Ten tales of murder, mayhem, madness, and dark magic from a #1 bestselling author. A man finds that fast cars and fast women don't mix. An artist uses very special tools to convey his passion. A rebellious teen will make any sacrifice for rock stardom. A mother finds a new role in a post-apocalyptic world. Gateway Drug. It leads to more dangerous things.Features "Hounds of Love, "Sung Li," and other tales from the pages of Cemetery Dance, The Book of All Flesh, and more, along with the afterword "One Sick Puppy." Bonus contributions from British horror master Tim Lebbon and multi-award-winning Australian dark fantasy writer Shane Jiraiya Cummings.

    Now she's a confident young woman on the threshold of a promising career. But her carefully constructed life is about to be torn apart.When fellow student teacher Becky vanishes, Emily is alarmed to find that no one cares. Searching for answers, it's not long before she's questioning just how well she knows her friend. Because it seems everyone has a reason to hate Becky. But has hate led someone to kill?Caught in a deadly web of lies and with time running out, Emily must race to uncover the sordid truth. But is she saving a life or solving her very first murder investigation?Wish Me Dead is the gripping prequel novella to the Emily Swanson series. Mystery and suspense fans will love these twist-filled suspense thrillers from Malcolm Richards.Revised edition: Previously published as Bad Blood.

    By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most unique writers of our time.Contents:• A Study in Emerald • (2003) • novelette• The Fairy Reel • (2004) • poem (variant of The Faery Reel)• October in the Chair • (2002) • shortstory• The Hidden Chamber • (2005) • poem• Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire • (2004) • shortstory (variant of Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire)• The Flints of Memory Lane • (1997) • essay• Closing Time • (2003) • shortstory• Going Wodwo • (2002) • poem• Bitter Grounds • (2003) • novelette• Other People • (2001) • shortstory• Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story • (1999) • shortstory• Good Boys Deserve Favours • (1995) • shortstory• The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch • (1998) • shortstory• Strange Little Girls • (2001) • shortstory• Harlequin Valentine • (1999) • shortstory• Locks • (1999) • poem• The Problem of Susan • (2004) • shortstory• Instructions • (2000) • poem• How Do You Think It Feels? • (1998) • shortstory• My Life • (2002) • poem• Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot • (1998) • shortstory• Feeders and Eaters • (2002) • shortstory• Diseasemaker's Croup • (2003) • shortstory• In the End • (1996) • shortstory• Goliath • (1998) • shortstory• Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox Left in a Greyhound Bus Somewhere Between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Louisville, Kentucky • (2002) • shortstory• How to Talk to Girls at Parties • (2006) • shortstory• The Day the Saucers Came • (2006) • poem• Sunbird • (2005) • novelette• Inventing Aladdin • (2003) • poem• The Monarch of the Glen • [American Gods] • (2003) • novelette

    Featured writers include Ellen Hart, Judith Guest, William Kent Krueger and Carl Brookins. This is a must-have for mystery buffs.

    This funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten, author of the Irene Huss investigations, features two-never-before translated stories that will keep you laughing all the way to the retirement home.Ever since her darling father’s untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family’s spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late eighties, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father’s ancient armchair. It’s a solitary existence, but she likes it that way.Over the course of her adventures—or misadventures—this little bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud’s apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors. But when the local authorities are called to investigate a murder in her apartment complex, will Maud be able to avoid suspicion, or will Detective Inspector Irene Huss see through her charade?

    Offering up heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises are thirty-two of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning names in the business. From the signature characters that made such authors as David Morrell and John Lescroart famous to four of the hottest new voices in the genre, this blockbuster will tantalize and terrify.Lock the doors, draw the shades, pull up the covers and be prepared for Thriller to keep you up all night.

    Chesterton (famous for Father Brown) — and a handpicked selection of modern stories by contemporary masters, including Nora Charles, Marcia Talley, Elaine Viets, and many more! Included in this volume: A SENIOR DISCOUNT ON DEATH, by Nora Charles MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, by Art Taylor THE STOLEN VENUS, by Darrell Schweitzer REAR VIEW MURDER, by Carla Coupe THUBWAY THAM’S INTHULT, by Johnston McCulley THE IDES OF MARCH, by E.W. Hornung PINPRICK, by Skadi meic Beorh THE RED HERRING, by William Hope Hodgson DRAGON BONES, by Jacqueline Seewald THE GOLDEN SLIPPER, by Anna Katherine Green KALI, by Eric Taylor DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION, by Marcia Talley THE BLUE CROSS, by G.K. Chesterton THE WORST NOEL, by Barb Goffman MR. CLACKWORTHY’S POT OF GOLD, by Christopher B. Booth THE MONKEY GOD, by Seabury Quinn WEDDING KNIFE, by Elaine Viets THE MAD DETECTIVE, by John D. Swain THE ADVENTURE OF THE DIAMOND NECKLACE, by G. F. Forrest SECURITY BLANKET, by Toni L.P. Kelner A CROOK WITHOUT HONOR, by Johnston McCulley THE DAUGHTER OF HUANG CHOW, by Sax Rohmer ANCHORS AWAY, by C. Ellett Logan WAYS OF DARKNESS, by E.S. Pladwell THUBWAY THAM’S INTHANE MOMENT, by Johnston McCulley

