Mystery Reads

New England, 1890. Doctor John Shepherd arrives at a women's mental hospital to begin work as assistant to the owner. As Shepherd struggles to conceal his secrets, he finds the asylum has plenty of its own. Intrigued by a girl who is fascinated by books but cannot read, Shepherd embarks upon an experiment to help her. In this chilling literary thriller everyone has something to hide and no one is what they seem.

Daniel's latest case is a run-of-the-mill missing persons, but it's personal this time. It's his missing person, his sister, and he's desperate to beat the 48-hour clock imposed by her kidnapper. So, he goes it alone and gets himself in deep trouble. His hail-Mary hope is Tasia and the powers she is afraid to fully use. He can only pray she hears him when he calls....

Paige has just touched the surface of the crimes of the Angel Syndicate , and there are more murders, lies and secrets still to be uncovered.

Paige helps Leo search for his mother, who has been missing since his father’s violent murder at the hands of a still unknown assailant. When they find his mother, they start to realize that all is not as it seems as she doesn’t remember anything from the night of her husband’s death.

Megan Daniels was only three years old the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, but flashes of that day begin to trigger other disturbing memories. At first they are merely snippets, but then they begin to appear more frequently. In her attempt to learn more, she sets out to find her biological mother, but keeps hitting brick walls. No adoption papers exist, and all she has to go on is her possible birthday: November 22. In the small town of Meredith, California, Megan’s search takes on a dire, domino effect - one woman has already been murdered as a result of her inquiries.

Abdullah Syed Hari is fourteen years old. He loves his family and his friends. And he is a Somali pirate. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

His friends warned him not to try the fried pudding at the carnival, but Dan didn't listen. A short story in comics from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Benny's friend Ray come up with his craziest invention idea yet: a machine that grants wishes. But when Benny realizes he has some wishes that need granting, he starts to wonder if it might just work. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

There’s nothing better than taking your timid little cousin Thad to one of those sweet haunted houses the 4-H Club decorates for Halloween. Except, of course, if the house turns out to actually be haunted. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Two fake psychics, one real haunted house - what could go wrong? A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.

River and Niko find their dad is missing, and they have no choice but to track him down. But when they discover the clues lead to a shady reptile dealer, they start to think they might have gotten in over their heads.

A train ride home from a school field trip turns sinister when two kids spot a body on the tracks. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Tim Diamond - the world’s worst private detective - takes on his most dangerous case yet, and it’s going to be up to his brother to keep him out of trouble. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

The ad promised you'd be able to see into the spirit world. But they couldn't work for real... could they? A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Nate’s best friend Jeremy is missing, and Nate seems to be the only one worried that he’s been captured by hideous creatures that live in the sewers. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Arriving on the shore of Lake Michigan for summer vacation, the Graham Quartet senses that something is not quite right. When a slip of the tongue causes an unexpected reaction, Elsa, Matt, Selena, and Tim, jump into a mystery. But what is the connection between a cryptic note, a yellow door, and a boat called the Day Maid? When their friend, Lieutenant Ashwood, disappears, the Quartet feels the pressure of time and must turn to another source for help. Will the four siblings get enough information to unravel the mystery, before the suspects vanish completely?

Sent away to convent school at the age of six, Irini McGuire has never really known her celebrated archaeologist mother, Bridget, who lives on the paradise island of Santorini. So, when Irini receives news that Bridget has been injured at a dig and is in coma she knows it is time to return to the island of her birth. Discovering her mother's notes, and driven by rumours that her mother's injury was no accident, Irini starts to reveal the dark secrets behind her family's separation. Can she unearth the truth about her parents and her past before it is too late?

Glaswegian forklift truck driver Jack is quietly enjoying his tea break when a friend shows him something on the internet. Outrage follows, quickly spreading through social media, and within hours an angry mob has formed to put the world to rights. Modern justice is soft, as Jack knows, so perhaps it's time things were done like they were in the good old days...

Winzy is a young man who is desperately in love with a girl named Bertha. He is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her, even to reluctantly accept an employment offer by the alchemist Cornelius Agrippa. Unfortunately Bertha leaves Winzy for another man and Winzy’s despair leads him to drinking an elixir which Agrippa has been working on. Winzy hopes that the elixir will cure him from love. But it does more than that. The next day Bertha is still true to Winzy and he has been rejuvenated and is happy.

"The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins is one of the forefathers of detective fiction, cementing the foundations of the genre. At the centre of it lays the theft of a diamond, dating in origin from a religious Indian shrine, which prompts detective Sergeant Cuff to take up the case. It is an absolute page-turner of a story and goes through the accounts of the different characters, winding and meandering from fact to fiction and vice versa.