Mystery Reads

If you like gripping mysteries, thrilling action, and suspense, you’ll love this pulse-pounding collection from acclaimed author P.T. Reade. Includes the books Night Runner, Marked for Death, Private Lie, and Taken Below. Discover murder, mystery, danger, and betrayal across Los Angeles, New Orleans, and deep below New York City in this exciting series of short thrillers that readers are calling "captivating" and a "must read".

When divers discover an antique car with a skeleton inside, the Beacon Group dispatches TK O’Connor to lead the investigation into the 60-year-old cold case. It’s TK’s first chance as lead investigator, and the former marine is determined not to let her team down. But, almost as soon as she arrives in the downtrodden rustbelt city, her challenges mount.

Angie Deacon was the last to see Nolan Little alive. Which makes her a prime suspect in his death. Sure, he was gruff and insensitive. Treated his wife like dirt. But besides Valerie, why would any of the five strangers on board want him dead? None of them knew him before today. Or did they? Police detective Colby Jarvis storms the boat determined to unveil the killer before they get back to shore. What a feather in the widower's cap that would be. He falls hook, line, and sinker at his first sight of Angie, but she is married and off limits.

After their father’s death, the two brothers, Nur al-Din and Shams al-Din, agree to marry two sisters on the same day. The main idea is that Nur wants to have a son, while Shams wants to have a daughter. And so it happens. Shams al-Din has a daughter and Nur al-Din has a son - Badr al-Din. Right before he dies, Nur tells his young boy about his uncle Shams, who is still in Cairo. After the death of his father, Badr al-Din loses the approval of the sultan and must flee away.

Sixty years ago, a plague wiped out mankind and only a handful of people managed to survive. The survivors established their own civilization and rules in the wild and destructed world. Now, sixty years later, an old man named James Howard Smith walks together with a young boy through the desert. The two travelers walk along an old and long forgotten railway track with an important mission, a mission that can change the life of all the survivors.

Buck is a 140-pound dog, a mix of St. Bernard and sheepdog, and lives in Santa Clara Valley with his owner, Judge Miller. However, Buck’s happy and comfortable life comes to an end when he is kidnapped from Miller’s estate and forced to pull sleds in the Klondike region of Canada. The poor dog does not want to obey his new owner and as a result he is beaten and tortured. After Buck arrives in the cold North, he meets another dog named Curly, that is mercilessly killed by a pack of huskies.

"The Dream Woman" is a novella by Wilkie Collins, telling the story of Francis Raven, a young man who dreams that a strange woman is trying to kill him. Eventually, he marries a woman who looks exactly like the one from his dream. This novella is a cosy mystery that leaves readers with more questions than answers. A lot of guesswork is needed, and the reader is often disturbed by the occurrences, not knowing what or how it came to this.

Hadleyburg is a decent American town where all the people are honest, selfless and honorable. At least, that is how they see themselves. One day a stranger arrives in town and somehow the locals manage to offend him so badly that he is determined to get his revenge on them by exposing their true nature, which according to him is far from "incorruptible". How will he tempt the people that are so well trained to avoid temptation? Are they really as honest as they claim to be? B. J.

A young couple's fabulously orderly life is disrupted when the husband begins having prophetic dreams. The good news is that acting on these dreams averts disaster. The bad news? It soon involves a mysterious stranger in a cardigan, skeptical colleagues, and the FBI.

Following the death of the parents of Jonathan's four-year-old nephew Joshua, Dick and his partner find themselves in a new role: parents. As if fatherhood didn't bring enough of a set of challenges, the mother of one of Joshua's new friends is murdered, sending Dick on a trail to find out who killed her and why. With a list of suspects ranging from a lesbian ex-partner to the boy's race-car-driver father, Dick is soon embroiled in a case so complicated that child-rearing begins to look easier than solving the case.

Alice is pregnant with her husband Sir Richard Trevlyn’s child. One day, she listens to a conversation between her husband and a visitor through a keyhole. What she hears is shocking enough to make her faint, and when she comes to, her husband is found dead. Years later, the sixteen-year-old Paul applies for a job at the estate, and it becomes clear that there is more to him than meets the eye. What happened to Sir Richard Trevlyn, and who is the mysterious Paul? Louisa May Alcott’s mystery novella from the 19th century, read by B.J.

Set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age, this story introduces us to the legendary Conan the Barbarian. After the death of Vendhya’s emperor, Bunda Chad, Conan kidnaps his sister - Devi Yasmina.

After a long stay in South Africa, Richard Hannay arrives back in London just before the outbreak of World War One. There he meets Franklin Scudder, who claims to be investigating the Black Stone - a German spy organization. Hannay gives a shelter to the man but one day he finds him dead. Now the Scotsman fears that he might be the next one on the Black Stone’s list. Hannay decides to go back to his native Scotland with the notebook Scudder gave him before he was murdered.

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.

Mario DeLuca, a respected New Orleans detective for over 20 years, has put many criminals behind bars, and there is not a one that wouldn’t want to see him dead. Felipe Cruz, in court, promised he would get even with Mario - one day. He still controls the streets of New Orleans from a prison cell and makes good on his promise.

Ali Baba and Cassim are two Persian brothers. Ali Baba barely manages to put food on the table for his family, while his brother lives an easy life thanks to his rich wife. One day, while chopping wood in the forest, Ali Baba sees a band of thieves laden with treasures approaching. They stop in front of a rock and the captain shouts "Open Sesame!". What happens next is pure magic. The giant rock moves to the sides and opens a portal which the thieves enter.

Abercrombie Smith and Edward Bellingham are neighbors and fellow students at the University of Oxford. Smith is a medical student and athlete, while Bellingham is a specialist of Eastern studies and the owner of many Egyptian artefacts. A series of strange episodes happen after Edward buys a four-thousand-years-old mummy. Smith suspects his fellow student of hiding a dark and threatening secret, and soon discovers what the truth really is.

Dive into an enchanting underwater adventure with "Miette and the Mermaid Mysteries" by Alastair G Mckenna. Join Miette, the spirited apprentice to the Mermaid Queen, as she embarks on a quest to unravel a perplexing mystery that has disrupted the tranquility of the mermaid realm.

The only thing worse than being the girl raised by a serial killer is being the girl he blames for getting caught...and now, Morgan Ames’ father has escaped prison. Morgan knows she’ll be at the top of her father’s hit list. After all, she dared to defy him, abandoning him to rot in jail while she escaped to live a normal life. Every instinct screams at Morgan to run and hide, but she’s as much a predator as her father, and she refuses to allow him to turn her into prey.

Seven of Charles Dickens' best ghost and thriller stories, which have been widely read and beloved worldwide. This collection celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth. These stories provide a wonderful introduction Dickens before embarking upon his long novels; after these stories, listening to his longer novels becomes even more of a pleasure. Perfect for students and teachers seeking an understanding and appreciation of Dickens, without the time to engage with his long novels.