eBooks

The Sequel

Jeffery Deaver

When a lawyer discovers the possible existence of a lost, secret second novel from America's favorite writer, all hell breaks loose.

For years, Frederick Lowell has quietly managed the estate of the revered novelist Edward Goodwin. Though the author of only one novel, that book has gone on to sell hundreds of millions of copies, keeping Lowell comfortable, as well as Goodwin's ne'er-do-well and feckless children. Then word comes that a sequel to the novel may in fact exist, and Lowell becomes a detective, navigating a series of startling twists that take him from a Hamptons retreat to a state penitentiary, from a Westchester homestead to a decaying Southern hotel. "The Sequel" is Jeffrey Deaver at his finest, diabolically plotted and filled with rich characterizations.

"The Sequel" by Jeffrey Deaver is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

So Long, Chief

Mickey Spillane

From legendary noir novelist Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins, a short story in which world-famous private eye Mike Hammer repays a debt to a dying police chief, proving loyalty can be as deadly as deception.

A legendary and retired police chief lies in a New York hospital bed, visited by two strangers: the first is ex-cop-turned-PI Mike Hammer, whose life was saved more than once by the old man. To the detective, the chief gives a mysterious key. The second visitor murders the chief, mere days before he would have died from natural causes. Someone is trying to tie up loose ends, and Mike Hammer is the only one with the evidence and calculation to ferret him or her out.

"So Long, Chief" by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

A Sad Mistake

R.L. Stine

A reclusive, haunted Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant are visited by a strange, persistent stranger in this haunting short story by R.L. Stine.

It's a dark and stormy night, and the new, unnamed assistant to the penniless Dr. Victor Frankenstein answers the front door's knock. There stands a stranger, who has managed to track down the elusive doctor and forces a wager: reanimate the man's dead brother or face exposure to the community at large. But who is gaming whom--will the massive corpse actually be revived?

"A Sad Mistake" by R.L. Stine is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Dear Santa

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury's strange, magical, and unsettling story of a grown boy bent on understanding the man behind the beard, red coat, and hat at his local department store.

An adolescent boy stands patiently in the back of the long line of children waiting to sit on the lap of their local Santa Claus. Why is he there? What does he intend? What mysterious hopes does he hold for this holiday season? The answer arrives following a cryptic interaction between the two, when the reality of the boy's awareness and the goals of the man in the red suit become clear.

"Dear Santa" by Ray Bradbury is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Almost Like Christmas

Joseph Heller

A masterful short story from the acclaimed author of Catch-22, about one long night of anticipation.

In a small town in the American South, it is night in the middle of the twentieth century. Carter, a high-school teacher and football coach in the newly desegregated schools, is awaiting news of two of his students who have been in a serious altercation. Outside the building where Carter has kept his vigil, a crowd of townspeople have also gathered to keep watch. Carter must choose how much he wants to participate in the spectacle, and how much he can afford to keep his distance.

"Almost Like Christmas" by Joseph Heller is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Blue on Black

Michael Connelly

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly, a short story featuring LAPD Detective Harry Bosch and FBI agent Rachel Walling.

Two women have gone missing, and LAPD Detective Harry Bosch has a strong suspicion that an avid fisherman named Denninger is the culprit. Bosch needs something stronger than a suspicion to bring Denninger in, but all he has are a handful of photos--prior mug shots and pictures of Denninger posing with his prize fish. It's not much to go on, and Bosch is running out of time, which is why he calls in FBI agent Rachel Walling. What she sees in these photos could blow his case wide open.

"Blue on Black" by Michael Connelly is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Amazonia

T. Jefferson Parker

A beguiling story of an adventurous traveler, from the Edgar Award-winning author of the bestselling Deputy Charlie Hood series.

Fresh out of college, a young man is hired by a high-end travel agency. His fears that he might be in over his head prove to be well-founded when he is dispatched to a potential new destination, Playa Amazonia. Twenty hours of traveling leads him to a luxurious hotel, the world's most beautiful beach--and an encounter with a highly unusual invasive species.

