2840+ Crime Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Feed your fascination with the latest crime short stories. From thrilling accounts of lovable burglars to chilling tales of stone-cold murderers, these bite-sized pieces are so addictive, they should be illegal.

🏆 Winning stories

“And the Radio Said, “There’s Another Shot Dead”” by Seán Mc Nicholl

CW: Gun violence, deathThe air hung heavy with the foggy dew of a February morning. Through the single-pane window, dampened though it was, could be heard the regimented tramp of a platoon of British Lancers. The melodic jingle of them was harmonised by the footfall of their heavy boots. They passed by, unseen in the fog. The well-worn sound of sirens echoed down the street as they had done from early morning but neither of us paid heed. Nothing new for a Belfast morning. I sat rigid at the table...

132 likes 123 comments 123 WINNER 🏆

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“Your Cat™️ Customer Service” by Scott Christenson

Hi, I'm Timmy McHill and drugs and AA started me on the road to where I am today in the world of feline telephone fraud. I’m not sure which one, maybe both. My career in Customer Service began right after I took a quick detour from university at age 19. My educational readjustment happened because the University Police didn't understand the economic theory of harm reduction. Since the nursing students I was attending class with had an inflexible demand for party drugs, they would be dealing with real drug dealers do...

126 likes 122 comments 122 WINNER 🏆

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“The Lake” by Kelsey H

The summer I turned sixteen and got my license, Kyle Lewis was pulled dead from the lake. It was the week before Christmas and heat pressed down over the town. People went to the lake to cool off, but Kyle didn’t drown. There was no water in his lungs.Coming back now, ten years passed, like always when I returned to visit my parents, I found myself slowing down when I reached the lake. The turn off was on the long road which led to their house and then on into town, and I felt myself pulled toward it, as if a magnet lay ...

208 likes 156 comments 156 WINNER 🏆

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“The Breakfast Murder Club” by Zach Martz

A hush fell upon the gathering at the large clover-shaped mansion that Lucky the Lucky Charms Leprechaun lived in. The guests looked in horror and sadness as they saw the body of the effusive leprechaun floating in the large clover-shaped pool that was located in the courtyard of the luxurious estate.Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Buzz the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, and Snap, Crackle and Pop all stood silently staring at the corpse. While their first impulse was to consider it an accidental death b...

7 likes 3 comments 3

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“A business opportunity, what else?” by Michael J. Conroy

London– 1952, although the fog appears to be at its worst, I have more pressing matters to attend to. For one, my diamond is still missing. Worse still, my colleagues and I are accusing one another of murder. It began eleven months ago on a bitterly cold morning in January. I was waiting to board a train in Fort William, a town in the western Scottish Highlands on the shores of Loch Linnhe. My destination was Mallaig, a small fishing port and gateway to the Isle of Skye. There I was to meet a man known as ...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Glendora Retirement Village” by Kelly Sibley

“I do find policemen frightfully tiresome!’Mrs Marigold Smith sat at the round table waving away the Detective Sargent’s polite question with a bored hand. The table had been moved to the window side of the dining hall so as not to interfere with the resident’s lunch service. Detective Wallace reminded himself not to take anything personally. ‘Keep the professional wall up’ was his own internal advice. But as the old woman’s blue rinse hair and necklace of huge round glist...

8 likes 2 comments 2

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✍️ All stories

“Smile and wave” by Joey Mungin

"Senator Torsen! Senator Torsen over here!" I turned towards a barrage of camera flashes and questions. Having dealt with the onslaught of publicity over the years, I knew it was best to smile and wave as I walked by the crowd of journalists and reporters. So that's what I did, smiled and waved. Made sure they got the best side of my three-piece suit, tailored by Louis Vuitton's best designers, not to brag. I co...

3 likes 1 comment 1

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“Something in the Air” by Tee Stories

This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have come home from work early today. If I hadn’t, I would not have caught my wife in bed with Roy. Yeah, that Roy. My bestfriend. The one I went to Highschool with, shared a dorm with In college, then opened a business with. 30 years of friendship gone. He fucked my wife. And I had to kill him. It’s that simple. I sat in the back of the police cr...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“The Harvest” by Vj Hamilton

In the night, Lucia awakens and remembers how it used to be, those hot summer days in Tuscany when everyone at the villa stretched out for siesta. She gravitated to the boathouse, where she’d mosey into the murky shade with the sound of water slapping the hull. And soon there would be Guido, also seventeen, climbing out from the water, pushing back his dripping hair. “Come, slip int...

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“A Cat's Eye” by Timothy Schmid

"I-I-I don't know! I don't know! How many times do you have to ask me? I was walking to my job. While walking down the hill from my house, I noticed a strange car parked in the lot I had never seen before. When I walked past the car, I noticed a man lying on the ground next to the fence. I thought he was sleeping at first, but when I got closer, I saw... I saw... Oh, God! There was blood all over the place!  

