Short Stories Crime Suspense

When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she's looking for at Bertram's Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service, and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer.

‘A bloody confrontation at a massage parlor leaves a customer fighting for his life as a masseuse flees into the night. Detective Tom Stone swings into action, searching for the suspect while monitoring reports on the victim’s condition. He investigates a nearby bar where the owner, Jasmine, is closing for the night and wants nothing to do with the police. A shadowy figure huddles at a back table and Stone approaches to question her, but she escapes to the back parking lot and takes off in her car. Jasmine, fearful of the power that law enforcement wields, offers to show Stone where the...

A dying billionaire offers Tanner contracts on numerous targets, people who are the worst of the worst. Instead of going after them alone, Tanner gets help from a few of his friends.

The system called them "unaccompanied minors." Maria made them familia. They threatened her residency. She hijacked their bus. Maria built a quiet life from the ashes of her own traumatic border crossing, but when she learns two terrified orphans will be sent back to the hell she barely escaped, she refuses to let it happen. Official bureaucracy offers a system designed to process, not protect. So she does what her enigmatic employer, Sam Harper, would do: get creative and take matters into her own hands, no matter the potential cost. The Feds have protocols. She has a toy gun, an ATV, and ...

Steve wants to leave his old life behind, the life of killing and waiting to be killed. But when it's the family business, it can be a hard habit to break.

"Bums" is a short story from the collection Twin Cities Noir.

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.

We think of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, but far more seductive is the pairing of Holmes and Professor James Moriarty, 'the Napoleon of crime' - a rivalry unparalleled in the world of crime fiction. Fiercely intelligent and a relentless schemer, Moriarty is the super-villain as megastar.

Comprising 10 short stories, The Confessions of Arsène Lupin first appeared in 1913. Each story features the eponymous gentleman-burglar, who deploys his remarkable wit and skill to plot a path through aristocratic society, outwitting both police and criminals along the way. This collection contains tales of romance and mystery, with Lupin himself never above performing the occasional good deed, while pocketing his own rewards, in the course of his adventures.

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Brand-new stories by: Wilfredo J. Burgos Matos, Ernesto Quiñonez, Mayra Santos-Febres, José Rabelo, Luis Negrón, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Ana María Fuster Lavín, Janette Becerra, Manolo Núñez Negrón, Tere Dávila, Edmaris Carazo, Alejandro Álvarez Nieves, Charlie Vázquez, and Manuel A. Meléndez. Translated by Will Vanderhyden.

Elijah Benjamin is a hired gun. A hitman who has used almost every killing method known to man, Elijah has grown tired of methodical assassinations. He wants his marks to see him coming. More importantly, he wants to have a conversation with those on his hit list. As the holidays approach, Elijah is called upon to take out an entire criminal organization. When he finds out the reasons their deaths have been ordered, he sets aside some time to get to know his targets. Soon, he issues final warnings. How his prey reacts to the news will determine their fates, but someone else is watching to ...

Tammy Partridge and her boyfriend, Kevin, are on a photo-ready road trip across America in pursuit of influencer fame. Only a couple hundred followers so far, including Roxanne, a superfan of the beautiful young couple. But when Tammy’s body is discovered in the Utah wilderness, and Kevin is nowhere to be found, the picture-perfect adventure suddenly goes wrong—and viral, with three million followers and counting. Motives are questionable. Conspiracy theories cloud the dark corners of the internet. As everyone spins their own version of the truth, reality is getting harder to see.

From some of the hottest names in crime fiction today come original stories written expressly for this collection. These four taut tales, loaded with tension and charged with uncertainty, bring each victim - the unsuspecting, the hunted, the fearful - into the deadly sights of a hired killer's gun.

No one likes Jack. His wife is gone and his neighbors avoid him. He's a recluse and a creep, and that's just the way he wants it; he can ignore what they say behind his back if they leave him to his work and his daily walks. But when ten-year-old Emma goes missing in the nearby woods, the eyes of his neighbors turn toward him, their fear and accusations escalating as the days go by. Jack proclaims his innocence, but what the neighbors - and the listener - find out is the last thing anyone would suspect.

When civilian life proves too dull for Major Wilbrahams, he contacts Parker Pyne to escape his boredom. Pyne's assistant arranges a chance meeting with the beautiful Freda Clegg and the two join forces, but on leaving for Africa they encounter more than they had bargained for.

Contains books one, two, and three of the Deliver series. She is a Deliverer. She lures young men and delivers them to be sold. She delivers the strikes that enforce their obedience. She delivers the training that determines their purchase price. As long as she delivers, the arrangement that protects her family will hold. The one thing she can't deliver is a captive from slavery. Until him. And her stubborn slave thinks he can deliver her...from herself.

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.

The world of Cardiff's sex trade hits the headlines when a woman is butchered and left for dead. Pauline distributes condoms to the women of the red light district and is known locally as "the rubber woman". She and Megan, a forensic psychologist, make it their mission to stop more women from becoming victims. They don't know it yet, but one of them is already marked out for death.

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 ...

Four short stories from bestselling author Stephen Leather, plus opening chapters of five of his bestselling thrillers. The short stories are: Rules of Engagement (where Spider Shepherd has to help a friend who is in serious trouble with the police), The Constituency Meeting (where a group of old folks decide to commit a murder), Ghost Kids (where a holidaymaker takes more home from Thailand than he expected) and Massage Therapy (where the massage skills of a Thai masseuse change a man's life forever). There are also tasters of five of his bestselling novels, including Hard Landing, The ...