"Amazonia" by T. Jefferson Parker is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

The Approach

Chris Holm

Hitman with a heart of gold Michael Hendricks is back in this digital-exclusive short story.

When a strip-club mogul puts out a hit on a dancer who won't give him off-the-clock attention, Hendricks takes a detour to Las Vegas to stop the job in its tracks. With tech genius Lester in his ear and a fake identity as cover, Hendricks has only one problem: he has no idea what the target looks like. Against the scorching heat of the city's desert outskirts, a case of mistaken identity nearly turns fatal, but our principled hitman has a few tricks of his own up his sleeve.

Jacket Man

Linwood Barclay

From the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of Far From True, a short story where the grifter is not who he seems.

Sam seems like an ordinary guy. While he is filling up his car with gas in Stamford, Connecticut, a car whips into the station lot, stops alongside, and asks him for directions to LaGuardia Airport. Gian claims that he is from Milano, but Sam can spot an imitation in a second. The accent is all wrong, and while Gian tries to sell him counterfeit luxury coats that he can't take back on the plane to Italy, they bump hips, and Sam feels what he thinks is a gun tucked into Gian's belt. "Jacket Man" is a story of how to escape with your life, and some counterfeit pleather coats while you're at it.

"Jacket Man" by Linwood Barclay is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

Meet and Greet

Ian Rankin

From the internationally #1 bestselling novelist comes a tale of small time criminals on a new grift that might cost them everything.

Peppard and Jarman have a new grift that seems simple enough: Go to the airport. Imitate a hired driver by copying a name that they see in the crowd. Collect the passenger before the real drive does, take him to a secluded area and rob them. It seems like a simple plan to make some quick cash for these two amateurs--that is, until they finally meet a pro.

"Meet and Greet" by Ian Rankin is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

The Deal

Michael Palmer

Michael Palmer and Matthew Palmer join forces to pen the story of John, a low-level criminal looking for the next big score in the in the factory town of Logan.
A small-time criminal joins a gang, he does a year in prison, and he swears he's better than all of it. That's when he decides he will rob the home of the Harpy, an ancient women living out her last days in a moldering mansion above town. But things don't go as John expects, and Harpy is given a reward that may well be a curse. With this information, John swears he's invincible...but has he thought of every angle?

"The Deal" by Michael Palmer and Matthew Palmer is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Ginnifer

Matthew Pearl

A man convicted of murdering his wife finds an unlikely champion in this short story by the bestselling author of The Dante Club.

Our narrator is a man convicted of first-degree murder with only one person on his side: Ginnifer. After seeing him on TV and becoming obsessed with the case, Ginnifer devotes herself to overturning his sentence. Eventually, Ginnifer's friendship turns into something more--but the closer they become, the more the relationship turns into a prison of its own.

"Ginnifer" by Matthew Pearl is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

One More Body in the Pool

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury, the master of American science fiction, offers an intriguing answer to the question that all writers dread: Where do you get your ideas?

One evening in South Florida, an author is dozing beside a swimming pool in when a stranger interrupts his peace. The newcomer, a self-professed fan and a literary agent of sorts, has a proposal for the author . . . one that may shape the course of literary history. With just a few thousand words, this charming short story from Ray Bradbury may change the way you look at classic literature forever.

"One More Body in the Pool" by Ray Bradbury is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Where the Evidence Lies

Jeffery Deaver

From the New York Times best-selling author of the Lincoln Rhyme series, a short story about Lincoln Rhyme solving a mysterious plane crash with no forensic evidence.
A small jet with only one pilot onboard crashes into the Atlantic Ocean. Local authorities are unsure whether the cause of the crash is a bomb or a violent storm. The case seems like it will be an easy one to solve for former NYPD Homicide Detective Lincoln Rhyme to solve. The evidence is inside the cockpit but there is one problem. The wreckage sits at the bottom of the Puerto Rican Trench, the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean that stretches to twenty-eight thousand feet. The plane can't be raised. And there's no way to get to where the evidence lies.

