The Murderer

Murray Leinster

Summary

The murderer's hair lifted at the back of his neck. Alone in the pitch-dark room, he felt a crawling sensation down his spine. Something moved in the darkness. The room reeked of burnt smokeless powder, and he could still smell the cigarette he'd left burning earlier. He'd come back for a crucial piece of evidence, but now something seemed alive in the room—a playful, unseen presence that thrived on his terror. He'd killed his miserly uncle, but had he truly escaped?

Available since: 05/15/2024.

Print length: 14 pages.

Other books that might interest you

The Horror in the Museum - An...

HP Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft is among the greatest American masters of fantasy and the supernatural.  
Born in 1890, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, his health was uncertain from childhood and he led a sheltered early life. His semi-invalidism enabled him to read omnivorously, and as a shy imaginative child he began to invent what would in his adult life become a whole macabre fantastic world of his own, peopled by creatures out of his own weird imagination.  
As an adult he was retiring, almost a recluse. Tall, thin and pale, but with bright alert eyes, he was much given to wandering his native city in the dark hours of the night, and he became a devoted student of its antiquities.  
Although he began to write early he had nothing published until he was in his twenties. He set many of his stories around the imaginary town of Arkham, and invented an entire mythology of his own, its core being the demoniac cult of Cthulhu, based on the lore or legend that the world was at one time inhabited by another race who, in practising black magic, lost their foothold or were expelled, yet live on outside, ever ready to take possession of this earth again. 
Since his early death in 1937 his stories have continued to attract attention and praise from an ever-growing audience.

Show book

Bone Lands

Pip Fioretti

WINNER OF DANGER AWARD FOR CRIME FICTION 
 
 
'Isn't it your job to stop people being murdered?' 
1911, on a winter's night in arid New South Wales wool country, mounted trooper Augustus Hawkins discovers the bodies of three young people. They are scions of the richest family in the district, savagely murdered on a road that Hawkins should have been patrolling, had he not been busy bedding the local schoolteacher. 
Detectives arrive from Sydney and the disgraced Hawkins, a traumatised veteran of the Boer War, comes under fierce scrutiny. With his honour and sanity at stake, he becomes hell-bent on finding the murderer. But as ever darker secrets are revealed about the people he thinks of as friends, Hawkins is forced to confront an uncomfortable question: who is paying the price for the new nation's prosperity?

Show book

13 Chances

Jack Chandler

Fin has a price on his head, a target on his back, and nowhere he can hide. 
 
As a private investigator, Fin spies on cheating spouses and serves repossession orders. There will always be someone wanting to take a swing, or threatening to rip his throat out. But that’s in the heat of the moment. It’s not personal. Brice is different. He wants Fin dead. And not just dead. Hurt. Suffering. Broken. Then dead. And Brice won’t stop there. He’ll kill Fin’s friends, fiancée, and family. The source of his rage? Fin has Brice’s ledger. 
 
That ledger details every crime Brice has committed and how he felt while doing it. It’s personal, damning, and a thing of pride. If Brice comes near, the book goes to the police. But if Brice gets arrested, he knows enough to put Fin behind bars with him. 
 
The two men exist in a devastatingly fragile deadlock, but it’s the only thing keeping Fin alive. And Brice is looking to break it…

Show book

Gimme Shelter

Libby Klein

As the song says, you can't always get what you want. Maybe that's why, instead of fulfilling her youthful dream of being a rock star, Layla Fortune is living in a trailer park while playing third-rate gigs. Given everything else she's been through, she's not complaining (much) about satin ruffles and go-go boots. She has a squad of supportive BFFs, and she's reclaimed a relationship with her famous rocker dad. His recent diagnosis has brought them even closer—sharing the trailer park's lake house, which he's had remodeled.Layla's dad loves his new community and the feeling seems mutual. So, why is one of them blackmailing him? It's a mystery almost as baffling as the assignment Layla receives from her former Commissioner: look into the brutal murder of a mild-mannered school teacher. Archie Wilkins was bludgeoned with a candelabra, shot up with drugs, and stuffed into a church confessional. Not the kind of outcome expected for a guy reputed to be the world's nicest.Perhaps Archie had secrets. Perhaps everyone does, including Layla's one-time cop colleagues. She's been blaming herself for a deadly ambush that destroyed her career and her peace of mind, but as her new friends help Layla regain her memories, a different picture emerges, and it's one that forces her to question so much that she's taken as truth . . .

Show book

Works of Edgar Allan Poe The...

Edgar Allan Poe

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Volume 2): Edgar Allan Poe (né Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as one of the central figures of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States and of early American literature. Poe was one of the country's first successful practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre. In addition, he is credited with contributing significantly to the emergence of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn a living exclusively through writing, which resulted in a financially difficult life and career.

Show book

The Gardens

Emma Babbington

Pre-order this gripping domestic psychological thriller, full of shocking family secrets, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and C.L. Taylor in 2026!
*****It might look idyllic, but the secrets buried there are deadly…
When human bones are found in the garden attached to the glamorous London home where she grew up, Jess McIntyre prepares to receive the news she has dreaded for thirty-four years: that her sister, Nina, is dead and now here is the proof.
Nina disappeared without a trace in 1992, aged eighteen, the summer she fell in with a charismatic group of friends who squatted in a vacant house on the other side of Willow Gardens.
Having moved to Australia years ago, widow and single mum Jess arrives back in London to provide a DNA sample to help the investigation, with her teenage son, Ollie, in tow.
As they try and unravel the secrets of Nina's past, and her connection to a sinister cult, will they discover that some bodies are best left buried…?Readers love Emma Babbington!
'I could not put this down! The twists and turns – I did NOT see them coming!' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
'I haven’t read a book with such well developed characters in a long time and this book manages to match that with a fast, clever plot' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
'You will not be able to out this one down' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
'A twisty, atmospheric story that's deeper and more complex than your everyday domestic thriller' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
'I stayed up well past the time I should have been asleep. Five stars no doubt. Can't wait to see what else this author has to offer' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
THE GARDENS is a latest crime thrillers novel that drags Jess and Ollie back into the city and into a web of stories that have haunted their life for decades. Pre-order this up-coming, top novel for a chilling investigation where the truth is as dangerous as what’s been buried.
For fans of Ali Lowe (The School Run), A J Mcdine (The Baby), Shari Lapena (Someone We Know), Gillian Mcallister (Just Another Missing Person), and Freida Mcfadden (The Boyfriend).
HarperCollins 2026

Show book