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“THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY” by Debbie Curtin

   I could not get that smell out of my nose. It was so strong that is started to make me gag. This seemed to be a bad omen and one that caused me to rethink what had happened just a month ago.    It was the end of the day and spending a quiet night by myself without anyone telling me one more story of how miserable life was for them was what I needed. Candles were lit and my favorite tunes were playing i...

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“Try to find me” by Evina Roux

Here we go again, Matthew murmured as he entered the manor house a few hours after they received the call this morning. It was another typical day at the office. When the phone started to ring frantically at this early time, it was a sign that something big has happened. And when the person on the other end of the line was screaming that he found the lifeless body of Timothy Rogan, the world-fam...

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“A Gala full of Hounds” by Peter Carter

I made my way down the long driveway towards the Ball house as a light rain filled the night. Tonight was an important night for every important person in this city, and I’d been assigned to attend as extra security, much to my chagrin. I always hated these sorts of social functions, more than most of the other social functions I hated. There was always this barrier of facade hanging around just about every person there....

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“Death by Misadventure” by Munira Lokhandwala

Death by Misadventure 1 The last thing that I remember – and I do not use this metaphorically – is struggling for breath under a pillow. There was far too much whisky in my system for my resistance to have any effect but alcohol or not, the memory of my struggle is real and not imagined as some of the detective theorists m...

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“Soft and Sweet and Intoxicating” by Szal V

[This story contains a scene of violence.]Frank was against the wall for sure, now - literally.“Heh, n-now now,” the charming businessman said as the knife was pressed against his neck. “Let’s not do anything ra-”A large shadow on his still-trembling body and a pool of his blood stood still for a moment, then receded into the darkness.Mr. Frank Smithers - a prominent local businessman - had been found dead in a back alley by a homeless man early Saturday morning, his ...

4 likes 2 comments 2

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“The Breakfast Murder Club” by Zach Martz

A hush fell upon the gathering at the large clover-shaped mansion that Lucky the Lucky Charms Leprechaun lived in. The guests looked in horror and sadness as they saw the body of the effusive leprechaun floating in the large clover-shaped pool that was located in the courtyard of the luxurious estate.Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Buzz the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, and Snap, Crackle and Pop all stood silently staring at the corpse. While their first impulse was to consider it an accidental death b...

7 likes 3 comments 3

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“Not My Son” by S. Faxon

Note: This story includes sensitive content, including references to murder, substance use, and child and animal abuse.My world ended when the police slipped the photos across the table to me.There was no way my son, my boy, could have committed the terrible, atrocious scenes they were showing me. The ones forever scarred into my mind. These crimes had to have been committed by someone else, anyone else, just not my son.The photographs deafened me to the questions the...

11 likes 1 comment 1

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“A business opportunity, what else?” by Michael J. Conroy

London– 1952, although the fog appears to be at its worst, I have more pressing matters to attend to. For one, my diamond is still missing. Worse still, my colleagues and I are accusing one another of murder. It began eleven months ago on a bitterly cold morning in January. I was waiting to board a train in Fort William, a town in the western Scottish Highlands on the shores of Loch Linnhe. My destination was Mallaig, a small fishing port and gateway to the Isle of Skye. There I was to meet a man known as ...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Glendora Retirement Village” by Kelly Sibley

“I do find policemen frightfully tiresome!’Mrs Marigold Smith sat at the round table waving away the Detective Sargent’s polite question with a bored hand. The table had been moved to the window side of the dining hall so as not to interfere with the resident’s lunch service. Detective Wallace reminded himself not to take anything personally. ‘Keep the professional wall up’ was his own internal advice. But as the old woman’s blue rinse hair and necklace of huge round glist...

8 likes 2 comments 2

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“Why Did She Have to Die Too?” by T. S. Memory

*Warning, this story contains implied assault and deaths triggered by an allergic reactionSelina sat alone in a barren room, staring at her reflection off the wide view mirror on the wall opposite for the past hour. Selina thought she had planned the perfect murder, one she could safely relish in a faraway place instead of where she was. The investigation was supposed to point towards the couple which would give Selina time to leave the country. The evidence was to be her advocate instead of the embarrassingly b...

6 likes 0 comments 0

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“Justice is for The Birds” by Scott Winkler

Justice is for The Birds  (warning for some sexual violence and suicide) When they shook hands, her toes tingled. This lawyer sent to represent her in the petty crime court was maybe the most handsome thing she had ever seen. She blushed out a ‘hello’ and ‘pleased to meet you.’. After he put her hand down, she pulled her sweater a little tighter around her and buttoned the button second fr...

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