Future History series and remains one of his most poignant and enduring tales. The story follows Lieutenant John Dahlquist, a young officer in the Space Patrol, who finds himself in a critical moral dilemma.

A young woman wakes in the bed of a stranger; one she can’t recall. While trying to sneak out of his bedroom without waking him, she discovers the body of a dead woman under his bed. While trying to escape this madman’s house, she discovers that not all is as it seems, and that maybe the worst part of her situation is yet to come. Yellow Dog Village, PA, once upon a time was a small mining town. This town was surrounded by thick woods the locals knew should be left alone. No one went into the woods, for fear of being trapped by the ancient evil there.

In this dark and gritty collection - featuring short stories from Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire, Kevin J. Anderson, and Rob Thurman - nothing is as simple as black and white, light and dark, good and evil.... Unfortunately, that's exactly what makes it so easy to cross the line.

In "Cahoots," a backroom poker game turns deadly when a cheater is exposed. In "Mulholland Dive," a man who deciphers the hidden codes of accident scenes investigates a fatality off L.A.'s most fabled roadway. In "Two-Bagger," an obsessed cop tails an ex-con he believes is about to carry out a contract killing.

There's a body in a trunk; a dead girl's reflection is caught in a mirror; and one corpse is back from the grave, while another is envisioned in the recurring nightmare of a terrified eccentric. What's behind such ghastly misdeeds? Try money, revenge, passion, and pleasure. With multiple motives, multiple victims, and multiple suspects, it's going to take a multitude of talent to solve these clever crimes. In this inviting collection, Agatha Christie enlists the services of her finest - Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Parker Pyne.

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home. These shiver-inducing tales introduce listeners to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge.

Craving something magical? Whether hiding from the law, trying to live a simple life or diving into danger, each of these witchy stories drags you along for an adventure. And when you have magic, nearly everyone wants your help. Attachments – like friendships, relationships – can be woven like threads of pretty silk, only to strangle victims later. Featuring twenty-five stories by Kelly Barker, Iris M. Winter, James Blakey, Matt Spencer, Damascus Mincemeyer, Sarah Farr, Nicolandrea Riccio, Jared Zygarlicke, Douglas Allen Gohl, Adrian Scott, Glenn Bresciani, Barend Nieuwstraten III, ...

SYNOPSIS: In 2310, a young woman arrives to New Earth in the Capricorn constellation, presenting a young Amish widower with a letter from a Mail Order Bride Network he’s never heard of. Is this a prank, or did God send him one of the most beautiful creatures in the world to test him? When things get more complicated, his commune demands a reasonable explanation. (This standalone story is also available in print as part of the Starcall Anthology, Vol.6, illustrated by the author.)

When Meriwether Jones takes her young daughter and runs from trouble in LA, that trouble follows. By the time Meri reaches Spokane, she's out of gas, money, and ideas. Luckily, ex-cop Ian Brodie hires her to help him with his father's farmhouse, and they seem like the answer to each other's prayers. But Meri is keeping a dangerous secret-and Ian is in danger of losing his heart....

After more than a decade, the handsome amateur detective Xavier Kilgarvan has returned to Winterthurn just in time to see the fifth young woman’s body carried from Devil’s Half Acre. A brutal fiend has left her mutilated body in this desolate plot of land filled with hulking boulders, quicksand, and twisted trees. Can detective Kilgarvan discover the forces motivating the mysterious “Gentleman Suitor” who has lured five innocent women to their deaths?

Zombies, reapers, and more monsters. In a world where so many dark things go bump in the night, terror awaits around every corner as these authors take horror stories to the next level. Discover ghosts, demons, and your worst nightmares. Read at your own risk. Featured stories by C.L. Hart, Mae Thorn, S.E. Reed, Kristen Argyres, Barend Nieuwstraten III, Demi Michelle Schwartz, Adele Liles, C.L. Storm, Benjamin Kurt Unsworth, Desirae Gracyn, Rob Nisbet, Anwen Redlake, Kat Craig, Gabriella Balcolm, Lianne Robinson, David O'Mahony, Andrew J. Lucas, Binod Dawadi, Daniel DiQuinzio, Arwyn Sherman...

Dark Secrets of the Surgery Room In the wake of a chilling tragedy, a sister's relentless quest for vengeance plunges Kacie, Lyla, and Joy into a dense maze of duplicity and peril. With rumors of a surgeon's deadly impairment and a tenacious nurse striving to unveil the truth, the enigma intensifies when death claims another. As Kacie threads the needle of convoluted narratives, she faces a sea of red herrings and concealed motives. But the team's unity teeters on the brink when a tempting opportunity beckons one of them afar. Will their camaraderie endure the strains of potential ...

Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village to find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries. This compilation contains episodes 25 - 27. SECRET SANTA: Bill Vokes has played Santa at the children's Christmas show for years. But with the show just hours away, he vanishes with no explanation. The whole village is baffled. Did something bad happen to loveable Bill: upstanding citizen, churchgoer, life and soul of the party and the holiday season?

Here is LAPD Detective Harry Bosch as we've never seen him before, in three never-before-collected stories. In "Suicide Run", the apparent suicide of a beautiful young starlet turns out to be much more sinister than it seems. In "Cielo Azul", Bosch is haunted by a long-ago closed case: the murder of a teenage girl who was never identified. In "One Dollar Jackpot", Bosch works the murder of a professional poker player whose skills have made her more than one enemy.