The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse


Alan Bradley - 2014
    Anson House, Greyminster, Staircase No. 3. How can Flavia de Luce resist such an urgent plea? After all, examining a dead body sounds like a perfectly splendid way to spend a Sunday. So Flavia hops upon her trusted bicycle, Gladys, whose rubber tires hiss happily along the rainy road, and arrives at her father’s mist-shrouded old school. There, a terrified boy leads her to the loo where, sitting in a bathtub, is what appears to be a statue. But, no: To Flavia’s surprise, the thing is in fact a naked dead man. Save his face, he seems to have been carved out of copper. Never one to shy away from the macabre, Flavia gets to work—only to find that when an investigation begins with a metallic cadaver, ever more curious twists are to be expected.

Buried


Jeffery Deaver - 2020
    The Gravedigger is a serial kidnapper who taunts the police with riddles. The other puzzle is his motive, which Fitz is determined to piece together. When an eyewitness to the latest abduction leads Fitz closer to the facts, he realizes that the last great story of his career is not at all what it appears to be.Jeffery Deaver’s Buried is part of Hush, a collection of six stories, ranging from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death. Each piece can be read or listened to in one truly chilling sitting.

Bad People: Four terrifying short novels of suspense


Jeremy Bates - 2018
    After a night out with his girlfriend in one of the country's remote provinces, he wakes to find himself in a pitch-black coffin—and quickly running out of oxygen. With only his cell phone and his own wits to rely on, it's a race against time to escape the claustrophobic death trap. SIX BULLETS The end of civilization arrived in the form of a giant asteroid thirteen months ago. For Burt James, a survivalist, it was not a complete surprise. He'd spent much of his adult life prepping for such a catastrophe. Consequently, while the majority of the population scoured the post-apocalyptic landscape for water and food, regressing into primitive killers, he bunkered down in his fortified hilltop home in a small town in the middle of the Australian Outback. But now he's out of food and down to his last six bullets, and he will have to make the most difficult choice of his life. THE MAILMAN Los Angeles, 1985. Never was the motto sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll more apt than the scene on the legendary Sunset Strip with the arrival of the underground Hollywood glam bands. While Mick Freeman, a record executive with a major label, works tirelessly to sign five toxic rockers whom he believes might flip the entire music world on its head, his wife, Jade, spends her days bored and alone at home, struggling with a midlife crisis that threatens to topple their twenty-year marriage. And then she meets the new mailman. Young and handsome, he sweeps her off her feet—straight into a nightmare the likes of which she could never have imagined. RE-ROLL In the near future, breathtakingly humanoid robots called Mechs are for sale, and they're designed to fulfill whatever role you want: husband, wife, best friend, slave. Manufacturers allow new owners one free "roll" to randomly determine their Mech's three leading characteristics. But as everybody knows, scoring your ideal traits is a crapshoot, though you can always re-roll—at a price.

The Last Second: A Novella


Robin Burcell - 2013
    In a small Arizona border town, gunrunning and drug trafficking into Mexico are a part of the landscape—but not when they're orchestrated by an officer in uniform. At least that's the story told to agents Griffin and Fitzpatrick.But the dirty cop is now missing, and his sister says he's innocent, a victim of a corrupt police department. She is convinced they set him up to take the fall, then killed him, and she can prove it—with help from a highly unusual witness. Suddenly an open-and-shut case seems anything but, and the clock is ticking as Griffin and Fitzpatrick take on an entire police department in a deadly match that could go up in smoke at the last second.

Voices in My Head


Mike Evans - 2016
    What if the devil on your shoulder could actually come out and play? Voices in my Head is just that. Meet Mikey, the sweetest five-year-old you've ever met, and his psychotic dark side Michael. When his mother changes his life forever Michael comes out to play.

The Moonlit Mind


Dean Koontz - 2011
    . . both human and otherwise.Twelve-year-old Crispin has lived on the streets since he was nine—with only his wits and his daring to sustain him, and only his silent dog, Harley, to call his friend. He is always on the move, never lingering in any one place long enough to risk being discovered. Still, there are certain places he returns to. In the midst of the tumultuous city, they are havens of solitude: like the hushed environs of St. Mary Salome Cemetery, a place where Crispin can feel at peace—safe, at least for a while, from the fearsome memories that plague him . . . and seep into his darkest nightmares. But not only his dreams are haunted. The city he roams with Harley has secrets and mysteries, things unexplainable and maybe unimaginable. Crispin has seen ghosts in the dead of night, and sensed dimensions beyond reason in broad daylight. Hints of things disturbing and strange nibble at the edges of his existence, even as dangers wholly natural and earthbound cast their shadows across his path. Alone, drifting, and scavenging to survive is no life for a boy. But the life Crispin has left behind, and is still running scared from, is an unspeakable alternative . . . that may yet catch up with him.There is more to this world, and its darkest corners yet to be encountered, in this eBook’s special bonus: a spine-tingling excerpt from Dean Koontz’s forthcoming novel, 77 Shadow Street.

Murder Most Fowl: A Libby Sarjeant Short Story


Lesley Cookman - 2017
    Once again, local butcher Bob is playing the dame, but the whole production is put under threat when someone sabotages his business. Libby Sarjeant recruits Fran Wolfe to help find the culprit and restore the Steeple Martin pantomime.

The Gift


Alison Gaylin - 2020
    Their eight-year-old daughter has vanished. To find her, Nolan reaches out to a psychic gifted with uncanny visions about the lost girl. But Lyla thinks she sees right through him. Is he a con artist or the real thing? Either way, he might be telling the truth. And that’s too frightening for Lyla to bear.Alison Gaylin’s The Gift is part of Hush, a collection of six stories, ranging from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death. Each piece can be read or listened to in one truly chilling sitting.

