Showing results for "Ink" in Crime Fiction

Legendary editor, Maxim Jakubowski, delivers another chilling anthology collecting stories of cold-blooded murder, revenge and crimes-gone-wrong from the best of the best in crime fiction. Spine-chilling and gripping, these tales will grip you with their devious narrators and crafty twists.

When Richard and Camille arrive in the bustling city of Cairo, they find themselves thrust into a perilous mission: to stop the theft and illicit trade of priceless relics from the pyramids. As they navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the Ministry of Antiquities, they uncover a web of deception and danger that threatens to consume them.

Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well-known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh’s investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious suitor. As Hugh’s pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate?

Veronica Blackstone has been hired to write an end-of-life book for a woman whose wedding vows she completed only a year earlier. Saddened by the task and confused by the seemingly callous reactions of family members, Veronica sets forth to create the booklet the woman’s mother desires. But not everything is as it seems, and the more Veronica digs the more she comes to realize that maybe the young woman’s death wasn’t the accident her wealthy family keeps insisting it was.

Betrayal cuts deep, but redemption cuts deeper. In the electrifying sequel to the bestselling Black Rose, Stella LaRosa returns, embroiled in a dark web of secrets, vengeance, and justice. This time, Stella's fight against the sinister body parts trade thrusts her into the heart of a conspiracy that challenges her every belief. With her lethal skills and unwavering determination, she navigates through a maze of betrayal and deceit. Every step closer to the truth exposes the fragility of her alliances and tests her resolve.

Crime-fighting duo Tilly and Poe solve a mystery from inside a pantomime horse in a short story that first appeared in the Halloween anthology Afraid of the Shadows.

Jack Nyx is down on his luck. Demons bound to his flesh, his ex's soul in a jar, and on his last dime, he takes the one job he shouldn’t. But a quick buck never comes easy, and Jack is in the deep end of the fecal pool. Desperate, he enlists the help of street witch, Ivy Sosye. In over their heads, trapped between the demons they know and the devil they don't, the last thing Jack needs is to fall for his best friend. Hunted, cursed, and in love is no way to go through life. Then again, it's better than dead.

Amber’s life was shattered when her twin brother, Peter, disappeared twenty-five years ago. But now, driven by a burning desire to find him, she sets out on a quest that will lead her to discover the shocking truth behind his disappearance. As Amber’s investigation progresses it begins to cause tension within her family and so to keep the peace she yields to their wishes, focussing instead on the story contained within a set of exercise books which she has come across in an antiques and collectibles centre, the green writing reawakening her journalist’s instinct for a good story.

US exchange student Hieronymus Beck is Professor Jack Griffen's biggest fan. Why else would he inveigle himself into the English Literature course that Jack is running; or devote so much time to chatting with Jack after hours about the anatomy of crime fiction, the roles of heroes and villains, and his favourite true-crime book of all time, In Cold Blood? But everything changes when Jack Griffen picks up a list of five templates for murder that has been written by Beck.

While Valentine’s Day is supposed to be full of romance and flying hearts, this year, Anna finds herself defending a misplaced Cupid, dodging a gang of thieving arrow shooters, and assisting Nick Bassaneli, her stubborn potential brother-in-law, with a bogus murder charge. Meanwhile, she’s trying to find her sexy boyfriend the perfect gift, when all he wants is for her to show up to Valentine’s dinner without danger on her heels.

Promises, rules, bones; Erin Banks will break them all. Unscrupulous and lethal, Erin has everything she needs to be an assassin in a world full of mobsters, monsters, and magic. She wasn’t born with powers, but thanks to her Uncanny Ink - arcane tattoos that transform her body into a magic-fueled killing machine - she’s more than a match for anyone dumb enough to stand between her and getting paid. Fresh out of prison, Erin wastes no time getting back to what she does best: running down wanted men and claiming their bounties.

The magical tattoos etched into Erin’s flesh give her strength, speed, and the ability to survive damage that would kill any normal person. But they come at a price. Wearing them is painful, and the deeper Erin buries herself in her work, the steeper the toll they take on her body and mind. Her friends tell her to rest, but how can she when the demonic Long Man is dangling another carrot in front of her, another clue to her brother’s disappearance? She’s so close. Erin has no choice but to do as the demon asks, power through the pain, and uncover the truth.

At least, that’s the way things worked before some lunatic abducted her cousin. When Lana is stolen away in the middle of the night, it’s Erin’s turn to start running. To rescue the only family she has, the one lingering thread that connects her to the everyday world. Without Lana, all Erin has left are monsters and murder, and she’s not about to let that happen. To rescue her cousin, Erin must embark on a grim scavenger hunt, scooping up clues all over town. Miss one checkpoint and Lana’s kidnapper guarantees his victim an extremely violent end.

Demon or angel, sinner or saint, if the price is right, Erin Banks will take you down. When it comes to killing hell spawn and unholy monsters, Erin has free reign. For other killings, there are rules. Those contracts are called lawfully sanctioned murders. Yep, that’s a thing. In Erin’s world, the rules are different. According to the Uncanny Court of Brighton, a legitimate tactic for winning a trial is to murder the opposition’s witnesses, and that’s just what Erin intends to do. Hey, she didn’t write the rules, okay?

She’s a runaway in pursuit of a better life. Instead, she ends up as a floater in the Pajaro River. She won’t be the last. Others will follow. The ones left behind will remain slaves, hardly daring to hope for relief. FBI agent Claudia must identify the dead woman, but after being in the water that long, the body yields few clues. But this Jane Doe has a name, and her sister can no longer wait for rescue. She needs to take the same risks and make her own escape.

Las Vegas, 1982. Brady Wilks, a teenage transplant from the Midwest, navigates life in the dusty suburban outskirts of an aberrant 24-hour town built by the Mob. Outcast as a newcomer, Brady forges a brotherly bond with an older teenage neighbor, Mick, and his friend, Brett. But when Brett unexpectedly moves away, Mick invites a new kid into their pack, squeezing out the last remnants of their childhood in favor of a new world laced with cartel-supplied drugs and the deal of a lifetime.

Thirty boxes. Thirty body parts. Eighteen turned in to authorities. A forensic technician from a quiet Massachusetts suburb does the unthinkable: Stalks a local woman, abducts her, divides her body into 30 pieces, and mails the sections to random Americans across the country. Each white postal box that Dennis Sweeney prepares contains an ambiguous note and a piece of Julie Piedmont. Most of Sweeney’s intended recipients contact the authorities about their gruesome packages, but 12 of the parcels go unreported.

Thirty years ago, four-year-old Georgina Adams was kidnapped from a fair in Franklin, Tennessee. She was taken away from her sister, her parents, her community. Neither she nor the people who knew her were ever the same again. This is her story.