"Where the Evidence Lies" by Jeffery Deaver is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

Crazy Night

Tennessee Williams

From the renowned American playwright Tennessee Williams, a glimpse of college life on the eve of graduation.
It's the last day of the academic year, and the students of a small, mid-western university are preparing for a bacchanalian celebration called Crazy Night. Our chaperone for the evening is Phil, a freshman on the verge of flunking out, who roves the fraternities in search of beer, women, and the meaning of life. It's just after the Great Crash, with Prohibition in sobering effect-a bleak time for college graduates and drop-outs, who have one more night to do everything, before they enter a world that offers them nothing.

"Crazy Night" by Tennessee Williams is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Start-Up

Olen Steinhauer

A young man struggles to find his identity in this short story by the bestselling author of The Tourist.
Olen Steinhauer's crafty story begins as an affectionate recounting by Tom, a down-on-his-luck graduate caring for his sick mother and reconnecting with his awkward friend, Jerry McLaughlin. Jerry lives in a relative's basement in Chicago, and over the intervening months the two young men strategize Jerry's seemingly innocuous plan to become a super-villain in the spirit of Bond greats like Blofeld. Things turn dark, however, when Jerry's plans find success, and he enlists the wayward Tom to help him expand his little start-up to the next level. At turns witty and diabolical, "The Start-Up" is a fiendish take on the spy genre, as well as the dangerous friendships of Highsmith, le Carré, and others.

"Start-Up" by Olen Steinhauer is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

Lost Angel

Lorenzo Carcaterra

In a city where a girl can go missing for years, a retired New York cop investigates a gruesome crime.
Tank is a retired New York City cop coping with two teenaged problems: one is his recently-orphaned nephew, and the other is a girl whose decomposed body was found in a cooler off the Henry Hudson Parkway. Determined to bring the girl's killer to justice, Tank hits the streets of upper Manhattan, chasing leads and searching for clues about her tragically short life.

"Lost Angel" by Lorenzo Carcaterra is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

A Guid Soldier

Charles Todd

Set during Inspector Rutledge's time in the Great War, Charles Todd's short story introduces a born killer.

It's World War I, and young Glaswegian Dougal Kerr is a new recruit in the British army. Dougal has no family and no past, but his easygoing demeanor belies his cheerless upbringing. There's only one thing that gives Ian Rutledge pause: Dougal is very good at killing, and he doesn't seem to mind it at all--in fact, he seems to relish it. In wartime, how does one tell the difference between a remorseless killer and "a guid soldier"?

"A Guid Soldier" by Charles Todd is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

The Voiceless

Faye Kellerman

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Theory of Death comes a short story set in an imaged future where computers speak for humans.

This tale begins, "It was a time when the world, though filled with sound, was quiet." Technology has replaced the need to speak with texting, but when a virus spreads across the entire world, it leaves everyone blind. Doctors come together to fight the epidemic, but, as "The Voiceless" seek to answer, what does the ability to speak mean without the desire to do so?

"The Voiceless" by Faye Kellerman is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

The Other Half

Colin Dexter

From the author of the Inspector Morse series, a short story about a freelance investigator and what should be a simple case.
Mrs. Isobel Rodgers is an investigator's perfect client: beautiful, wealthy, and offering a straightfoward assignment. Mrs. Rodgers suspects her husband of an affair, and it's up to the investigator to determine the object of Mr. Rodger's affections. For someone with brilliant deductive powers, this should be an open-and-shut case-but Mrs. Rodgers may know more than she's letting on.

