Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman


E.W. Hornung - 1898
    In these eight stories, the master burglar indulges his passion for cricket and crime: stealing jewels from a country house, outwitting the law, pilfering from the nouveau riche, and, of course, bowling like a demon-all with the assistance of his plucky sidekick, Bunny. Encouraged by his brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle, to write a series about a public school villain, and influenced by his own experiences at Uppingham, E. W. Hornung created a unique form of crime story, where, in stealing as in sport, it is playing the game that counts, and there is always honor among thieves.

Baltimore Noir


Laura LippmanTim Cockey - 2006
    She attended public schools and has lived in several of the city’s distinctive neighborhoods, including Dickeyville, Tuscany-Canterbury, Evergreen, and South Federal Hill.CONTENTSIntroductionPart I: The Way Things Used To Be“Easy As A-B-C” by Laura Lippman (Locust Point)“Fat Chance” by Robert Ward (Old Northwood)“Pigtown Will Shine Tonight” by Jack Bludis (Pigtown)“Over My Dead Body” by Rob Hiaasen (Fell’s Point)“The Invisible Man” by Rafael Alvarez (Highlandtown)Part II: The Way Things Are“Stainless Steel” by David Simon (Sandtown-Winchester)“Home Movies” by Marcia Talley (Little Italy)“Liminal” by Joseph Wallace (Security Boulevard-Woodlawn)“Almost Missed It By a Hair” by Lisa Respers (France Howard Park)“Ode to the O’s” by Charlie Stella (Memorial Stadium)“Don¹t Walk in Front of Me” by Sarah Weinman (Pikesville)Part III: The Way Things Never Were“As Seen on TV” by Dan Fesperman (Fells Point)“The Haunting of Slink Ridgely” by Tim Cockey (Greenspring Valley)“The Homecoming” by Jim Fusilli (Camden Yards)“Frog Cycle” by Ben Neihart (Inner Harbor)“Goodwood Gardens” by Sujata Massey (Roland Park)

The Simple Art of Murder


Raymond Chandler - 1944
    Contains Chandler's essay on the art of detective stories and a collection of 8 classic Chandler mysteries.

A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael


Ellis Peters - 1988
    Here, her chronicles continue with a Christmas story, a tale of robbery and attempted murder, and a narrative of Brother Cadfael's early years.

Eeny Meeny


M.J. Arlidge - 2014
    As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense....

The Dark Room


Minette Walters - 1995
    Now she must try to piece together her memories in order to determine her innocence. With deft psychological explorations and shocking twists, Walters brings the story to an awe-inspiring conclusion.

Serial Killers Uncut


Blake Crouch - 2011
    For everyone who thinks the bad guys are so much more fun to read than the good guys, this is a book just for you. The definitive volume containing every major villain from the Crouch/Kilborn/Konrath Universe is here.First, there was Serial, the collaborative smash-hit that has been downloaded 500,000 times and optioned for film.Then came Serial Uncut, which expanded on that story.Then Killers, the sequel to Serial.Then Birds of Prey which introduced every major villain the writers had ever created into one cohesive novel. (Birds of Prey + Killers = Killers Uncut.)And now, all that and more has been brought together for this definitive, omnibus monster...Serial Killers UncutThis epic work, over two years in the making, contains Serial Uncut, Killers, Birds of Prey, Crouch's Break You, an interview with the authors, and more. Serial Uncut + Break You + Killers + Birds of Prey = Serial Killers Uncut If you haven't read anything by Crouch, Kilborn, or Konrath, Serial Killers Uncut is the perfect introduction to the dark side of their universe. And if you enjoy a despicable bad guy (or bad girl), you're going to love this.There are twenty-one serial killers featured in this book: Lucy and Donaldson from Serial, Orson and Luther from Desert Places, Locked Doors, and Break You, Mr. K from Shaken, Alex and Charles Kork from Whiskey Sour and Rusty Nail, Isaiah from Abandon, Taylor from Afraid, Javier from Snowbound, and many, many more.There are some good guys too, including Andrew Z. Thomas (Desert Places, Locked Doors), Jack Daniels (Whiskey Sour, Shaken), Violet King (Locked Doors, Break You), Tequila (Shot of Tequila), and Clayton Theel (Draculas).Serial Killers Uncut is an original 120,000 word double novel that stands alone without having read any of Konrath's, Kilborn's, or Crouch's work.

The Old Man in the Corner


Emmuska Orczy - 1908
    For devotees of Sherlock Holmes: ingenious, well-crafted stories by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Boston Noir


