Short Stories and Anthologies

Edited by Cecily Gayford.
Published on June 4, 2026.
Profile Books, 224 pages.

Classic Crime for the Summer Holidays.

As dusk falls on an English summer, a detective interviews a stranger with a sinister story to tell. Among the sands of an Egyptian desert, a tourist buys a souvenir which is not quite as it seems. On the sparkling waters of the Scilly Isles, a boating trip turns deadly.

It might be the height of summer, but in the midday sun - it's murder. These ten tales of murder, mystery and mayhem make for perfect beach reading.

By Otto Penzler.
Published on June 11, 2026.
Penguin, 512 pages.

Fourteen impossible mysteries from the masters of the Golden Age detective story.

Locked-room mysteries have baffled and delighted readers for generations. They present the reader with a seemingly impossible crime – a body found inside a windowless room that’s been locked from the inside, for example – before revealing an ingenious and satisfying solution.

This unique collection features fourteen of the most puzzling locked-room mysteries from some of the finest writers in the genre, including household names like John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, and Cornell Woolrich. Selected by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, this book takes the reader on an unforgettable journey into the Golden Age of mystery writing.

By Agatha Christie.
Published on September 11, 2025.
Harper Collins, 240 pages.

Murder and mystery lurk in the hills and on the shores of Devon and Cornwall in this new Special Edition Hardback of Agatha Christie’s finest countryside stories. Growing up in Torquay, Agatha Christie’s love of the West Country never left her and many of her finest stories are set on the moors and shores of Devon and Cornwall. This collection celebrates some of her finest countryside stories featuring a cast of Christie’s most iconic characters: Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford and Parker Pyne.

Also included in this story, published in its original form over a century after it first appeared in The Sketch magazine, join Poirot and Hastings as they solve a grizzly murder in The Adventure of the Dartmoor Bungalow. Also included in this collection are:
The Plymouth Express
The Unbreakable Alibi
The Case of the Missing Will
Ingots of Gold
Double Sin
The Hound of Death
The Cornish Mystery
The Regatta Mystery
The Flock of Geryon
The Edge
The Bloodstained Pavement
The Adventure of the Dartmoor Bungalow

Edited by The Detection Club.
Published on March 4, 2025.
Severn House, 288 pages.

Short Stories in honour of Simon Brett, by members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards.

A long-married crime-writing couple plot murder most horrid, with a jaw-dropping twist . . . A group of school friends dig up a long-buried dark secret . . . A widower joins a local amdram society, with surprisingly dramatic results . . . A deranged fan stalks a celebrated TV personality . . . An online romance turns sour . . . and much, much more.

From police procedurals to the sharpest satire, from historical mystery to dark and twisted chillers, these twenty-two original tales, written by some of Britain’s most remarkable bestselling authors, are essential reading for crime and mystery fans.

Contributors include:

Ruth Dudley Edwards
David Stuart Davies
Christopher Fowler
Michael Z Lewin
Aline Templeton
Michael Ridpath
Martin Edwards
Abir Mukherjee
Catherine Aird
Andrew Taylor
Frances Brody
Peter Lovesey
Michael Jecks
Alison Joseph
Ann Cleeves
Elly Griffiths
John Harvey
Lynne Truss
Kate Ellis
L.C. Tyler
Liza Cody
Simon Brett

Edited by Peter Lovesey.
Published on June 19, 2025.
Allison & Busby, 600 pages.

Unexpected discoveries hidden among the branches of the family tree. A parrot and an astonishing cache of uncut diamonds. The story of a marriage revealed between the lines of a Victorian advice column.

To crown a writing career spanning over fifty years, this collection showcases the very best of Peter Lovesey's short stories, featuring many of his most famous and much-loved characters such as Sergeant Cribb and Bertie. With his trademark wit, these inventive, intricate and entertaining stories have something for new and old fans.

An anthology of previously published stories.