"The Other Half" by Colin Dexter is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

The Pocket Handkerchief

Philip Kerr

From New York Times bestselling author Philip Kerr, comes a story of a young man growing up in colonial America.
No one knows when "something infernal" crept into the heart of young Master Edgar, a well-bred British orphan in the hands of a cool stepfather in 19th century Richmond, Virginia, and under the care of the home's educated and proper slave, Scipio. Was it when his actress mother died, years after moving Edgar and his brother from England to America? Was it during his strange education at the hands of the calculating Scipio? Or was it when he plotted another boy's death so that he could gain entry, through the boy's grave, into the underworld?

"The Pocket Handkerchief" by Philip Kerr is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

A Christmas Killing

Richard Montanari

Meet Detective Kevin Byrne, rising star of the Philadelphia police force. Christmas Eve, 1988: Partnered with streetwise veteran Frankie Sheehan, Byrne is called to investigate the brutal assault of a young woman in a crime-ridden neighborhood, The Devil's Pocket.

There, with the rest of the city hunkered down in their holiday celebrations, relentless rookie Byrne must step out from his partner's shadow to outwit a terrifying predator. It's the beginning of a long career for Byrne, who will revisit the same vicious streets in Richard Montanari's beloved Byrne and Balzano series. "A Christmas Killing" is a short story that includes an excerpt from Richard Montanari's terrifying Byrne and Balzano novel, Shutter Man.

The Night Ferry

Michael Robotham

Struggling detective Alisha Barba is trying to get her life back on track after almost being crippled by a murder suspect. Now on her feet again, she receives a desperate plea from an old school friend, who is eight months pregnant and in trouble. On the night they arrange to meet, her friend is run down and killed by a car and Alisha discovers the first in a series of haunting and tragic deceptions.

Determined to uncover the truth, she embarks upon a dangerous journey that will take her from the East End of London to Amsterdam's murky red light district and into a violent underworld of sex trafficking, slavery and exploitation.

"Vibrant and utterly contemporary . . . An altogether superior thriller." -- Los Angeles Times

The Opium-Eater

David Morrell

From bestselling thriller author David Morrell comes a brooding Thomas De Quincey short story about the coldest of deaths and their heartbreaking aftermath.

Thomas De Quincey -- the central character of Morrell's acclaimed Victorian mysteries, Murder as a Fine Art and Inspector of the Dead -- was one of the most notorious and brilliant literary personalities of the 1800s. His infamous Confessions of an English Opium-Eater made history as the first book about drug dependency. He invented the word "subconscious" and anticipated Freud's psychoanalytic theories by more than a half century. His blood-soaked essays and stories influenced Edgar Allan Poe, who in turn inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes.

But at the core of his literary success lies a terrible tragedy. In this special-edition novella, based on real-life events, Morrell shares De Quincey's story of a horrific snowstorm in which a mother and father died and their six children were trapped in the mountains of England's Lake District. Even more gripping is what happened after. This is the true tale of how Thomas De Quincey became the Opium-Eater, brought to life by award-winning storyteller David Morrell.

An afterword contains numerous photographs of the dramatic locations in the story.

Bombproof

Michael Robotham

A kinetic standalone from "first class storyteller" Michael Robotham (San Francisco Chronicle).

Sami Macbeth is not a master criminal. He's not even a minor one. He's not a jewel thief. He's not a safe-cracker. He's not an expert in explosives. Sami plays guitar and wants to be a rock god but keeps getting sidetracked by unforeseen circumstances.

Fifty-four hours ago Sami was released from prison. Thirty-six hours ago he slept with the woman of his dreams at the Savoy. An hour ago his train blew up. Now he's carrying a rucksack through London's West End and has turned himself into the most wanted terrorist in the country.

Fast, funny, hip and violent, Bombproof is a non-stop adventure full of unforgettable characters and a heartwarming hero -- Sami Macbeth -- a man with the uncanny ability to turn a desperate situation into a hopeless one.

Trouble in Paradise

Marcia Clark

In this digital-only short story, DA Rachel Knight and her besties take a Caribbean vacation and end up solving a crime.

