Showing titles in Short Stories

Railway tunnels, the lanes and hills of the Peak District, family homes, old stones, shreds fluttering on barbed wire, night drawing in, something that might be an animal shifting on the other side of a hedge: Tom has drawn on his lifelong love of weird fiction, folklore and nature's unregarded corners, to write a collection of stories that will delight fans, old and new, and leave them very uneasy about turning the lamp off.

Simeon Frith is recovering from a car accident at his house in Cornwall. He’s a successful man and usually very self-sufficient, but after attempting to open a can of baked beans with a brick, he realises that he needs help. However, he never imagined that putting an advert in the paper for an assistant would result in the gorgeous Ziggy Tuesday sauntering into his life. The much younger Ziggy is fun and free-spirited, and an attraction quickly grows between them. When they finally sleep together and Ziggy insists that it be completely strings-free, Simeon can’t believe his luck.

This is a mini-sequel to The Other Son, a little gift for all those listeners who have been begging to know what happens next. Alice has been lying to herself for years, holding fast to the belief that the needs of her family far outweigh her own. But her outwardly successful marriage hides dark secrets, and for much of her life, the children were the only reason she stuck around.

Everyday Kindness is a charity anthology of short, fictional stories of kindness, edited by LJ Ross. These uplifting tales of hope and of small, everyday kindnesses are intended to support wider, positive mental health goals and foster wellbeing through the act of reading tales of goodwill inspired by others. Featuring authors across the spectrum of literature, some international bestsellers and award-winning writers amongst them, this is a unique collection of words.

Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners. Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter...

Thought-provoking philosophical fiction. Psychological literary fiction. Dark, dialogue-driven stories about guilt, grief, trauma, identity, and the lies we tell ourselves to survive. There's a voice in your head that won't let you hide. In this collection, that voice has a face. Across twenty existential, emotionally layered stories, ordinary people at their breaking points find themselves seated across from a figure who calls himself the Devil. Sometimes he's calm. Sometimes cruel. Sometimes unsettlingly compassionate. Always precise.

Tommy Cordero always likes watching his wife, Denise, make an entrance, and never more so than when she comes through the door of his hospital room. He’s looking for words of comfort—after all, his lungs are shot—but Denise is looking for honesty. In their forty-six years together, Tommy considers they’ve done well. Denise and their children have never wanted for anything: a comfortable home, cars, vacations. Surely that outweighs a couple moments of weakness? But Denise is ready to unpack his assumptions, and Tommy is in for some revelations.

The instant Sunday Times besteller 'The work of a writer who has once again demonstrated complete command of his craft' - The Irish Times 'Short stories to astonish and delight' Financial Times 'Tales of quiet power' The Guardian In The News from Dublin, a beautiful collection of short stories...

Brought to you by Penguin. Razor-sharp, glittering tales exploring marriage, fame and female friendship, from the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of Romantic Comedy and American Wife. In this compulsive collection of twelve witty stories, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as...

Montalbano's First Case and Other Stories is a brilliant collection of short stories, personally chosen by Andrea Camilleri, following Inspector Montalbano from his very first case in Vigàta, in which he stumbles upon a young girl lurking outside a courthouse with a pistol in her handbag. When she is taken in for questioning and won't utter a single word, Montalbano must find another way to learn whom she is trying to kill and why.

Mysterious, funny, insightful, and heartbreaking, these are tales of expatriates and exiles, wise children and straying saints. They compose a secret history, both intimate and panoramic, of modern times, and offer a kaleidoscopic impression of the world within a world that is Paris.

A stunning novella from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Will Trent and Grant County series. Protecting someone always comes at a cost. At the age of thirteen, Charlie Quinn’s childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father...

The Complete Short Stories is a collection to be loved and cherished, from one of the finest short-story writers of the twentieth century. From the cruel irony of A member of the Family to the fateful echoes of The Go-Away Bird and the unexpectedly sinister The Girl I Left Behind Me, in settings that range from South Africa to the Portobello Road, Muriel Spark coolly probes the idiosyncrasies that lurk beneath the veneer of human respectability, displaying the acerbic wit and wisdom that are the hallmarks of her unique talent.

The Sunflower Street series is a new heartwarming romance series from Rachel Griffiths, the author of The Cosy Cottage Café series. This audiobook collects the first two books in the best-selling series!

Round the Fire was the title of a series of 12 mystery and suspense short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, published monthly in The Strand Magazine between June 1898 and May 1899. The series was popular with contemporary readers, and while some of the individual stories, such as "The Brown Hand", have been regularly anthologised for many years and are well-known, there are some overlooked gems here, too.

From the master of crime fiction comes an unexpectedly whimsical short story about this San Diego surfer whose life plan is working perfectly until he meets a wealthy woman at an art gallery opening (the hors d’oeuvres), falls in love, and then has to masquerade as an upstanding member of society.

A young Belfast theatre troupe brings its experimental production of Hamlet to New York. On a night-flight, travelling with a violin older than the United States, a professional musician slips through time. A man who loses all he thought he had, and finds himself haunted by all he never will, comes to a painful new understanding of what it might mean to love. Transporting and profound, these are stories of love, grief, longing, of new beginnings, and the ways we find shelter in each other.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Deception by Roald Dahl, read by Richard Griffiths, Andrew Scott, Derek Jacobi, Mark Heap, Juliet Stevenson and Stephen Mangan. 'The cruelest lies are often told in silence . . .' Why do we lie? Why do we deceive those we love most? What do we fear...

A life in chains was the deal I made with my father to win my twin's freedom. My soul is black with the things I've done to keep my promise. I never regretted any of it until now. Until her. Amalia Santiago's bravado and fierce defiance make me feel alive in a way I never expected. I was never meant to fall for her. I don't deserve to put my filthy hands all over her pristine body. She's supposed to be my prisoner. But now, she'll become my world instead.

On December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan Calendar, the world was supposed to end. It didn't. But on that day, 113 mysterious manuscripts were discovered around the world, each one written in blood by an unknown author.