Science Fiction Detective

As we listen to each character tell their version of the events, layer upon layer of drama and suspense builds to the final and astonishing denouement of the first, and most magnificent, English detective novel.

In the near future, climate change has hit hard; unemployment is high, and controversial longevity treatments are only available to the very rich. Enter DC Police Detective Jen B. Lu and her partner, Chandler, a SIM implant in her brain providing an instant link to the internet and police records. As a detective in the Elder Abuse Unit, Jen is supposed to be investigating kids pushing their aging parents to exit so that they’re eligible to get the longevity drug. But what really has her attention are the persistent rumors about Eden, a black-market version of the longevity drug.

When his 5-year-old neighbor goes missing, Jack can't help feeling responsible. He should have taken Cody home when he found him riding his bicycle near the Pine Barrens. And then a lost man wanders out of the woods after being chased all night by...something. Jack knows, better than anyone, that the Barrens are dangerous - a true wilderness filled with people, creatures, and objects lost from sight and memory. Like the ancient, 15-foot-tall stone pyramid he, Weezy, and Eddie discover. Jack thinks it might have been a cage of some sort, but for what kind of animal, he can't say.

When a body is found pulverised beyond recognition, I’m called to investigate. As Chester’s only magical Detective Inspector, it’s my job to handle the cases the Common police can’t. This one has all the hallmarks of the Other Realm—especially when I find a talking bird caged at the scene.

Dick Wolf, the celebrated creator of the Law & Order television franchise, makes his literary debut with The Intercept, a taut, driving thriller reminiscent of the classic The Day of the Jackal. Days before the July Fourth holiday and the dedication of One World Trade Center at Ground Zero, an...

The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip--lured into the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his...

It is late in 1903 and Corporal John Caldwell has just returned from his time away resolving a murder that took place in the Alaskan Territory. Just after he arrives back in Dawson City, he witnesses a murder where he becomes a witness. After the trial there is request for a detective and he travels to Calgary in the Alberta District. He assists to resolve several serious cases when he is placed underground to deal with a gambling operator and illegal liquor. When the operator is killed John tracks down the gang to a farm.

I’m Rylan Flynn. I hunt for ghosts and restless spirits, and solve the mysteries that make them haunt the living. As I drive across an isolated bridge way out in the woods, a bright light blinds me. But it isn’t a car approaching. It’s a ghost, with a deadly secret to reveal. I follow the spirit down to the river. There, below the water, I find the body of a young woman. A small square of skin is missing from her hip, and I’m certain she was murdered. Detective Ford Pierce rushes to join me. Our friendship is turning into something deeper, and there’s nobody I would rather have by my side.

I’m Jinx, a private investigator, a truth seeker, and a wizard. You'd think of all those skills would make it so easy for me to get to the heart of things. And honestly? I thought I knew what had happened to my parents that night. But I've taken a tumble down the rabbit hole and everything I thought I knew was topsy turvy. I'm trying to get my head screwed on right, but some rude SOB keeps trying to kill me. Worse, I think it's the same guy that targeted my parents. I need to stay alive long enough to bring him to justice. The problem with that is that it looks like we've got a mole.

There are no secrets in Saintstone. From the second you're born, every achievement, every failing, every significant moment are all immortalized on your skin. There are honorable marks that let people know you're trustworthy. And shameful tattoos that announce you as a traitor.

RJ Spencer is a lucky 12 year old. He lives in the big city and his parents are landlords of the high-rise apartment building that is his home. The many tenants in the building, along with the endless possibilities of adventures in the city itself, are the perfect setting for the young detective as he sets out to solve every case he can get his hands on. Something crazy and loud is keeping RJ and Joey awake at night.

Though forty miles away, Duston Heights is not safe from the flu that’s raging through Boston. When Johnny Dixon’s grandmother falls ill, he’s sent to live with his neighbor to avoid infection. So many locals are getting sick that school is canceled for a week, and the reclusive Dr. Abram Ashburn comes out of retirement to make house calls. After seeing a scary vision of his bedridden grandmother outside of a window, Johnny starts to feel on edge. Then he and his best friend find what looks to be a weird map of a cemetery in Dr. Ashburn’s house.

Stella Ainsley leaves poverty behind when she quits her engineering job aboard the Stalwart to become a governess on a private ship. On the Rochester, there’s no water ration, more books than one person could devour in a lifetime, and an AI who seems more friend than robot. But no one warned Stella that the ship seems to be haunted, nor that it may be involved in a conspiracy that could topple the entire interstellar fleet.

When reports come in that the Kingpin and a police officer have been killed and that Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) has turned himself in for it, Matt Murdock senses holes in the narratives the media and the streets are quick to run with. Both criminals have been Matt’s nemeses when he dons the cowl of the Daredevil, and there’s no denying that New York is better off without its Kingpin and with the Punisher behind bars. And yet ... while the Punisher is a murderous vigilante, he doesn’t kill cops. And he doesn’t turn himself in.

Christina Lattimore’s family is wealthy and powerful. She attends the best private high school. Yet Christina feels trapped by her family’s expectations. Frustrated and angry at her situation, she pays little attention when a strange car follows her home one night. Its headlights are the last thing she remembers until she wakes up in captivity. Christina is terrified when she realizes kidnappers are holding her for ransom. But after her rescue, she faces an even greater shock. Her family thinks she was an accomplice in her own kidnapping! Can she convince them of her innocence?

In a world where anyone can create a life-destroying curse, only one person has the power to unravel them. Kellen does not fully understand his talent, but helps those transformed maliciously—including Nettle. Recovered from entrapment in bird form, she is now his constant companion and closest ally. But Kellen has also been cursed, and unless he and Nettle can remove his curse, Kellen is in danger of unravelling everything—and everyone—around him.

Seventeen-year-old Molly's recurrent nightmares become waking visions after she nearly drowns at a party. Soon she's witnessing events through the eyes of a girl who lived in her father's house nearly a century before.

The Store doesn't just want your money--it wants your soul. BONUS: Includes the first-time-in-print novel The End! THE STORE IS WATCHING YOU. Jacob and Megan Brandeis have gotten jobs with the mega-successful, ultra-secretive Store. Seems perfect. Seems safe. But their lives are about to become...

The name's Burnside, and I always get the weird cases. I built my detective career taking down the strangest bad guys in Earth Sector. No matter how crazy the case, I always managed to get it off the books. After 20 years of pounding my beat, I was ready to pack it in, and I'd called it a day. Then these killings started, weird to the point of freaked-out PD Chiefs, and only one person who fit the case. So much for retirement. The story I'm going to tell you covers two years of my life, and took me from one end of human space to the other.

Here are nine fascinating, shuddery tales about those most overlooked of sleuths -- the ghost hunters and psychic detectives who spiced up the pages of turn-of-the century magazines.