With her besties Bailey and Toni in tow, Rachel leaves work and rainy LA behind and sets off for a much needed vacation in Aruba. Greeted by glittering sand and a balmy breeze, the three friends can't imagine anywhere more perfect.

But just minutes after hitting the beach, they're approached by a panicked young woman. A gofer on the biggest reality hit since "Survivor," she's lost the show's child star and must find her, now, before anyone else realizes she's gone. Rachel, Bailey, and Toni put their dreams of paradise on hold and embark on a whirlwind search for the girl -- a search that ends with a twist so disturbing no one, not even a fortune-teller, could have seen it coming . . .

The Assassin Trilogy

Derek Haas

An e-original omnibus of three suspense novels by the Barry Award-nominated novelist and co-screenwriter of Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma and The Double.

He calls himself Columbus. His real name never meant much to him anyway. He never knew his father, an earnest young congressman and rising star in the Democratic Party named Abe Mann, or his mother, a prostitute whose involvement with Mann would prove dangerous.

All Columbus cares about is his next target. A hit man who quickly made a name for himself as one of the best in his profession, you can be sure he'll fulfill whatever contract's been given him. Even if those who put out the hit have other plans in mind.

In THE COLUMBUS TRILOGY, the first three novels by Barry Award-nominated author Derek Haas, Columbus squares off against the shadow of his father, Czech crime lords, drug dealers, a prostitution ring, and more, in three acclaimed suspense novels by a rising master of the genre.

If I'm Dead

Marcia Clark

It started with a haunting image: a Ford Explorer, iridescent in the moonlight and alone on a desolate stretch of beach. Its owner, Melissa Gibbons, has gone missing. Her husband says she flew the coop. But Los Angeles Deputy DA Rachel Knight is convinced otherwise: Melissa Gibbons has been murdered.

So begins the confounding case that Rachel must present before a disbelieving jury. A dissatisfied heiress and her philandering husband -- what really happened? The husband has a fiendishly convincing case that Melissa faked her own death and fled. But with the support of her trusty sidekick, Detective Bailey Keller, Rachel pieces together a much more sinister truth.

In this short, standalone Rachel Knight thriller, readers follow our savvy and riotously entertaining heroine through the surprising world of LA crime.

A Morning for Flamingos

James Lee Burke

A cajun cop infiltrates the mob...but is he too close?

A Morning for Flamingos is a classic Dave Robicheaux Louisiana mystery by New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke.

Clutching the shards, of his shattered life, Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux has rejoined the New lberia police force.

His partner is dead -- slain during a condemned prisoner's bloody flight to freedom that left Robicheaux critically wounded and reawakened the ghost of his haunted, violent past.

Following the trail of the escaped convicts, Robicheaux is soon drawn back to New Orleans. But this time, the stakes are even higher. He's working for the DEA undercover in an attempt to incriminate Tony Cardo, a clinically insane drug lord. But all Robicheaux's really got is revenge on the mind. And he'll only be satisfied when the killers who upended his life have been brought to justice.

Black Cherry Blues

James Lee Burke

In this Edgar Award-winning thriller, former Louisiana homicide cop Dave Robicheaux is trying to start a new life after the murder of his wife — but he can't escape his past forever.
 
Dave Robicheaux was once a Louisiana homicide cop. Now he's trying to start a new life, opening up a fishing business and caring for his adopted girl, Alafair.

Compared to Louisiana, Robicheaux thought Montana would be safe — until two Native American activists suddenly go missing. When Robicheaux begins investigating, he is led into the dark world of the Mafia and oil companies. At the same time, someone from his past comes back to haunt him. Someone who was responsible for Robicheaux's flight from New Orleans — someone who brutally murdered his wife — and now is after young Alafair...

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, Black Cherry Blues spans from the mystical streets of New Orleans to the endless mountains of Montana, and ranks among James Lee Burke's finest work — an enduring classic, darkly beautiful and thrilling.