    It's a case that nobody wants to touch, deeply rooted in old evil—and old evil is Charlie Parker's specialty. He's about to enter a living nightmare, a dreamscape of sorrow haunted by the murderous specter of a hooded woman, by a black car waiting for a passenger that never comes, and by the sinister complicity of both friends and enemies in Larousse's brutal death. Soon, all will face a final reckoning in an unearthly realm where the paths of the living and the dead converge. A place known only as the White Road. THE BLACK ANGELWhen a young woman disappears from the streets of New York City, ties of friendship and blood inevitably draw ingenious, tortured detective Charlie Parker into the search. Soon he discovers links to a church of bones in Eastern Europe, a 1944 slaughter at a French monastery, and to the myth of an object known as the Black Angel—considered by evil men to be beyond priceless. But the Black Angel is not a legend. It is real. It lives. It dreams. And the mystery of its existence may contain the secret of Parker's own origins. THE UNQUIETDaniel Clay, a once-respected psychiatrist, has gone missing. His daughter insists that he killed himself after allegations surfaced surrounding the harm done to patients in his care. Now, a killer obsessed with finding the truth about his own daughter’s disappearance is seeking revenge—and private investigator Charlie Parker finds himself trapped between those who want the truth about Clay’s disappearance to be revealed, and those who will go to any length—no matter the cost—to keep a deep, dark secret about a local town hidden.

    But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, Father’s paranoia escalates. So does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.Ruth Ware’s Snowflakes 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.

    Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.The Best American Mystery Stories 2012 includesPeter S. Beagle, Kathleen Ford, Mary Gaitskill, Lou Manfredo, Thomas McGuane,Gina Paoli, T. Jefferson Parker, Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Charles Todd, Daniel Woodrell, and others

    So I locked us away, safe inside the gates of our island home. Or so I thought.I knew it was a bad idea to let anyone in, but I needed help. And Nanny Bexley was a dream come true: an excellent resume and tons of energy.But just one week after she came into our lives, the dream turned into a nightmare. And there was no one I could trust.If I wanted to see my daughter again, I would need to step outside and find her myself.Welcome to Liar’s Island… a stand-alone series of interconnected, novella length domestic thrillers set in the picture-perfect community of Liars Island. Here, nothing is quite as it seems.On this island, families and friendships are more than meets the eye … secrets, deceptions, and jealousies threaten to ruin everything these influential people have built. But it isn’t only the rich that live here … and power comes in all shapes and sizes. Everyone here is a liar … just how far would you go to get what you want?

    This casebook promises twists and turns with a pair of lady sleuths with sharp wits and Holmesian intelligence. The Complete Hester Lynton Mysteries includes - The Puzzled BridegroomIt was just another ordinary day when private tutor Hester Lyton boarded a steam train from Paddington to London. But this would be no ordinary journey.Within just a few short miles. the amateur detective has held two menacing convicts at gun point, acquired an inquisitive assistant by the name of Ivy Jessop, and embarked on an investigation into the case of a missing governess. Teaming up together, Hester and Ivy must combine their Sherlock Holmes style intellect with their feminine wiles, to solve a series of mysteries that have defeated lesser minds.Over the course of three adventures, Hester and Ivy find themselves up against a spate of murders, confused identities, missing people, thieves and forgeries.The Soho AnarchistThe Victorian detective Hester Lynton and her sharp-minded assistant Ivy Jessop are back for another series of dazzling adventures.In London a mysterious package with a deadly secret has landed on Hester's desk. In the suburbs, a woman is plagued by a series of pranks which hint at the supernatural. And in Islington, a medium claims to have the power to access the thoughts of her client's dead relatives, as well as the money in their pockets.Can Hester find the elusive Soho Anarchist before another bomb is blown? Will she unearth the secret of Greystones Villa and identify its tormentor? And will she unveil the true identity of Madame Valland and the secrets of her supernatural powers?The Wayward HusbandIn her latest baffling case, a complex and unusual tale involving a certain Mrs Bramming leads Hester and Ivy into the most dangerous case of their career.Meanwhile, when a famous writer loses a valuable manuscript, and enlists Hester's help to find it, an eminent doctor appears to be involved in the inexplicable events. But how? And why? Some mysteries are baffling even to Victorian London's greatest detective. The Complete Hester Lynton Mysteries is a dazzling collection of Victorian mystery stories that are perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, G W Calkitto, and the Raffles series.

    Includes works by Diane Mott Davidson, Claudia Bishop, Nick Danger, Nancy Kress, Tamar Myers, and others. Each story comes with its own recipe.

    Literally.A woman can sell her body also for a noble cause.Giancarlo Vestali chose his tie colour carefully as he knew what shade he would end up.A flower in a pool can make the difference between freedom and jail.Chase Williams wants to live a normal life in Tursenia, Italy. But it's not as easy as it appears.The saga of unusual crimes on which ex Scotland Yard detective Chase Williams stumbles every day continues. It's all about Chase's snooping abilities and his exceptional perceptiveness from which nothing escapes.10 detective short stories of 1000 words each, where proud prostitutes alternate with young lovers, sloppy drug dealers, hunting dogs, elderly people tired of living, amazing chefs and, as usual, Chase's neighbors who are always gossipy, fanatically religious and very nosey.10 open, shiny windows overlooking the less dramatic crime stories of Tursenia, a Medieval town in the heart of Italy, where a former detective like Chase Williams - now dedicated to living his placid office lifestyle - can get a run for his money. Anyone and everyone could be a criminal. And Chase well knows it.DISCLAIMER: Although the first volume of the Cutting Right to the Chase series is suitable to children and young adults, Cutting Right to the Chase Vol.2 is suitable for an older audience due to the graphic nature of some stories.

    They locate ghosts who are haunting places – or people. It’s a well-known fact that the Mill Street Theatre is haunted. And everyone knows the building closes for cleaning work during the first week in September every year. But this is a cover-up. The theatre closes because the hauntings escalate during that week, bringing a threat to human life. The owner decides these hauntings have to be investigated, and any ghosts dealt with. The Laurel sisters offer their help. Their investigations lead them to a heartbreaking story.