Short Stories Mystery Thrillers

The best noir writers make us feel the heat of the sun, the touch of a lover. Setting can be gritty but can also be sublime, no longer relegated to urban locales and seedy hotel rooms but also mansions and swimming pools. Hence, Palm Springs, which may seem like an odd setting for a collection of dark short stories—it’s so sunny and bright here. The stories in this collection come on like the wicked dust storms common to the area.

When a baby - only hours old - is discovered on the Amish bishop's front porch in Painter's Mill, Ohio, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. The newborn is swaddled in an Amish crib quilt, and the only other item found with the child is a hand-carved wood rattle, which...

First published in an 1839 edition of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the story of the declining physical and psychological health of the residents of the House of Usher - and the way in which the house itself reflects that. Gothic in theme and style, the story is an exemplar of Poe's philosophy of composition, which dictates that literary works should be short and methodological and have a unity of effect wherein all the elements of the story are related and relevant.

Aspen is a Norm. A non-magic. A human. And in this supernatural city, that's a quick way to wind up dead. Or worse. She didn't plan on becoming an apprentice to Lucien Dunadine, one of the strongest members on the Council of Mages. She really didn't plan on taking part in a deadly competition against Isak Uchida, her handsome, aggravating, deadly opponent. But with something sinister going down in the magic boroughs, they'll all have to work together if they want to uncover the source of an ancient evil threatening their home.

I wasn't always like this, you know - paranoid, temperamental, vindictive. I mean, sure, I've always been a bit....high strung. But, I never used to stalk my therapist patients. Or yell at them. Or hold them captive in my garage. No, all of that started after the incidents at Lonesome Woods Boarding School. And I'm not talking about the school shooter. This was something far more insidious - something....infectious. Like a cancerous disease that tore through the student body, rotting young hearts one by one.

Books included in this collection: BOOK 4—DEATH’S KISS, BOOK 5—DEATH’S TASTE, and BOOK 6—DEATH’S ANGEL.

Taking a stab at freelance journalism, Ryan Jordan tackles the legend of La Llorona, a ghostly woman from colonial days who drowned her children near San Juan Capistrano Mission. At the old Spanish mission, he sees documentation in dusty manuscripts that seems to support the legend. He also encounters skepticism. Pressing further, he interviews the city historian who directs him to the residents of the old town alongside the creek near the mission. The local people have their stories of the cursed woman.

Vancouver is the so-called City of Glass. A nice place, in any case, and much too nice for noir. Looked at from afar, Vancouver may seem idyllic. But living here is different - cold and baffling and occasionally hostile. While outsiders focus on high-test BC bud, locals see a heroin crisis: Vancouver is home to the first legalized safe-injection site in North America, now heavily taxed by overdoses resulting from street drugs cut with fentanyl.

A thriller writer is embroiled in a real-life whodunit when a friend drops dead with her hatpin impaled in his back. The violation of a sealed West Bank tomb, its rock walls intact, provides a Thebes investigator with a mystifying conundrum. Two sisters take shelter in a shuttered old house at the end of a country road . . . only to discover they're not alone. And the author's most beloved characters, Amelia Peabody and Radcliff Emerson, make an appearance in a newly uncovered tale with a witty nod to Sherlock Holmes.

Ten-year-old Lucas’s life is a simple but happy one. All that changes when the Hunters finally track down his whereabouts. Forced to bear witness to horrific scenes that forever shatter his innocence, he discovers the shocking secret behind his less than ordinary existence. What follows is a fight for survival that will define the nature of a boy bound to an incredible destiny whose origins have been lost to the tides of time.

Lights! Camera! Action! The latest book in the Big Book Series takes us behind the curtain to uncover the stories that became some of the greatest films of the silver screen. Among these are Robert Louis Stevenson's horrifying tale that was later turned into the iconic movie The Body Snatcher, starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff; and "Cyclists' Raid", the short story that formed the basis for the legendary Brando film The Wild One.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder confronts a mysterious beast terrorizing the residents of Painters Mill in this new original short mystery from bestselling author Linda Castillo. On a foggy spring night, an Amish man crashes his buggy after a large, unidentified animal spooks his horse. Kate...

A collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season – from the No. 1 bestseller Stuart MacBride On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Twelve days, twelve stories. Meet Fat Billy Partridge, possibly the worst...

This new Cyanide Publishing edition contains three classic audiobooks by Maurice LeBlanc as well as background articles.Follow the exploits of Arsene Lupin, the greatest of all white-glove thieves and the original gentleman burglar. Mystery and tension build, but humor prevails throughout as Monsieur Lupin and Chief Inspector Guerchard try mightily to outwit each other. Slapstick humor, witty asides, and some unexpected twists.

Meet Roxanne Bloom, ex-lawyer and who likes to be called Roxy by her close friends. She's the owner and operator of The Bean Hive coffee shop in Honey Springs. Kentucky. But when a dead body is dumped on her doorstep like a sack of coffee beans, the cozy coffee shop becomes an all-out crime scene and everyone in the small town is hankering for some good gossip. Sheriff Spencer warns her to be careful because everyone is a suspect. Roxy's snooping lawyer skills are on alert and she can't help but brew up a few clues to help find the cold blooded killer

Under the Great British Baking Contest tent, the competition's heating up to be crowned Best Baker in all of Britain. For amateur baker Poppy Wilkinson, there are mysteries, secrets, and lies, even murders to solve. As a fledgling witch, Poppy's having enough trouble controlling her sponge cake, never mind trying to control her powers. Besides solving crime, Poppy's also trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her own background. Will she discover who she really is before she gets sent home? Or worse?

In Agatha Christie’s “The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan,” Poirot and Hastings are called on to solve the case of Mrs. Opalsen’s missing set of pearls, apparently stolen during a stay at the Grand Metropolitan Hotel. The two suspects are Mrs. Opalsen’s maid and the hotel chambermaid, but both blame the other. Who is the real thief? This short story originally appeared in the March 14, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

One of the most highly acclaimed novelists in the crime genre, Lawrence Block is also a master of the short story. The sixteen stories (and one stage play!) collected here feature appearances by some of Block's most famous characters, including burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr and private detective Matt Scudder, as well as glimpses into the minds of a rogue's gallery of killers, sociopaths, and crooked cops.

When internationally-renowned thief and Crovir immortal Howard Titus hears of a hoard of gold and cash about to land in the vault of the First Chicago Bank, he has only one thought in mind. Getting his hands on the dough. On the night he breaks into the bank to carry out his carefully-laid plan, the Crovir thief comes face to face with a man who challenges everything he thought he knew about the immortal races and all his plans for his future.

This wry collection of Hanukkah noir features eleven stories by critically acclaimed authors that run the gamut from hardboiled to heartfelt, curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg. Across eleven stories, award-winning authors spin tales of family, corruption, buried treasure and delightful yet twisted capers that will entertain listeners through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights.