Short Stories Mystery Thrillers

The costume Valentine's party is the hot ticket in the Mississippi Delta. But Tinkie's title of Queen Bee of Delta Society becomes jeopardized when her Valentine's guests are all robbed. There's nothing for it but that Tinkie and Sarah Booth Delaney find out what happened to the very handsome Cupid (who failed to appear at the party) and where the short, hairy, Pan-like Cupid (who crashed the party) came from. Certainly not Central Casting.

A man dies with his hand on a radio dial. A distinguished aristocrat finds murder at the opening night of a play. A cryptogram produces death in an English churchyard. Death on the Air and Other Stories serves as the perfect introduction to Ngaio Marsh and her creation, Inspector Roderick Alleyn, or as a nostalgic journey for her many fans.

No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. Colin was so shy; Roy was so popular. Colin was fascinated by Roy - and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day, Roy asked his timid friend: “You ever killed anything?” From that moment on, the two were bound together in a game too terrifying to imagine - and too irresistible to stop.

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.

BLACK AS NIGHT AND OTHER NIGHTMARES is a compilation of 32 short stories, most in the horror genre, and most with surprise endings. THE NIGHTMARES INCLUDE: THE CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT Charles likes to watch horror flicks by candlelight with his monster mannequins... MASQUERADE The Madeira Club has hired a travel agent to rent a castle in Transylvania for this year’s gala Halloween party... BLACK AS NIGHT Two teenagers try to rescue a helpless woman from being buried alive by a masked rider on Halloween... HANGMAN’S OVERLOOK A scam artist wagers $800 he will spend the night on Hangman’s ...

Ten tales of terror in the horror genre with surprise endings to scare you! If you are fans of Twilight Zone, Tales From the Crypt, Night Gallery, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, and horror stories with a plot and a twist ending, look no further. Billy Wells Horror is your ticket to a journey into the macabre if you dare. Hark! Don’t read this book If you don't like to be scared. Heads roll literally in these stories, so why torture yourself? Otherwise, enjoy the horror! The average Amazon review rating on all Billy Wells Horror books 4.3. TABLE OF CONTENTS: NEVERMORE: A billionaire builds...

The dapper, mustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg-shaped head and curious mannerisms has solved some of the most puzzling crimes of the century - and, in his own humble opinion, is "probably the greatest detective in the world". In this complete collection of more than 50 stories, ranging from short tales to novellas, Poirot faces violent murders, poisonings, kidnappings, and thefts - all solved with his characteristic panache. Only Agatha Christie could have devised cases worthy of Hercule Poirot's skill and "little gray cells".

A Vanished Masterpiece, a Sun-Worshipping Noble, and a Mystery Full of Twists! Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James are called to the crumbling mansion of a bankrupt aristocrat whose only salvation—a priceless painting—has vanished. If the masterpiece isn’t recovered, the bank will foreclose, leaving the family ruined. But instead of helping, the eccentric nobleman is obsessed with his bizarre sun-worshipping rituals. Then the case turns deadly. Two men are found murdered in the mansion’s decaying halls, and the nobleman’s spinster sister confesses, convinced she’s guilty. The police ...

A struggling young Persian artist sends Flynn, one of Sherlock Holmes’ Baker Street Irregulars, out to buy provisions for a celebratory dinner. But when he brings the requested groceries to the artist’s wife, her joy quickly turns to fear. Then Flynn returns to the artist’s studio, only to find that disaster has struck. Meanwhile, the National Portrait Gallery enlists the help of Sherlock Homes to investigate the mysterious theft of The Pink Lady. As Holmes sets out to recover the precious painting, he uncovers a dark web of deceit far more complex than he imagined.

In his three novellas, In Short Measures, Strong Conspirators, and Sally Forth, Michael Ruhlman delves deeply into the nuanced complexity of romantic and sexual love - and the inevitable evolution of the heart over the span of years and decades. Each novella asks questions about the nature of love in terms of loyalty and fidelity - what are one's obligations toward one's spouse, one's family, and one's heart?