Nowhere to Go and All Day to Get There


Gar Anthony Haywood - 2014
    Two short mysteries featuring amateur sleuths Joe and Dottie Loudermilk.

Inside Job


Connie Willis - 2005
    Smart, dedicated, gorgeous, and, thanks to her last movie before she hung up on Hollywood, rich, she's a pleasure to oblige when she says Rob has to witness this channeler Ariaura's act--on her, not the Eye's, nickel--despite channelers being so last year. It's quite a show, all right, for in the midst of Ariaura's particular ancient wise guy's basso spiel, a gravelly baritone interrupts (both voices emanate from the channeler's female mouth) to berate the audience as "yaps" and the act as "claptrap." Why is Ariaura undermining herself? Or is she? After all, she angrily accuses Rob and Kildy of scheming to destroy her. Could the baritone belong to a genuine channeled spirit? Willis, one of sf's most spirited writers, rounds on the New Age; pays tribute to a great, skeptical journalist; and affectionately parodies pulp fiction at its best in this irresistible entertainment.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (And 7 Other Traditional British Mysteries): Boxed Set


Fergus Hume - 2017
    This collection includes 8 traditional British mystery novels: A COIN OF EDWARD VII THE SOLITARY FARM HAGAR OF THE PAWN-SHOP RED MONEY THE BISHOP'S SECRET THE GREEN MUMMY THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB THE MYSTERY QUEEN

Sherlock Holmes and the Greyfriars School Mystery


Val Andrews - 1997
     Dr Watson asks for the help of his retired detective chum, Sherlock Holmes, to help his old school master and solve the mystery of a missing manuscript at the Greyfriars School. Tensions rise as Holmes and Watson are also needed by the local inspector, Grimes, to discover who is behind a local jewel theft and murder. However, things are not always what they seem and Holmes unlocks the key to more secrets than originally anticipated as the desperation to retrieve the manuscript grows. More mysteries unravel as what seemed like a simple case of schoolboy rebellion has turned into a story of mystery and excitement packed with plot twists and questions. Will Holmes be able to succeed against rebellious school boys and catch the culprit? Is there something more sinister walking the halls of Greyfriars School? And why is Dr Locke really so desperate to have his manuscript returned? What could it be hiding? Full of excitement, tension and school-boy antics, ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Greyfriars School Mystery’ shows that the great detective is still top of his game. 'A treat for any fan of the master detective.' - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of 'Cold Kill'. Val Andrews (15 February 1926 – 12 December 2006) was a music hall artist, ventriloquist and writer. Andrews was a prolific writer on magic, having published over 1000 books and booklets from 1952. He also authored Sherlock Holmes pastiches and Houdini's novels.

Jace


T.A. Grey - 2013
    Or, rather, one crappy afternoon bodyguard Jace gets a rude awakening when some cutesy blonde rear-ends his beautiful truck. Now he’s really in for it. Mara’s pretty, funny, and has the greatest job in the world… She is a sex toy operator.Just those three words send Jace into a dream-like coma plagued with erotic imagery featuring the spunky sex toy operator. As luck would have it for Jace, nothing’s easy. Mara comes to him with a problem…one he cannot refuse to help her out with. Someone strange keeps calling Mara, she thinks someone’s been in her house, and worse Jace might be thinking the same thing. Mara needs help and Jace finds he’s the right man to lend a (strong) helping hand—so long as they seal the deal with more than a kiss.

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes


Karin Slaughter - 2015
    She becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, never imagining how close she herself is to danger. Includes an extract from Karin Slaughter’s gripping new novel, Pretty Girls.

Hemingway's Ghost


Layton Green - 2011
    Please visit Layton at www.laytongreen.com.Praise for the Works of Layton Green“Layton Green is a gifted writer.”— Readers Favorite“The Summoner is one of those books that make you want to turn on all the lights in your house and lock the doors . . . The settings are authentic and you can feel and smell the countryside . . . I would recommend for reading groups and book clubs; it is well researched and full of intriguing information. This is a wonderful read for those who enjoy both suspense and action stories.”— Seattle Post-Intelligencer“I moved a little outside my comfort zone with The Summoner, and I am glad I did. A blend of action, history, anthropology, thrills, and chills, all delivered with a mature, polished voice. I am eager for more from this author.”— Scott Nicholson, Bestselling Author“[T]his book is above and beyond in its narrative, its cohesiveness, the depth of its characters and the quality of the writing. This is one of the best books I've ever read for Odyssey Reviews.”— Odyssey Reviews (Winner -- Odyssey Review’s Award of Indie Excellence)“Green writes like a dream. Dominic Grey is a fascinating protagonist, and his quest for justice in the heart of a troubled African city gripped me from start to finish . . . a fast-paced and searing narrative that offers a glimpse into a world of religion, politics, and culture few could imagine. The next installment of Green's suspenseful storytelling and Grey’s next journey can’t come soon enough!”— Melody Moezzi, Award-winning Author, War on Error“[C]alls to mind such series as Jason Bourne and Indiana Jones, with supernatural/religious overtones thrown in. I recommend The Summoner to anyone looking for a suspense-filled journey into a unique—and at times, terrifying—culture that’ll keep you guessing.” — Bookhound’s Den“Yes, I did put TWO Five Stars up there . . . giving Green's The Summoner Five stars and Five stars alone downplays how I felt about this book . . . BUY THIS BOOK.”— 1000 + Books To Read“Mystical, complicated, completely believable and terrifying . . . [w]ith an ending that will catapult you out of your reading chair. Riveting.”— The Review Broads