Dennis LehaneItabari Njeri - 2009
    Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, The Given Day) has proven himself to be a master of both crime fiction and literary fiction. Here, he extends his literary prowess to that of master curator. In keeping with the Akashic Noir series tradition, each story in Boston Noir is set in a different neighborhood of the city—the impressively diverse collection extends from Roxbury to Cambridge, from Southie to the Boston Harbor, and all stops in between. Lehane’s own contribution—the longest story in the volume—is set in his beloved home neighborhood of Dorchester and showcases his phenomenal ability to grip the heart, soul, and throat of the reader. In 2003, Lehane’s novel Mystic River was adapted into film and quickly garnered six Academy Award nominations (with Sean Penn and Tim Robbins each winning Academy Awards). Boston Noir launches in November 2009 just as Shutter Island, the film based on Lehane’s best-selling 2003 novel of the same title, hits the big screen. Dennis Lehane is the author of The New York Times bestseller Mystic River (also an Academy Award–winning major motion picture); Prayers for Rain; Gone, Baby, Gone (also a major motion picture); Sacred; Darkness, Take My Hand; A Drink Before the War, which won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel; and, most recently, The Given Day. A native of Dorchester, Massachusetts, he splits his time between the Boston area and Florida.PART I: FEAR & LOATHINGLYNNE HEITMANExit InterviewFinancial DistrictDENNIS LEHANEAnimal RescueDorchesterJIM FUSILLIThe Place Where He BelongsBeacon HillPATRICIA POWELLDark WatersWatertownPART II: SKELETONS IN THE CLOSETDANA CAMERONFemme SoleNorth EndBRENDAN DUBOISThe Dark IslandBoston HarborSTEWART O'NANThe RewardBrooklineJOHN DUFRESNEThe Cross-Eyed BearSouthiePART III: VEILS OF DECEITDON LEEThe Oriental Hair PoetsCambridgeITABARI NJERIThe CollarRoxburyRUSS ABORNTurn SpeedNorth Quincy

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams


Stephen King - 2015
    Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story.Since his first collection, Nightshift, published thirty-five years ago, Stephen King has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this new collection he assembles, for the first time, recent stories that have never been published in a book. He introduces each with a passage about its origins or his motivations for writing it.There are thrilling connections between stories; themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past. “Afterlife” is about a man who died of colon cancer and keeps reliving the same life, repeating his mistakes over and over again. Several stories feature characters at the end of life, revisiting their crimes and misdemeanors. Other stories address what happens when someone discovers that he has supernatural powers—the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in “Obits;” the old judge in “The Dune” who, as a boy, canoed to a deserted island and saw names written in the sand, the names of people who then died in freak accidents. In “Morality,” King looks at how a marriage and two lives fall apart after the wife and husband enter into what seems, at first, a devil’s pact they can win.Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King’s finest gifts to his constant reader—“I made them especially for you,” says King. “Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”

A Scandal in Bohemia (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, #1)


Ronald Holt - 1891
    From shopkeepers to kings, everyone wants the help of Sherlock Holmes, but can he solve these mysteries?

A Quiver Full of Arrows


Jeffrey Archer - 1980
    Fortunes are made and squandered, honor betrayed and redeemed, and love lost and rediscovered.Embracing the passions that drive men and women to love and to hate, the short stories in A Quiver Full of Arrows will captivate the hearts and souls of readers of everywhere.

Six Stories


Matt Wesolowski - 2016
    Scarclaw Fell. The body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an Outward Bound center. Verdict? Misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth of what happened in the beautiful but eerie fell is locked in the memories of the tight-knit group of friends who embarked on that fateful trip, and the flimsy testimony of those living nearby. 2017. Enter elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose podcast examinations of complicated cases have rivaled the success of Serial, with his concealed identity making him a cult internet figure. In a series of six interviews, King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries’ mysterious death. As every interview unveils a new revelation, you’ll be forced to work out for yourself how Tom Jeffries died, and who is telling the truth.

Only the Innocent


Rachel Abbott - 2011
    But when the billionaire philanthropist is discovered murdered in his London home, tied naked to a bed, the scandal is only a shadow of the darkness lurking off-camera.Laura Fletcher returns from an Italian vacation to find her husband dead and her home under siege by paparazzi. Is she shocked? Yes. But is she distraught? Not exactly. Especially when Chief Inspector Tom Douglas reveals his suspicions that Hugo’s killer is female. Laura always knew she wasn’t the only woman in Hugo’s life. And she knows she wasn’t the only one with a motive to kill.The deeper Douglas digs, the more sordid details about Hugo Fletcher he uncovers. And yet nothing compares to the secret Laura guards, a secret that could bring the guilty to justice—or destroy an innocent life forever.

Inherit the Dead


Jonathan SantloferJames Grady - 2013
    ONE CHILLING MYSTERY.More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel—a collaboration among some of the most popular mystery and thriller writers in the English-speaking world today, producing a “well-told mystery that stands on its own two (or 40) feet” (Booklist).Readers will enjoy an introduction by Lee Child, an afterword by Linda Fairstein, and chapters by bestselling authors Mary Higgins Clark, John Connolly, Charlaine Harris, CJ Box, Mark Billingham, Lawrence Block, Ken Bruen, Alafair Burke, Stephen L. Carter, Marcia Clark, Max Allan Collins, James Grady, Heather Graham, Bryan Gruley, Val McDermid, SJ Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, Dana Stabenow, Lisa Unger, and Sarah Weinman. What’s more, the editor, Jonathan Santlofer, has arranged to donate any royalties in excess of editor and contributor compensation to Safe Horizon, the leading victim assistance agency in the country—making it a worthy and winning triumph.Pericles “Perry” Christo is a PI with a past—a former cop, who lost his badge and his family when a corruption scandal left him broke and disgraced. When wealthy Upper East Side matron Julia Drusilla summons him one cold February night, he grabs what seems to be a straightforward (and lucrative) case.The socialite is looking for her beautiful, aimless daughter, Angelina, who is about to become a very wealthy young woman. But as Christo digs deeper, he discovers there’s much more to the lovely “Angel” than meets the eye. Her father, her best friend, her boy­friends all have agendas of their own. Angel, he soon realizes, may be in grave danger…and if Christo gets too close, he just might get caught in the crossfire.This classic noir tale twists and turns down New York’s mean streets and along Hamptons’ beaches and back roads during a bitterly cold and gray winter where nothing is as it seems and everyone has something to hide.