Book picks similar to
The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke by Lawrence Block
mystery
fiction
short-stories
lawrence-block
The Deliveryman
Jeffery Deaver - 2016
Renowned forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs are left with a veritable mountain of evidence collected from the trash-filled alley, and their only lead is a young eyewitness: the man's eight-year-old son, who was riding along on his father's delivery route.But the murder victim may have been more than just a simple deliveryman. Rhyme and Sachs uncover clues that he might have been delivering a highly illegal, contraband shipment--which is now missing. And someone wants it back...
The Caper
Janet Evanovich - 2013
Later published online via Janet's email newsletter (August 2015).
The Witnesses
James Patterson - 2016
Or so they think. No one will answer their questions. And the terrifying truth may come too late....BookShotsLIGHTNING-FAST STORIES BY JAMES PATTERSONNovels you can devour in a few hours. Impossible to stop reading. All original content from James Patterson.
Cold Cotton
Joe R. Lansdale - 2017
Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are up to their ears in trouble once more, when a kinky, psychotherapist client and her household end up dead with a crazy, nymphomaniac niece as the main suspect. Hap is facing his own inner crisis, wavering between a shrink and a little blue pill, while his lover Brett and his best friend Leonard speculate on a colorful variety of causes and cures. When he opts for neither, ignoring his doctor's advice to call a shrink, she calls him instead and the team is off to the races, facing off with a wide array of odd relationships, crazed florists and murder. Action like only Joe R. Lansdale and Hap & Leonard can provide.
The Meteorologist
Blake Crouch - 2011
He's just arrived in the middle of nowhere—Hokie, Kansas—for the same purpose, but when he meets a waitress named Melanie, another sufferer, he's faced not only with his first real human contact in years, but perhaps someone who can save him.From the author of DESERT PLACES, ABANDON, and SERIAL UNCUT comes this 7,000-word short story. Additional material includes an interview with Blake, excerpts from all four of his novels, and two bonus excerpts.
Last Breath
Karin Slaughter - 2017
1 bestselling author of the Will Trent and Grant County series.Protecting someone always comes at a cost.At the age of thirteen, Charlie Quinn’s childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father, broke into her home – and after that shocking night, Charlie's world was never the same.Now a lawyer herself, Charlie has made it her mission to defend those with no one else to turn to. So when Flora Faulkner, a motherless teen, begs for help, Charlie is reminded of her own past, and is powerless to say no.But honour-student Flora is in far deeper trouble than Charlie could ever have anticipated. Soon she must ask herself: How far should she go to protect her client? And can she truly believe everything she is being told?
Just Watch Me
Jeff Lindsay - 2019
From the author of the wildly successful Dexter series comes a new, mesmerizing bad guy we can root for: Riley Wolfe. He’s a master thief, expert at disguise, and not averse to violence when it’s needed. It’s no accident, though, that Riley targets the wealthiest 0.1 percent and is willing to kill them when they’re in his way: he despises the degenerate and immoral rich and loves stealing their undeserved and unearned valuables. In this series launch, Riley aims for an extraordinary target in a heist that will make history. Riley will try to steal the Crown Jewels of Iran. Yes, these jewels are worth billions, but the true attraction for grabbing them comes down to one simple fact: it can’t be done. Stealing these jewels is absolutely impossible. The collection is guarded by space-age electronics and two teams of heavily armed mercenaries. No one could even think of getting past the airtight security and hope to get away alive, let alone with even a single diamond from the Imperial Collection. No one but Riley Wolfe. He’s always liked a challenge. But this challenge may be more than even he can handle. Aside from the impenetrable security, Riley is also pursued by a brilliant and relentless cop who is barely a step behind him. With the aid of his sometime ally, a beautiful woman who is a master art forger, Riley Wolfe goes for the prize that will either make him a legend—or, more likely, leave him dead.
Not a Drill
Lee Child - 2014
But even a pleasant hike on a beautiful summer day turns into a walk on the wild side . . . and perhaps something far more sinister.Jack Reacher is on the road, hitching a ride with some earnest young Canadians who are planning a hike through some of the last unspoiled wilderness in North America in the dense forests of Maine. They part ways after sharing a hot meal, and Reacher checks out a quiet town surrounded by countryside serene enough to cool even his raging wanderlust. But not for long. First the trail is suddenly and inexplicably closed. Then the military police show up in force. Maybe it's a drill. Or maybe it's trouble—the kind of trouble that always finds Reacher, no matter how far he travels off the beaten path.
Babe on Board
J.A. Konrath - 2011
Or, in McGlade's case, a five-minute stand.When he finds a sexy lady at his local bar, he thinks he has a chance with her.But she wasn't alone. There was a guy with her. A guy with a gun whom she was desperately trying to get away from.When the local mafia becomes involved with McGlade's tryst, things start going bad.Then they go really bad, when a baby comes into the picture. And the only one McGlade can turn to for help is his old partner, Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels.<
Buy a Bullet
Gregg Andrew Hurwitz - 2016
This is the story of Smoak's first outing as the Nowhere Man, where after completing a mission in Northern California, he happens to spot a young woman at a coffee shop. Brutalized and under the control of a very powerful, unscrupulous man, her life is in danger if she doesn't escape. And the only person that can help her do that is a man with the background and skills of the Nowhere Man.
1922
Stephen King - 2010
It’s 1922. Wilfred owns eighty acres of farmland in Nebraska that have been in the family for generations. His wife, Arlette, owns an adjoining one hundred acres.But if Arlette carries out her threat to sell her land to a pig butcher, Wilfred will be forced to sell too. Worse, he’ll have to move to the city. But he has a daring plan. It may work if he can persuade his son.A powerful tale of betrayal, murder, madness and rats, 1922 is a breathtaking exploration into the dark side of human nature from the great American storyteller Stephen King. It was adapted into a film from Netflix.
Written in Dead Wax
Andrew Cartmel - 2016
His business card describes him as the “Vinyl Detective” and some people take this more literally than others. Like the beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording — on behalf of an extremely wealthy (and rather sinister) shadowy client. Given that he’s just about to run out of cat biscuits, this gets our hero’s full attention. So begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all…
Neutral Mask
Barry Lyga - 2013
Her father isn't happy that Connie is dating a white boy like Jasper Dent, and things get even worse when she realizes that Jasper is the son of Billy Dent, one of the world's most notorious serial killers! This is the story of how Connie and Jazz overcame their early troubles and fell in love.
The Union Club Mysteries
Isaac Asimov - 1983
It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1983 and in paperback by the Fawcett Crest imprint of Ballantine Books in 1985.The book collects thirty stories by Asimov, most reprinted from magazines and a few previously unpublished, together with a foreword and afterword by the author. Each story is set at a club known as the Union Club, in which a conversation between three members prompts a fourth member, Griswold, to tell about a mystery he has solved. These are often tall stories, and often based on his time in US intelligence. The format is based on that utilized by P. G. Wodehouse in recounting his golf stories.
Blackwater Lake
Maggie James - 2015
His father, Joseph Stanyer, has been struggling to cope with his wife Evie, whose dementia is rapidly worsening. When their bodies are found close to Blackwater Lake, a local beauty spot, the inquest rules the deaths as a murder-suicide. A conclusion that's supported by the note Joseph leaves for his son. Grief-stricken, Matthew begins to clear his parents' house of decades of compulsive hoarding, only to discover the dark enigmas hidden within its walls. Ones that lead Matthew to ask: why did his father choose Blackwater Lake to end his life? What other secrets do its waters conceal?A short (25,000-words) novella, Blackwater Lake examines one man's determination to uncover his family's troubled past.