The New York Times–bestselling author presents a thrilling anthology of devious crimes with stories by C. J. Box, Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates and more.
 
“Some people might tell you that crime short stories, unlike the more precious kind, are a kind of fictional ghetto, full of cardboard characters and clichéd situations. Not true. These stories are remarkably free of bullshit—al­though...

Characters from the American Girl books are featured in eleven short stories with mysteries, puzzles, and riddles for the reader to solve.

"Lizzy and Diesel are back in an all-new wicked adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich and Emmy Award-winning co-author Phoef Sutton. Murdered and mummified nearly a century ago, notorious bootlegger Collier "Peg Leg" Dazzle discovered and re-hid a famous pirate's treasure somewhere along the coast of New England. A vast collection of gold and silver coins and precious gems, the bounty also contains the Stone of Avarice--the...

"With a knack for trivia, Encyclopedia solves mysteries for the neighborhood kids through his detective agency. But his dad is also the chief of police, and every night Encyclopeda helps him solve his most baffling crimes. Join Encyclopedia Brown as he solves ten confounding mysteries, including a case involving exciting martial arts, a stolen teapot shaped like a pig, and more. And with the clues given in each case, readers will have a chance to...

Starting with the 2021, the annual short story anthology will now become The Best American Mystery and Suspense and the new series editor, Steph Cha, and best-selling guest editor, Alafair Burke, will select the best short mystery and suspense fiction of the year.

"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."

"There must be places like Hawaii where the idea of noir would be difficult to accommodate. Sunshine, drinks in a coconut, warm beaches, and leis do not generate the fear, darkness, and despair on which noir thrives. Alabama also has plenty of sunshine, some lovely beaches, and only a few foggy waterfronts where miscreants lurk, but it has been a famously dark place. Americans of a certain age read in their daily papers about the burning of the Freedom...