Do you love a good whodunit? Detectives and mobsters, newshawks and murderers–all ingredients for disaster in this murder mystery collection. Whether it was sending a detective after missing ships at sea or chasing down grisly headhunters at a carnival, Ron knew how to thrill readers and keep them guessing until the end.

Motive. Means. Opportunity. Without proof of all three, the guilty can walk free. But even with an alibi, the innocent can still be condemned. For six award-winning, bestselling authors of psychological suspense, truth and lies weave together in a tangle of conflicting loyalties, hidden crimes, and dark secrets. Pull one thread, and there’s no telling what will unravel.

If it knocks four times -- don’t answer. When Liam inherits his late uncle’s remote hunting cabin deep in the Ridge 9 backwoods, he expects quiet isolation — not claw marks on trees, not torn-up trail cams, and certainly not a journal filled with paranoid ramblings about "four knocks" in the night. But the deeper Liam digs into his uncle’s final days, the more disturbing the entries become — detailing a presence that circles the cabin, leaves no tracks, and never comes in… unless you open the door. Now snowed in, with no way to contact the outside world, Liam finds himself alone...

Long lost to the public in out-of-print pulp magazines, dusty Victorian anthologies, and the pages of now defunct newspapers, these vintage vampire stories have truly proved immortal. Resurrected now for the year 2011, this is a stunning collection of nineteenth-century vampire stories by heavyweights such as Sabine Baring-Gould and Bram Stoker. These rare stories are arranged in chronological order from 1846 to 1913 and are compiled by two of the world's leading vampire anthologists and experts.

A Festive Frolic of Frosty Streets and Fearless Feats! London, 1899: The snowy streets of Victorian London shimmer with holiday cheer, but for Flynn, the spirited Baker Street Irregular, it’s shaping up to be a Christmas calamity. Evicted from his rented room by a greedy landlord, Flynn and his mates are back on the icy cobblestones. Then Sherlock Holmes assigns Flynn a crucial mission: shadow a suspicious stranger. It’s Flynn’s chance to prove himself—but he loses his target in the bustling Christmas shopping crowd, right under Becky’s watchful eye. Determined to redeem himself, ...

Sticking their noses where they are most definitely not wanted. Despairing of their humans, these pets take it upon themselves to solve the cases they see as only cats and dogs can. Whether they sniff out the clues or fool the criminals into thinking they are harmless pets to be ignored, Rex, Amber, Buster, and more enjoy escapades a plenty in this fun collection of short stories. Grab your copy and be ready for the fur to fly! Includes: Police Dog - Day One Amber's Bust The Little Lost Dachshund Hell Cat Hell Hounds The Clown, the Witch, and the Cat The Case of the Missing Pasty

Who would suspect that the same mind that created the most famous literary detective of all time also took on the eternally popular genre of vampires? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a contemporary of Bram Stoker, gave us some fascinating works of vampire fiction. From the bloodsucking plant in "The American's Tale" to the bloodsucking wife in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," he reveled in the horror created by creatures who survived on the blood of men and women.

Clues, Chaos, and Catastrophe Under the Big Top! London, 1899: The circus is in town, but danger is in the spotlight. When a clown is found dangling lifeless from the high wire at the Olympia Amphitheater, Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James are called in to investigate. With rivalries, roaring egos, and deadly secrets lurking behind the curtain, the Baker Street team must act fast to stop the next act from ending in tragedy. To infiltrate the tight-knit world of acrobats, fire-eaters, and animal tamers, Lucy and Jack go undercover as magicians, with the ever-curious Becky as their pint-sized ...

Fearful Rock and Other Precarious Locales is the third volume of Night Shade Books' five volume "Selected Stories of Manly Wade Wellman." This volume is made up of eight novella length stories. It includes Wellman's "Judge Pursivant" and "Sergeant Jaeger" stories, as well as a lost classic from Strange Stories (1939).

When a man is shot in the head, Bree Taggert and her new partner, veteran detective Dana Romano, respond to the call. They break the news to the victim’s ex-wife and learn the estranged couple’s five-year-old daughter was supposed to have been with him. What starts as a murder investigation quickly morphs into a desperate search for a missing child. The case stirs memories of Bree’s own traumatizing childhood. To find the little girl, Bree will have to relive her own terrifying past.