Short Crime Thriller

WHEN WIZARDS WAR Deep in the woods lives a wizard called the Professor. In the depths of the Depression, the residents of Fester, Pennsylvania call on “powwowers” such as the Professor to heal ailments, tell fortunes . . . and exact revenge. When an upstart powwower threatens to horn in on the Professor’s business, he starts making plans for his own revenge. The sinister forces he sets in motion spiral out of control, and soon threaten to consume the leading citizens of the town.

Montalbano's First Case and Other Stories is a brilliant collection of short stories, personally chosen by Andrea Camilleri, following Inspector Montalbano from his very first case in Vigàta, in which he stumbles upon a young girl lurking outside a courthouse with a pistol in her handbag. When she is taken in for questioning and won't utter a single word, Montalbano must find another way to learn whom she is trying to kill and why.

In this collection of Rumpole stories the comic, courageous, and corpulent 'great defender of muddled and sinful humanity' is joined by a winning cast of villains and victims in tales whose wry humour and sparkling wit deftly send up the legal system. In Rumpole and the Angel of Death our hero achieves resounding triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness. Rumpole and the Way through the Woods involves Rumpole in the world of hunters and the hunted, animal rights and human wrongs.

The brand new Jack Reacher short story, published as a digital exclusive. The tiny town of Naismith has nothing going for it - except the start of a wilderness trail through Maine's ancient forests. But one day the trail is suddenly closed by county police. No reason is given. Rumours start - is there something in the woods that no one must see? That no one must even know about? Then Jack Reacher drifts into town. What does he make of the Do Not Enter tape strung between the trees?

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 ...

Robin Monarch is a man with a complicated, secret past and a very grim future. Currently locked up in the USDB—the military supermax prison known as Leavenworth—the CIA offers Monarch one shot at freedom and a pardon. All he has to do is steal something from a highly secure position at ground zero of a war-zone, and escape undetected. But this isn't Monarch's first time at this sort of dance.

This quartet of crime stories about deadly books, penned by award-winning contemporary mystery writers, includes The Little Men, What's in a Name?, The Book of the Lion, and From the Queen.

When he manages to sell his martial arts studio in New York, Gregory Grantham is handed the chance to start a new life. He selects the small city of Poplar Bluff, Missouri as his temporary new home in order to care for his Aunt Vera who needs help after undergoing an operation. Rather than being a sleepy part of the state, southeastern Missouri torments Greg with a series of knife attacks by bank robbers, political activists and insane stalkers. Greg will need every ounce of his fighting skills to survive each violent ordeal. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donald W. Desaulniers is a retired Canadian ...

This second volume of a must-listen collection contains 15 bibliomysteries by best-selling and award-winning authors.

Mystery writer Anthony Eastwood is lured to the crime scene of a faked murder, where two individuals masquerading as police officers arrest him and charge him with murder. As the phony police officers escort Mr. Eastwood home, the true goal of the masquerade becomes apparent.

Now that I'm the respected Don of the Kingsley Crime Family, people in the family are lined up to meet me, wondering what I'm going to do next. Others wonder if I really did what the rumors say. Others are wanting to try their luck against the new Don. But you can't be the boss without ruffling a few feathers, right? Sure, I like money, but if there's one thing I hate, it's making money off the backs of others... literally. So, when I decide to replace our trafficking business with the best sex club in New York, let's just say that not everyone is on board with my vision. Eli and I are ...

A heist gone wrong. A city soaked in rain and blood. A tactical team pushed to the edge. In the neon-lit, monsoon-drenched streets of Karachi, Firebird leads a covert crew of elite operatives on a high-stakes mission: infiltrate a secure port, steal a fortune in GPU chips, and vanish before dawn. But in this city of shadows, danger lurks at every turn-and the Oracle’s cryptic warning about “odd lightning” echoes in Firebird’s mind. As loyalties blur and the line between fate and free will unravels, every move could be their last. In a world where every ally could be a traitor, ...

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.

Award-winning author Edwidge Danticat edits this collection of stories that puts a noir twist on the Haitian experience. From kidnappings gone wrong to deadly sibling rivalries, Haiti Noir features some of the Caribbean nation’s leading voices, including Gary Victor, Evelyne Trouillot, Kettly Mars, and Patrick Sylvain.

"What could go wrong?" is what a group of teenagers wonder about before breaking into an abandoned house at the edge of town. They seal their fates on the darkest night of the year, Halloween. Listen as history comes alive in front of their own eyes in a series of terrifying events. Broken families, lives tortures by those that had happened in the past. And in the middle of it, is the one person that was never supposed to come back in the first place. Allowing her to roam free is what will cause the demise of them all. But what if there is a way?

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...

Darya can’t help it. She sees things other people don’t. It’s hard to protect a woman who won’t let her bodyguard go with her, but there could be a reason for that, and Slade is pretty sure what that reason is. His name is Nick, a scientist who works for Darya in Mexico City and persuades her to take a dangerous side trip with him to Guatemala. A Food and Drug Administration employee has been bribed to approve a drug. It’s not the first time he’s paid to get a drug on the market, even when tests show the drug kills people. So much for healing. Kidnapping and murder aren’t all ...

Five thrilling tales of mystery, mayhem, and murder from an exceptional quintet of Edgar, CWA Dagger, and National Book Award winners.

In every locked room, there's a secret waiting to be found—and a body left behind. From elite rehearsal spaces to package vaults, from forgotten hotel bathrooms to séance parlors sealed tight, this chilling collection of original locked-room thrillers explores what happens when the walls close in and the truth can't escape. Inside you'll find: A detective trapped in his own interrogation. A woman who wakes in a bath with her wrists taped—and no memory of why. A séance interrupted by someone who was never invited. A delivery crate that holds a body—and your name. An acting class ...

Investigative reporter Nora Hesper spends her nights cloaked in shadows. As Indigo she's become an urban myth, a brutal vigilante who can forge darkness into weapons and travel across the city by slipping from one patch of shadow to another. Her primary focus both as Nora and as Indigo has become a murderous criminal cult called the Children of Phonos. Children are being murdered in New York, and Nora is determined to make it stop, even if that means Indigo must eliminate every member.