Short Stories Crime Suspense

San Francisco Noir lashes out with hard-biting tales exploring the shadowy nether regions of scenic "Baghdad by the Bay". In this superb collection, virtuosos of the genre meet up with the best of SF’s literary fiction community to chart a unique psycho-geography for a dark landscape. From inner city boroughs to the outlands, each contributor offers an original story based in a distinct neighborhood.

A young, newlywed couple. A new custom home. A good life. Yet nothing can ever be perfect. When the man of the house begins to experience bizarre nightmares involving a disturbing, pantomime face appearing in his wife's voluminous closet night after night, his sanity becomes an issue. Though their evenings at home are filled with playful lovemaking in the first months spent in their lavish new dwelling, a chill begins to settle over them with the passage of time. When disturbing images and inexplicable disappearances plague a young couple in their new home, they begin to question every ...

At the Tan Yards, Victor Prizeman bends everyone to his will. Then he surprises them by saying his forefathers worked there as tanners. Next the narrator tells a tale about the Prizeman clan, and how their patriarch met his end. And back in the present, history appears to be repeating itself when Victor demands that he light the annual Halloween bonfire. The Tan Yards is a story that will delight fans of horror, as well as those with a special place in their hearts for Halloween. Now with a Five Star editorial review from Readers' Favorite

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 ...

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?

In 1980s Vigata, a restless Inspector Montalbano brings his bold investigative style to eight enthralling cases. From jilted lovers and deadly family affairs to assassination attempts and murders in unexpected places, Death at Sea is the perfect collection to escape into Andrea Camilleri's unforgettable slice of Sicily.

It started with a brutal stabbing on the beach under a lifeguard tower. But when Attorney Jordan meets the accused, he sees his client’s demeanor doesn’t match up to the gruesome nature of the crime. Listening to his client’s story during the initial interview at the jail, Jordan confronts his own biases as a criminal defense lawyer. Despite a time constraint, Jordan’s curiosity compels him to absorb more of the story as he formulates a defense. But talk of Nazis and white power triggers concerns about his father’s war experience and the moral ambiguities of his profession.

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, ...

The O’Connells of Livingston, Montana, are not your typical family. Follow them on their journey to the dark and dangerous side of love in a series of romantic thrillers you won’t want to miss. Raised by a single mother after their father’s mysterious disappearance 18 years ago, the six grown siblings live in a small town with all kinds of hidden secrets, lies, and deception. This boxed set collection in The O’Connells series includes The Neighbor, The Third Call, and The Secret Husband.

Laguna: a place where a crazed killer has turned paradise into a Disneyland of depraved violence - with a fiery vengeance - and where homicide cop Tom Shephard unravels a grisly mystery. It reaches back across 40 years of sordid sex, blackmail, and suicide into the dark corners of his own past.

In addition to tales from some of today's top stars — including Laura Lippman, Susan Wiggs, Marcia Muller, Carolyn Hart, Nancy Pickard, and Elizabeth George herself — Two of the Deadliest showcases work from an impressive array of exceptional newcomers, as together they explore the dark depths women and men will sink to when driven by passion, avarice, and a lethal hunger for power.

When Taylor, a professional writer, discovers that others have been plagiarizing her work, she gets even in her own way—by writing their fake obituaries. Nobody knows about her favorite pastime, and she wants to keep it that way. Then, one day, the unthinkable happens: One of the plagiarists turns up dead. Taylor tries to put it out of her mind, until two detectives come knocking on her door. Author Linda Smolkin delivers a gripping audiobook filled with suspense and an ending listeners won’t see coming.

Whether they're cops or conmen, savage killers or creative types, gangsters or God-fearing citizens, George Pelecanos's characters are always engaged in a fight for their lives. They fight to advance or simply to survive; they fight against odds, against enemies, even against themselves. In this, his first collection of stories, the acclaimed novelist introduces readers to a vivid and eclectic cast of combatants.

Jeopardy lurks around every corner in these three intricately plotted Noir Shot entries. From Kentucky to New York, to the French Riviera, love collides with treachery and madness in a collection of old-fashioned noir stories no reader will ever forget.

Though they are fated to be together, Tori and Reese are fools to think that life is just going to let them nestle down and make cubs. It's just never that easy. When a voice from Reese's past arrives to stir up trouble, Reese has to slip away to take care of it. But Tori is left confused and hurting - how can her mate just abandon her when she needs him? Sparks fly when Tori and Reese's love is put to the test in this action-packed standalone novelette. **Intended for mature audiences. Standalone, no cheating, HEA**

"I know where Allison is." Former child star Jason Turner is excited about the direction his life is taking. He is about to open the business of his dreams, and his sister is now a published author. All thoughts of his dark past are at bay. Until he meets Stacy, the new doll in his daughter's life. She looks and sounds just like Allison, his other sister who turned up missing that day in the woods while they were camping so long ago. When Stacy says she has a secret to share with Jason he realizes there is something sinister behind the doll's existence. Let the nightmares begin.

Running from a world which wants him dead, ex-detective Sergeant Jake Pettman journeys to the isolated town of Blue Falls, Maine, home of his infamous, murderous ancestors. But Jake struggles to hide from who he is, and when a child disappears, he finds himself drawn into an investigation that shares no parallels to anything he has ever seen before. Held back by a chief of police plagued and tormented by his own secrets, Jake fights for the truth. All the way to the door of Jotham MacLeoid. An insidious megalomaniac who feeds his victims to a killing pit.

Mr. Davenheim, a wealthy financier, leaves his home to mail a letter, then fails to return. The story fills the newspapers and intrigues Hercule Poirot, who challenges Inspector Japp with the claim that he can solve the case before the police, and without leaving his flat.

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.

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.