Short Stories Crime Suspense

After her parents died in their home from a house fire nine years ago, Skylar Holmes returns to Ashtons Island for her childhood friend’s surprise party. She was sent to New York to live with her only family, Uncle Nate, after the horrific fire. Skylar thought it was time to put all of her nightmares and fears aside and return to the island where family and friends are gathering for the weekend to celebrate her friend’s party.

Emperor Domitian is hosting a banquet for the senators in honour of fallen soldiers, and it's an invitation Aelianus and Justinus Camillus dare not refuse. On arrival, they enter a black-painted room furnished with couches resembling those found in mausoleums, complete with a tombstone bearing each of the senators' names. As the evening progresses the brothers conclude that Domitian has finally turned against them for their uncle's part in a plot to oust his father and start to wonder if they'll ever see the light of day again....

When Tommy's Uncle Willy gives he and his wife three hundred dollars to help them out, both Tommy and Tina know it's more than just a gift. But what does Tommy's uncle want in return?

Morton Farrier’s life has been turned upside down by the recent addition to his household. Despite his perpetual exhaustion, he is determined to crack his latest genealogical investigation: the mystery of one Grace Emmerson, a militant suffragette. Salso happens to be his wife’s great-grandmother. Using a range of genealogical skills and resources, Morton sets out to discover Grace’s secret past.

Steve wants to leave his old life behind, the life of killing and waiting to be killed. But when it's the family business, it can be a hard habit to break.

Tim Murphy is a television newscaster who specializes in stories from the streets. After a long day on location, his cameraman drops him off at the studio, but it's closed for the day. He heads for his car but finds that someone has stolen it. Now, he has to walk home late at night on the same streets he's been reporting on. Can he make it home safely even though the only weapon in his pocket is a microphone? Let's find out.

Betty and Frank live a normal married lifestyle. She's a homemaker and he owns a third generation butcher shop. He's content with his life, but it seems Betty is not. She's been seeing Frank's friend, Bruce on the sly for afternoon delights. As long as Frank doesn't find out, what's the harm? Frank finds out.

Nothing exciting ever happened to Melissa Berkley. It was time to try to change that, she thought. She stood on the stern of the ship looking out at the horizon. Most of the other passengers stayed inside, or sat on the deck chairs with something to read. Melissa had something to read herself, even if it was just a short note on a post card that read: "To whomever finds this bottle: I dropped it overboard in the middle of Lake Michigan on this, the third day of September 1997. If you find it, please mail this post card back to me and let me know where you found it."

Penelope was a plain, unassuming woman that nobody noticed. Her job was going nowhere. Enter Debbie, her new co-worker at the insurance company where Penelope had gone unnoticed for nearly three years. Debbie's going places in the company, and fast. Why? Because she saved her money and got breast implants. Once Penelope saw what those implants did for Debbie, she decided to have the operation herself. One way or another, she would get noticed. Be careful what you wish for, Penelope. Attention may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

Every morning at the same hour on the golf course, Jack Hartington hears mysterious cries for help coming from a cottage. He speaks to the resident and learns that she has unsettling dreams of a woman with a blue Chinese vase. Believing that the cries for help are from the late Mrs. Turner, the former resident of the cottage, Jack hires a psychic investigator to spend a night in the house, a night which proves to have startling results.

You just know your husband's stepping out on you but you can't prove it. Well, wait a minute, this is Hollywood and you know a hairdresser who knows a makeup artist. Together they can transform you into a beautiful, unrecognizeable tart. Then you can go out, pick up your husband at his favorite bar and see just how far he'll go. What can possibly go wrong?

Passerby is an anthology of short stories and is the second title in the series. This collection concentrates on stories that demanded a sequel and in some cases, a third part. The stories in this anthology do not fall into any particular genre because I like to "go with the flow" when I write.

Nimmt das Wildbret des Waidmanns seiner Frau die Luft zum Atmen? Kann Aberglaube Leben retten? Und warum starb der Büchernarr? Schon die kleinsten Unaufmerksamkeiten können tödliche Folgen haben. Bei Sekundenschlaf oder einem Postflug über den Dschungel in einer stürmischen Nacht ist das ja noch verständlich, bei einem Hexenturm oder einem Blind Date aber weniger. Und doch schleicht sich der Tod auf leisen Sohlen an. Wir schenken euch eine überraschende Wendung am Morgen, einen Schrecken gegen Mittag, eine Gänsehaut am Abend und spannende Träume für die Nacht.

Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch accompanies his old friend and mentor, retired bush pilot Charley Stevens, as he pays a visit to a mysterious woman, the widow of a Vietnam vet, living in isolation in the Maine wilderness. Many years earlier, she had called Charley, then a young game warden himself, for help. She claimed that her badly bleeding husband had been attacked by a rabid bat. But in the succeeding days, despite her husband's increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior, his wife resisted Charley's attempts to help, arousing his suspicions that more was going on than met the eye.

The time has come.... Lovers Catherine Farrows and the Black Mask and their allies, FBI agent Jason Leong and hacker Fatale are closing in on the secretive evil Ganymede organization. Mystery surrounds where the deadly society has gone. Every single member of Ganymede has vanished from the public eye, and cannot be located online or off. As the four call on every resource they have to search for the enemy, they stumble on a lead involving a legend from the 9/11 disaster. There is a secret base under the city where Ganymede has taken shelter.

Despite their common setting, these stories neither glorify nor castigate this store, which has come to play such a central role in small-town USA life. These are simply crime stories, direct, sometimes humorous, and well-written.

Join Sergeant Frank Hardy and Mette Hardy in three more gripping mysteries set in late-19th-century New Zealand: Dead Shot, Lying Under Water, and Come to Grief.

Paranormal crime stories by best-selling fiction writers like Kelley Armstrong, Anne Perry, Simon R. Green, Patricia Briggs, and more. A massive, monumental volume of paranormal crime fiction by best-selling authors. Gripping tales of mayhem include both novellas and short stories like "Stalked By", by Kelley Armstrong; "The Judgment", by worldwide best-selling author Anne Perry; "Appetite for Murder", by Simon R. Green; "Road Dogs", by Norman Partridge; "The Hex Is In", by Mike Resnick; and many more.

In the title story, a white aspiring professor is convinced she is being followed. No need to panic - she has a handgun stowed away in her purse, just in case. But when she turns to confront her black male shadow, the situation isn't what she expects. In "The Rescuer" a promising graduate student detours to inner-city Trenton, New Jersey, to save her brother from a downward spiral. But she soon finds out there may be more to his world than to hers.

Miranda Mills finds her life transformed when she marries caring and wealthy computer programmer, Quinton. With a fulfilling career and a loving marriage, psychiatrist Miranda seems to have it all, until her life is shattered when she finds out her husband is nothing but a fake, a liar, and a cheat. His abusive behavior causes her to doubt her inner self and everything she believes in. She’s taken an oath to never analyze family, friends, boyfriends, or husbands.