The Year's Best Crime & Mystery Stories contains the best crime and mystery stories that were originally published in 2015 in either print or electronic format as selected by editors Kristine Kathryn Rusch and John Helfers.Reading through thousands of titles and carefully narrowing their favorite reads down to the ultimate list that is presented in this volume, the editors chose their top picks of notable works from hundreds of anthologie...

Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/CollectionBestselling novelists David Morrell, Alison Gaylin and Elaine Viets headline a new anthology of 22 tales exploring the unique aura of mystery of New Orleans and the surrounding bayou country.BLOOD ON THE BAYOU is published in conjunction with Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, which is being held in New Orleans in 2016. As with the convention itself, the anthology spreads a broad canop...

We know a healthy appetite for well-written short stories exists and we want to help make things better. Our goal with Down & Out: The Magazine is to be a little different than other magazines by standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before us, or at least tiptoe along the arrows in the backs of the pioneers of modern magazine publishing.Each issue will feature a story based on a series character like this issue’s brand-new Moe Prager story by Reed Farrel Coleman. ...

There's been an awful murder at Elizabeth Bell's otherwise quiet household in this classic mystery from the author of The Yellow Room.Elizabeth Bell runs a quiet household, with no family and no more than the usual number of servants. She passes her time thinking about crime and working on her biography of a relative. When a young cousin comes to stay, life in the house becomes uncharacteristically lively. First, cousin Judy burns a hole in Miss Bell's desk...

When a serial killer stalks a sleepy English village, a Scotland Yard detective must search for clues among terrified townsfolk in this classic mystery.Samuel Bracknell is found dead in his home with a knife in his back. It's the third murder of its kind in as many weeks, and the residents of Carleton Unthank are left shaken. When Superintendent Littlejohn learns that all three crimes were committed with the same knife, a disturbing question arises: why, then, was t...

A PI goes undercover with her pit bull partner as a dog therapist in a crime novel from a Shamus Award–winning author "canine fans will relish" ( Publishers Weekly).When Lady, the beloved therapy dog of the Harbor View residential home goes missing, private investigator Rachel Alexander and her dog Dash slip in easily as the new service dog and trainer, though figuring out who murdered Harbor View's owner is not so simple. Dash brings order and calm to Har...

In this chilling classic British mystery thriller, a Scotland Yard inspector and his sister search for her missing fiancé in a city of vanishing people.Petty con man Alfred Routh thinks a place like Milton Manor outside Oxford will have something nice to steal. When he learns what is inside, however, he is desperate to steal away with his life . . .Meanwhile, Sir John Appleby from Scotland Yard is headed to Oxford to help his sister Jane. Her fiancé, a war he...

An odd couple of detectives descends on New Orleans to search for a missing heiress in this hard-boiled mystery by the creator of Perry Mason.Bertha Cool is a bulldog of a woman with an attitude to match. Donald Lam is a handsome ex-lawyer who makes up for in brains what he lacks in brawn. Together, they're an unlikely pair of private detectives on a mission to find Roberta Fenn, a missing model and heiress in New Orleans. It's a seemingly simple case of lost and f...

When a local estate becomes the killing ground for two victims, the ladies of the Connection Investigation Agency take on the case in this cosy mystery.Early one morning, in the grounds of Chatsworth, a body is discovered by one of the estate groundsmen. DI Marsden and DS Granger battle through snow-covered roads to begin their investigation.Meanwhile, at the Connection Investigation Agency, Doris, Kat and Mouse are busy juggling their caseloads, while trying...

Stella Wright loves creating candles at her Nantucket store—and she also has a burning passion for justice. Now, after visiting a perfume conference, she must solve a vial crime . . .Stella and her globe-trotting mom, Millie, have come home from a perfume industry conference in Paris, where their trip was marred by witnessing the stabbing death of a young man. It’s a relief for Stella to be back on her picturesque island, with the comforting company of her cat, Tinker. But...

A troupe of travelers in London may harbor a killer in this novel from an Agatha Award–winning author praised for her "wit and whimsy" ( Kirkus Reviews).A group of tourists has arrived in London—shaken by the mysterious death of one of their fellow travelers back in Zurich. Larkin's Luxury Tours is represented by the public relations firm of Perkins & Tate—so it's up to Douglas Perkins, with a little assistance from his cat, Pandora, to soothe their fears,...