Dark Crime Fiction

In the spring of 2014, struggling musician Mike Bradley is forced to do some manual work over the spring bank holiday to make ends meet. What was supposed to be a routine decorating job turns into a life-changing decision. Is the Memorabilia Man all he appears to be? A story of loyalty and betrayal and a misguided sense of honor.

Desde que David Valenzuela, un joven ingenuo y poco lumbrera, mató en defensa propia a uno de los hermanos Castro, conocidos narcotraficantes del Triángulo Dorado en la región de Sinaloa, su vida se convierte en una huida llena de oportunos golpes de suerte y en la que se cruzará con los más variopintos personajes que, sin él pretenderlo, le involucrarán en situaciones tanto trágicas como cómicas.

There are only a few weeks left before an asteroid destroys the planet. It’s the countdown, and all of humanity is just waiting for the end. In Phoenix, AZ, the sheriff’s department and National Guard are battling for supremacy, gas is as good as cash, and elementary school kids are out for blood. Most people in town have become the worst versions of themselves. Except for Dutch Kovaks, private detective. Dutch wants to right some wrongs, help a few people in need, and use the days he’s got left for good. Most of all, he wants to track down a bottle of gin.

1984, New York City. Through a series of bad life decisions, a former big time mobster has been reduced to a low-level hood, and he has to find a way to repay the family $100,000 in a week, or else face the consequences. This sets off a chain reaction of ever-increasingly absurd and comic events that culminate in one of the largest heists in mob history.

When Detective CJ O’Hara and her fiancé, Investigator Ben Parrish, retreat to an isolated fishing lodge in Alaska for a romantic vacation, they’re thrilled to book the last cabin of the season and have a week away from fighting crime. But the peace is short-lived when a young woman is brutally murdered, and a massive storm moves in, leaving the guests and crew stranded with no way to communicate…or escape.

Nobody is more surprised than Billy when he finds himself bleeding out onto his new linoleum floor, a kitchen knife in his chest. Rose, his wife, and Born2Rock, her lover, are leaving for a night on the town. They're sure he'll be dead in no time. So is he. With the help of Consuela, the house keeper, Billy makes it to the hospital. After a short stint in the ICU, he returns to the scene of the crime, home, where he takes up residence in the attic. From this vantage point, Billy watches and waits and plots his revenge.

In a former life, Nick Lutz, sold cars in the Golden State. He had a wife and a young son, and they struggled along until Nick was shot in the head when a potential customer hijacked the car he was demonstrating. The incident sets off a bad-luck domino fall, and he loses an eye, his job, his family, and, eventually, his self-respect. With nothing left, Nick heads for Mexico, where he sheds his former self among an eclectic group of expats and locals, who fondly name him “Pirata” on account of his eye patch.

The Casting Director is a black comedy crime thriller about Lee Hamill whose specialty is finding unknowns on the streets of Dublin for low-budget Irish movies. He's the middleman, matchmaker, and awkward buffer zone between performer and producer. Lee is HR for actors, but one of them wants him dead.

You won't remember Mr Heming. He showed you round your comfortable home, before you took the plunge and bought it. But all these years later, he still has the key. That's absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine? The answer to that is, he has the keys to them all.

Henry, a New Yorker left destitute by circumstance and obsession, is plucked from vagrancy by a shadowy outfit whose primary business is arranging for staged murders of anxiety-ridden clients unhinged by the “events downtown” and seeking to experience - and live through - their own carefully executed assassinations. When Henry joins this nefarious crew, which includes a beautiful blonde tattooist named Tulip, contortionist twins, and a woman referred to only as “the knockout”, he becomes inextricably linked to its ringleader, the mysterious herring connoisseur Mr. Kindt.

Detective CJ O’Hara has barely had time to catch her breath after closing the Lowcountry Killer case. With a serial rapist terrorizing the city, CJ is already stretched to her limit when a young woman is butchered in her sleep—and the killer takes a gruesome souvenir. Pulling apart bizarre clues, CJ believes the evidence may point to hoodoo rituals connected to the full moon. But finding the truth may require the help of a Gullah woman with the gift of sight. A gift she is reluctant to share.

In modern-day America, Dez is a former lawyer and teacher - an ephebophile with a proclivity for teenage girls hiding out in a trailer park with his latest conquest, Chloe.

Having been in and out of courtrooms (and therapists' offices) for a number of years, Dez is adrift, at odds with a society that persecutes him over his desires. From his couch one afternoon, Dez watches an interview with Jasper Ulrickson, a doting father and loving husband whose heartrending memoir, Lessons from My Daughter, has become a national best seller.

Shot down during a bombing raid on Germany, Flying Officer Robbie Ticknall soon finds himself an unwilling guest of the Third Reich. He comes face to face with victims of the attack and begins to question the morality of his actions. He finds himself seemingly haunted by the apparitions of two children. Has he killed them? And if so, do they want revenge? If not, why are they appearing to him? The apparitions follow him into captivity, a constant reminder of the consequences of carrying out his duty.

From Jay Bonansinga, author of The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury and The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, comes a collection of short stories and novellas that span a number of genres.

COVID-19 is spreading across the country. Peaceful demonstrations for Black Lives Matter after the murder by cop of George Floyd have turned violent. President Trump’s handling of the pandemic seems incompetent and chaotic. Infections and deaths continue to rise. When Attorney General Barr orders riot police and troops to clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square for Trump’s photo-op with a Bible, something snaps in Jack Blair. After a psychotic episode he is thrown into prison, and his life is threatened by white nationalist boogaloo bois.

The sequel to Bocas, Bronte follows George to Australia. PJ left a little surprise back home. And her name is Charlotte.

Mary Shields is a moody, acerbic probation officer dealing with some of Glasgow’s worst cases, and her job is on the line. Liam Macdowall was imprisoned for murdering his wife, and he’s published a series of letters to the dead woman, in a book that makes him an unlikely hero - and a poster boy for Men’s Rights activists. Liam is released on licence into Mary’s care, but things are far from simple. Mary develops a poisonous obsession with Liam and his world, and when her son and Liam’s daughter form a relationship, Mary will stop at nothing to impose her own brand of justice.

You might as well know this going in: Lawrence Block's new novel is not for everyone. It's recounted in journal form by its protagonist, and begins when he walks into a roadhouse outside of Bakersfield, California, and walks out with a woman. And rapes and murders her. But, um, not in that order. Right. But it's what he does with the rest of his life that's really interesting....

Jenny Aaron was a government assassin, part of an elite unit tracking Germany's most dangerous criminals. She was one of the best, until a disastrous mission ended with her abandoning a wounded colleague and losing her sight forever. Now, five years later, she has learnt to navigate a darkened world but is haunted by her betrayal. When she is called back to the force to trace a ruthless serial killer, she seizes the opportunity to solve the case and restore her honour.

In the explosive finale of the Blood Vendetta series, Book 12 brings the ultimate showdown. Vladimir’s relentless pursuit of revenge has led to a final confrontation, and Lily is caught in the deadly crossfire. With Zayn by her side, she’s prepared to face the man who once shattered her life—but this time, she’s not running. The battle between past and present, love and vengeance, reaches its boiling point, forcing Lily and Zayn into a fight for survival.