Short Stories Crime Suspense

Each of these ingenious tales is a gem, sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to listen to Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers" ( San Diego Union-Tribune). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her.

What marks life in Addis Ababa are the starkly different realities coexisting in one place. It's a growing city taking shape beneath the fraught weight of history, myth, and memory. It is a heady mix. It can also be disorienting, and it is in this space that the stories of Addis Ababa Noir reside....

C.T. Ferguson wishes his parents would get off his case. Forced to use his brilliant hacking skills to play detective, he hopes that each investigation is a cinch. But a body near a Baltimore chapel is only the beginning, and the better the rich kid gets at his job, the more dangerous his work becomes….

From the introduction by Les Standiford: "The truth is that Miami, though naturally lovely, is a frontier town, perched on the border between the known and the rarely before experienced. The poet Richard Hugo once said that the natural place for the writer was on the edge, and 'edge' might well be the definitive word when it comes to this city... We are not only on the edge of the continent, we are to this country what New York was in Ellis Island's heyday, what the West Coast was in the middle of the 20th century.

One of the best mystery books of the 21st century, this volume features outstanding new stories of crime, derring-do, fast-paced adventures, and puzzles, featuring hardy amateur detectives ranging from young to old and grizzled private eyes whose patches cover the city streets, all in the hallowed tradition of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Philip Marlowe.

Disappearing wasn’t going to be enough…they needed a plan…some answers…and a safe place where they couldn’t be found…and time to figure out what to do next….and why their pursuers are interested in Harper’s father…and are willing to do anything to draw her out. Now it appears that they have an unknown and unlikely ally…maybe two… Ailis Mulholland wasn’t expected…nor was the offer of assistance from her father. No one is quite certain what to make of it with one exception…Jackson Riley has known Cian Mulholland since they were kids.It’s the middle of the twenty-...

CAUTION! Do not approach a body of water... The last ones didn’t come back. Ghosts. Hidden mysteries. A world of silence awaits. Eric continues his maddening quest to reveal the truth of his childhood friends’ demise. He’s tired, and each new discovery pushes him further to the edge. But he is staying to fight the mystical being that’s been collecting the souls of Swanton children for decades. With Sherriff Dunning and Eloise Carter, he’ll dive deep into a swamp of murders, ancient curses, and hidden secrets that should’ve stayed that way. Scary beings, ouija boards, a lost ...

Launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books has published over 60 volumes in its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Featuring Noir Series stories from: Dennis Lehane, Don Winslow, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Susan Straight, Jonathan Safran Foer, Laura Lippman, Pete Hamill, Joyce Carol Oates, Lee Child, T. Jefferson Parker, Lawrence Block, Terrance Hayes, and more.

(Newly lengthened and bonus content June 25th 2018) Sometimes nightmares really do come true. Lexa I was a victim turned criminal. Any future I thought I had went up in smoke when the reality of life smacked me in the face. He came to the rescue riding that black chrome beast he called a motorcycle. I let myself love him knowing he wouldn't, and couldn't love me back. Walking away from him was the hardest move I've ever made. Freedom came at a cost. Something I knew all too well. Sam They think they know me? I was Tom to many and Sam too a few. I was the quiet, laid back, and stoic one,...

When a party goes wrong it must mean there's... Death on the Saturnalia.Following the Saturnalia Festival in the Forum, Secundus and his family head to a private Villa for a night of partying and celebration. When things take a turn for the worse and old resentments get the better of the guests, Death joins the festivities and there can be only one outcome! Step into the heart-pounding world of Secundus, where every page draws you deeper into the story and demands your total attention. As our sleuth grapples with a labyrinth of deceit spun by friends, family, and guests, you'll be swept ...

