Urban Crime Fiction

The night world of Old Town, Portland, Oregon, has gone mad in the grip of gentrification, and at the center of it all is Lucky Supreme, a seedy tattoo parlor, whose proprietor is a street-bred artist with a unique approach to problem solving. Darby Holland has enough on his radar, but when some flash (tattoo artwork) stolen from him resurfaces in California, he can't help himself. His efforts to reclaim it set him on a dangerous path, dragging along his delightfully eccentric colleagues.

What happens when an ex-cop decides to buy a motel and train young private investigators? When retired cop Jack Heitman buys a motel and begins the daunting job of training young private investigators he gets more than he bargained for. Mix in a serial killer, a house full of alpha males, strong independent women, plenty of twists and turns, lots of sexual tension, and you get Urban Renewal. Get ready for a thrilling ride full of twists, turns, and unpredictable relationships and cases.

Christine Bailey comes from a privileged background, always sees the good in people, and swiftly falls for the enigmatic and handsome Awesome Petté, who exemplifies charm, intellect, ambition, and the gift to incite her sexual inhibitions. She believes he is her soul mate but will soon discover she has been living in a fool's paradise because he will slowly draw her into a sinister plot that will leave her asking, "What type of monster did his parents create?"

Told in stark, unsparing detail, Haffner's story delves into the illicit underworld of Berlin on the eve of Hitler's rise to power, describing how these blood brothers move from one petty crime to the next, spending their nights in underground bars and makeshift hostels, struggling together to survive the harsh realities of gang life and finding in one another the legitimacy denied them by society.

Sam Schuler is starting a new family, trying to begin a respectable life, and trying to extricate himself from the seedy people he once knew. But when his former best friend involves him in a petty drug theft, a local street gang is stirred to action and Sam finds himself the target of harassment from the gang's leader. When the situation escalates from threats to violence to the worst transgression imaginable, Sam's reality is warped beyond recognition.

After a lucrative television writing career comes to an abrupt end, ex–high school teacher Ray Mitchell returns to the New Jersey city of his birth—to rethink his life, reconnect with his teenage daughter and to spread the wealth on the housing project that reared him. He begins teaching again, embarks on an affair with a married woman from the old neighborhood and becomes a mentor to a former student recently released from jail. Then, disaster: he is found beaten nearly to death in his own apartment.

Epi Dalmau is a desperate man. Early one morning, he carries a duffle bag into a dingy bar in a rough neighborhood of Barcelona. Four other people are in the bar: his brother Alex, his good friend Tanveer, the bartender, and a Pakistani man who wandered in to use the restroom. Epi grabs a hammer out of his duffle bag and attacks Tanveer. After a brief struggle and a couple of blows, Tanveer lies dead on the floor and Epi flees the bar. Alex and the bartender plan to find and protect Epi, while blaming the murder on the unfortunate Pakistani man, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's 1968, New York City is in a state of mayhem, and private eye Alex Novalis is flat broke. So he accepts a mundane missing persons gig from wealthy construction mogul Gabriel Kravitz, whose 18-year-old daughter, Lydia, has disappeared. The only lead is that Lydia had been sleeping with Jerry Pedrosian, a radical artist and known womanizer. But there are few clues, and everyone in Lydia's life seems to be hiding something... including her miniskirted best friend, Andrea Marshall, who Novalis is inconveniently attracted to.

This one is brilliant. Mud Street, the introduction to OzValt Grant - former sniper, former Homicide Detective, now consulting at the DenMark Police Department. Rabies abound in the most horrific way starting on Mud Street and leading along a yellow brick road of death and mourning. Snuffed introduces our hero to an underground network of snuff directors. A serial killer is targeting women in DenMark and killing them on display.

There can be only one: one man with two loyal friends and secrets from the past that will ultimately shake up the entire hood in Chicago; one man on a mission to destroy anyone who doesn't abide by his rules, including tricky bitches who drop to their knees behind closed doors yet stand tall against him when the time comes to collect the almighty dollar; one man with enough swagger in his walk and confidence in his talk and the skills and mindset to build an empire.

