Short Thrillers

The costume Valentine's party is the hot ticket in the Mississippi Delta. But Tinkie's title of Queen Bee of Delta Society becomes jeopardized when her Valentine's guests are all robbed. There's nothing for it but that Tinkie and Sarah Booth Delaney find out what happened to the very handsome Cupid (who failed to appear at the party) and where the short, hairy, Pan-like Cupid (who crashed the party) came from. Certainly not Central Casting.

After losing her partner in the line of duty, Agent Sidney Shaw is forced to team up with a renegade bounty hunter. And she doesn’t like it. John Smoke—an incarcerated wild card—is released into her custody, only to push her vaunted training to the limits and toss the FBI playbook out. But a vast hidden network of criminals with the terrifying ability to shape-shift into monsters is spreading its supernatural sickness in the very fabric of human society. Innocents end up dead or missing.

This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 13 tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Gervase Fen novella by Edmund Crispin that has never previously been published. With the Golden Age of detective fiction shining ever more brightly thanks to the recent reappearance of many forgotten crime novels, Bodies from the Library offers a rare opportunity to read lost stories from the first half of the twentieth century by some of the genre’s most accomplished writers.

Martin Walker presents his first collection of Bruno stories featuring all the familiar characters from the novels, the glories of the Périgord, and ample helpings of food and wine.

Beneath the glitter of Mardi Gras lies the sleaze of Bourbon Street; under the celestial sounds of JazzFest, the nightmare screams of a city once at war within its neighborhoods, but after Hurricane Katrina, seemingly at war with nature and the rest of the country as well. New Orleans is a third world country in itself, a Latin, African, European (and often amoral) culture trapped in a Puritan nation.

Love is supposed to be a fairy tale. Ours is a death wish. I'm the executioner for the Bedlam Brotherhood. She's a con artist working for my greatest enemy. I use her. She manipulates me. We find ourselves on opposite sides of a bloody war. My heart and head tell me I have to stay away. My lust for her says otherwise. Eventually, war breaks out in Lacking. Just when I think things can't get any worse, an unexpected guest arrives. I'm forced to make a choice between the life I've always wanted and a life I never knew I could have.

Chesterton's talent as a mystery writer is displayed in this collection of detective stories, The Man Who Knew Too Much. In each story, the star detective, Horne Fisher, deals with another strange mystery: the vanishing of a priceless coin, the framing of an Irish "prince" freedom fighter, an eccentric rich man dies during an obsessive fishing trip, another vanishing during an ice skate, a statue crushing his own uncle, and a few more.

With characters arranged alphabetically - from the Ancient Pythoness to Bethany Zanelli - best-selling author Charlaine Harris takes fans into the future of their favorite residents of Bon Temps and environs. You’ll learn how Michele and Jason’s marriage fared, what happened to Sookie’s cousin Hunter, and whether Tara and JB’s twins grew up to be solid citizens. This coda provides the answers to your lingering questions - including details of Sookie’s own happily-ever-after…

Working with family is no joke for Jackie Parker. Together with her husband Luke and his brother Logan, Jackie is up against wacky tenants, crazed landlords, and secrets worth killing for.

Josh Malerman is a master weaver of stories—and in this spine-chilling collection he spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul.

A short ghost story from the best-selling author of Abbot's Keep. A photographer reluctantly agrees to take images of an abandoned manor house on the Dorset clifftops only to find the building is not completely empty.

This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together a selection of rare tales by masters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Agatha Christie crime story that has not been seen since 1922. At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, Bodies from the Library unearths lost stories from the Golden Age, that period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public’s imagination.

Gears, Grills, & Guns: When Wendell Holliday's body is found dead in one of Happy Trails Campground bungalows, Mae along with the help of the Laundry Club Ladies once again put on their sleuthing caps. Eggnog, Extortion, & Evergreens: Mae West along with the help of the Laundry Club Ladies put on their amateur sleuth cap to help solve the mystery of the murders before a killer sends her a Christmas gift she can't return. Ropes, Riddles, & Robberies: With a group of friends to help, Mae is on the case to put the clues of the past together to bring out the truth.

We’re all afraid of things that go bump in the night. Shadows in the graveyard, wind moaning through the trees, a creaking door in a sinister old house. There are things hiding in the darkness. And sometimes, what you can’t see can definitely hurt you.... Scare Street is proud to present Night Terrors: Volumes one to three in a single collection. A menagerie of macabre nightmares, featuring 39 tales of supernatural horror for your listening pleasure.

Previously part of a collection, this rare Ellery Queen mystery is available as a standalone audiobook for the first time. In "The Odd Man", Ellery is challenged to solve an imaginary riddle devised by three members of the Puzzle Club. With very little information to go on, he must correctly answer to his confreres which of their three imagined suspects is a secret criminal.

In his introduction, guest editor S. A. Cosby observes that writing short stories is “a special skill that combines brevity with wit and cleverness and the hint of the existential malaise that imbues crime fiction with its gravitas.” The stories in this collection overflow with gravitas in the most unexpected ways: a cryptic note left on a windshield, a murder for hire meets a game of Mouse Trap, a swipe right on a dating app goes horribly wrong.

Archie Goodwin has his hands full when three baffling murders make him the recipient of a poisonous lunch, the fall guy for a beautiful woman, and the target of the U.S. Federal Government.

In cycle two of the series, the Harbingers team investigates more unsettling mysteries that drive them to the breaking point. Will they be strong enough to keep overcoming the world's dark forces? Fast-paced and ongoing, this thrilling collection is like your favorite TV series, with each linked episode written by a talented author.

In this incredible follow-up to the New York Times and USA Today best seller FaceOff, 22 of the world's most popular thriller writers come together for an unforgettable anthology. MatchUp takes the never-before-seen best seller pairings of FaceOff and adds a delicious new twist: gender. Eleven of the world's best female thriller writers, from Diana Gabaldon to Charlaine Harris, are paired with 11 of the world's best male thriller writers.

Fed up after 30 years of teaching, Deena has no idea she’s just traded in lesson plans for lethal weapons and report cards for ballistics reports. It’s been fifty years since her uncle disappeared without a trace, but when science and luck collide, a rookie sheriff’s deputy breathes new life into this cold case. And when Deena’s elderly grandmother asks for her help, how can she say no? After all, she’s just quit her teaching job and is looking for a new challenge.