In the idyllic backdrop of Ballycross, County Cork, Seren once reveled in the bliss of marriage to Frenchman André while managing their quaint wine shop. A perfect world, it seemed, until an unforeseen tragedy shattered everything. Determined not to be a mere pawn in the game of fate, Seren takes charge of her destiny. In this journey, she discovers the stark difference between fate and faith—realizing that control is a powerful force. The revelation of an enigmatic email destined for her husband propels Seren into a harrowing mystery. Abandoning the comforts of Ballycross, she ventures ...

Addie After being brutally raped and beaten, I'm angry. So angry I can't even speak. The only thing I can think of is revenge. I'm broken. Eli helps to put me back together, but it's not enough. I want retribution. Soon, everyone will know what happens when you commit rape. And God help anyone who crosses the King. To restore my honor, I seek blood. I've memorized each of their faces and I'm coming for them. It's the only thing that will truly help me to move on. And I always go after what I want... personally. *Note: All books in the Mafia Ties Dark Romance Series end in cliffhangers until...

Joyce Davenport is a senior crime scene investigator focused on making the unjust pay, having seen thousands of scenes she can not unsee. She is determined and tenacious, and never lets a cold case sit for too long. Her most recent case follows a trail of cold cases over a century old to one that occurred just last month. There is evidence consistent amongst the murders, and she doesn’t yet know how that is possible. The location of decades-old evidence is being shared with her, something only the killer would know. She is surprised at what she learns.

Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge - between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter's boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family's disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and more.

Some locales seem to come with their own soundtrack. Don Ho and his tiny bubbles provide the background music for Hawaii, Edith Piaf for Paris. The reggae of Bob Marley evokes Jamaica. The soundtrack for Alabama is without question provided by our troubled troubadour Hank Williams. The 2016 biography Hank by Mark Ribowsky paints a dark picture of the musician's short, alcoholic, drug-filled life: a life of loneliness and pain. He goes so far as to call Hank's life story "noir-ish"....

Death and Madness in Four Tales A. M. Arimont shows in his stories that true horror is always and everywhere lurking around us. Just where we feel safest, horror strikes hardest. Four tales in which horror unexpectedly invades the everyday world. Jack Ketchum: "I've read his stories, A.M.Arimont is talented!" Daybreak A new summer day begins in a quiet suburban town. Here, where house after house is lined up, there is still peace and order. But how well do you really know your neighbors? What if death and madness lived right next door? Tunnel vision You feel safe in your apartment, but ...

The Edgar-winning short story from the author of Gone Girl. A young woman is making a living, faking it as a cut-price psychic working at Spiritual Palms (with some illegal soft-core sex work on the side). She makes a decent wage - mostly by telling people what they want to hear. But then she meets Susan Burke. Susan moved to the city one year ago with her husband and 15-year-old stepson, Miles. They live in a Victorian house called Carterhook Manor, built in 1893.

Crimes happen in a flash. Before you even know it, the shots have rung out, the jewels have been stolen, and the bodies are cooling on the floor. In this anthology, over eighty authors - including veterans such as Chuck Hogan, Ken Bruen, and Tasha Alexander - come together to tell tales of murder and mayhem, all in one thousand words or less. Dare to confront these fearful, furious tales, each offering a glimpse of the darkness lurking in the human heart.

The stories in this collection reflect a fundamental truth about Santa Fe: history depends on who's telling it. Too often the story of this city has been told only by the conquerors and the tourism PR firms. Hear the stories that never make the glossy tour brochures: the working class and the underground, the decolonized and the ever-haunted; the Santa Fe only we know.... Conquered and reconquered, colonized and commodified, Santa Fe understands - from historical genocide to the murders of family members - the intimacy of violence.

Gina Gambino wants revenge. Her life has been turned upside down with the murder of her two hoodlum sons, but she knows who's done it. Her target is Don Francini, leader of one of the most powerful mafia families in Palermo. Using her brain and her body, Gina worms her way into his household, becoming first his housekeeper then his mistress, weaving a complicated web of poison and murder. It seems her plans are going well until one disastrous night.