The Detective Story Club's first short story anthology is based around a London detective club and includes three newly discovered tales unpublished for 100 years, plus a story bearing an uncanny resemblance to a Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story but written some seven years earlier.

Malcom Porter had potential. A bright future. A scholarship. But when his older brother is killed, he trades textbooks for territory and becomes a name feared in Harlem. As enemies rise, trust bleeds thin, and betrayals cut deep, Malcom must decide whether he’ll rule the streets like a king—or break the cycle before it buries him.

Alex Menkaure, former pharaoh and mummy, and his vampire partner, Marcus, born in ancient Rome, are vice cops in a special Miami police unit. They fight to keep the streets safe from criminal vampires, shape-shifters, bootleg blood dealers, and anti-vampire vigilantes. When poisoned artificial blood drives vampires to murder, the city threatens to tear itself apart. Only an unlikely alliance with former opponents can give Alex and Marcus a fighting chance against an ancient vampire conspiracy.

Faolan O'Connor spent his life killing for men like Legs Diamond and Lucky Luciano, and now it's his turn to face the music. But when vampire Darcy Killian offers him immortality, Faolan enters a world of violence, wealth, and power beyond anything he's ever imagined.

Harrison spins the story of a young, beautiful, secretive Chinese woman, Jin-Li, who gets involved in a brilliant scheme to steal valuable information from corporations in New York City. When the plan is discovered by powerful New Yorkers who stand to lose enormous sums of money, Jin-Li goes on the run. Meanwhile, her former lover, Ray Grant, a man who was out of the country for years but who has recently returned, is caught up in the search for her.

Medium Dead is a fun urban fantasy chronicling the crime fighting adventures of Brenda - a reluctant medium - and Brian - a vigilante demon with an impish sense of humour. Think Stephanie Plum with magic and a dash of Carl Hiaasen. Brenda Steele is smart, funny and out of her depth. A Vigilante Demon called Brian wants her to find murdered spirits and help him track down their killers. But Brian doesn't just catch criminals, he likes to play with them first, and make the punishment fit the crime.

Lucy Keiver has come back from service in the country to London’s notorious Campbell Road. She’s there to care for her mum, the forthright and feisty but much loved Matilda, recovering after a savage attack almost left her dead. Despite the depression affecting the country, Lucy is lucky to find a job as a Lady’s maid. But when she is unfairly dismissed, Lucy is forced to take a job in a rather unsavoury nightclub - something nice girls just don’t do.

It's easy to kill a man. It's hard to kill a man well. A 29-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organization wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A target: Lewis Winter, a necessary sacrifice that will be only the first step in an all-out war between crime syndicates the likes of which hasn't been seen for decades. It's easy to kill a man.

Training at the Undercover Protectorate’s Academy is kicking my butt. My sister aced it in a few months - but I’m lagging behind like a three-legged poodle at a greyhound race. I don’t want to have to leave my new home in this amazing castle, so I’ve got to get a grip on my magic. Soon. When thieves steal valuable dragon magic, our whole castle is put at risk. Worse, our friends are dying. It's my destiny to hunt the thieves, but my boss doesn’t get that. When she tells me to stand down, I have to listen. And that means our magic keeps weakening, and our friends are closer to death.

A small-town sheriff has some unfinished business in the big city.... Jack Lamburt doesn’t negotiate with drug dealers. When he learns that his girlfriend Debbie’s sister is keeping company with New Jersey gang leaders, he opts to spring her the only way he knows how. With a hail of bullets and blood.... On his quest to get Debbie’s sister free, Lamburt attracts the attention of an FBI agent eager to take the vigilante down. Things get even hairier when a drug lord goes on the war path to reverse the sheriff’s rescue mission with some deadly revenge.