3310+ 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

“The Bullet that Esther Stopped” by Delbert Griffith

II shot papa square in the heart but he didn’t die. That damn bible he carried with him saved his life. I was considerable lucky that papa had his axe at hand, and that he kept it sharp. I picked it up. It was a heavy thing, so I swung with all my might and put it right through his head. Seein’ his brains made me throw up. I moved away so it wouldn’t get on papa. That would be disrespectful.Papa was a big man. I couldn’t bury him like that, so I started choppin’ off his arms and legs ...

107 likes 166 comments 166 WINNER 🏆

Read story

“Resolute” by Saeda Rose

1: Exercise More!Buy the shoes. It’s okay, screw the budget, that’s not this year’s resolution. You deserve this. When the saleswoman asks you if you’ve done much running, laugh and gesture to your mid-section. The woman will blink, force out a half-baked hah. It’s a reaction of discomfort, not cruelty; you made it weird. You don’t know why you feel the need to shame your own body in front of a stranger, but you blame it on her lululemon leggings and air-hostess smile. She makes you nervous. Most people...

203 likes 103 comments 103 WINNER 🏆

Read story

“Marie Antoinette” by Molly Kelash

Squat, beige and Soviet, the Marie Antoinette Apartments stood against the stale gray Minneapolis sky. Irony of the worst kind, he thought, blandly ugly and unconscious. He would take exquisitely self-aware irony any day over this three-story architectural monstrosity, “classed up” with tacked on ionic Greek columns, harsh blue LED Christmas lights wrapped inexpertly around them, canned Christmas classics pumping through the air.God, this place was only better than minimum security prison by a hair. But it was all he cou...

140 likes 122 comments 122 WINNER 🏆

Read story

⭐️ Recommended stories

“Colton's First Reader” by Rudy Senecal

“Unit 341, signing off.”      Station responded, but it wasn’t much more than a scratch on his ear. The green line train wasn’t far off but instead of standing to get ready like the rest of the late-night riders, Parks opened the same email he’d looked at a dozen times already.      There was some other basic information like his date of birth, address, and social security number. None of which mattered, what mattered to him was toward the bottom of the email. He sl...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“PRETTY LOOKIN' PEOPLE ” by Susan Catucci

PART 1: PRETTY LOOKIN’ PEOPLEBonnie stood staring into her closet. She was still wearing the worn slip she’d slept in.  Since she’d broken her arm a few days earlier, dressing herself had become a challenge. She was quickly running out of garments she could fit over the plaster cast and washing her clothes was almost impossible with one functioning arm. Elsie, a nearby friend who lived alone, had offered to pick her up and have her come and stay for a spell, until Bonnie could manage to do m...

33 likes 36 comments 36 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Efcharistó” by Chris Miller

Anyone who thinks ‘the short end’ is the shitty end of the stick ain’t never been hit with a stick. Well, I’ve been hit, and I can tell you, it’s the long end you want to dodge. You ever seen a sword? Lady Justice, she holds a sword. She doesn’t dispense justice with the stubby little handle, does she? It’s the long end she swings, straight and true. Not exactly a stick, but you take my ...

24 likes 35 comments 35 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

Introducing Prompted, a new magazine written by you!

🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE.

Download

✍️ All stories

“Stranger Danger” by Cheyenne Spicer

It was a warm October evening as Elizabeth drove down the winding road. The sun was starting to set, and she was on her way to the annual fall festival her little hometown hosted every October. Elizabeth loved going to the festival even though she was a bit of a recluse, although not by choice. She never really fit in with the people in her hometown. When the festival rolled around every October, Elizabeth was excited to...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“COMMANDMENT” by Fi Brie

As my right knuckle connects with the door the third time, I realise my keys are clasped in my left first, but both of my hands are shaking. I hear Mum’s movement inside, shouting that she’ll be there in a sec and I hear the slam of an oven door and the pitter patter of her slippers. Her face is first expectant, then confused, then concerned. “Mary-Jane?” she says as my knees give way and I fall with...

2 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“The Bomb” by Jarrel Jefferson

I plant a bomb, for old time’s sake. It’s a rather large one, under the stage where the honky-tonk band plays songs that make everyone two-step. In less than thirty minutes it will detonate, killing everyone in the Red River Saloon. Unless you stop me like you always do.  More people are gathered on the dance floor than at the bar. Good. Gives me room to sit and enjoy a drink. I need to kill time until you show up...

8 likes 9 comments 9

Read story

“Colton's First Reader” by Rudy Senecal

“Unit 341, signing off.”      Station responded, but it wasn’t much more than a scratch on his ear. The green line train wasn’t far off but instead of standing to get ready like the rest of the late-night riders, Parks opened the same email he’d looked at a dozen times already.      There was some other basic information like his date of birth, address, and social security number. None of which mattered, what mattered to him was toward the bottom of the email. He sl...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“Friends” by Cosmic Neon

This story includes violence, alcohol, and mild memory lost... read at your own risk PUNCH; Most people don’t start their stories with an action but I thought it was more than appropriate for this little story. Picture this, six men in their early 20, one of the men are up against a wall he has light skin, black hair, and amber eyes, this is Tyson (the first main character of our story). Tyson had started ...

4 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Spoiler Alert, I Just Found A Murderer's Diary” by Lillian Albert

You know how in books, the love-hungry person finds a diary on the ground, and it’s their crush’s? They return it and live happily ever after? That literally happened to me last week. At least, the finding a diary bit. I’ll let you keep reading to learn if I found my true love. Let’s start generically. It was a dark and stormy night (for real, I’m not joking. There was lightning and everything. Plenty of rain, too, of course), and I was walking home from my ten hour ...

5 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“When two opposites meet” by Arter Fake

There have been a series of murders in the small town of Lockwood. Nobody knows why they were done. None of the victims were related to one another. The only thing that connected these cases was the senseless violence of it all. The authorities claim that they were doing everything in their power to find the one responsible and "bring down the hammer of justice upon them", but we all know that was very unlikely ...

5 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Artist” by Bartosz Mikulski

Pavel stepped out of the train and headed towards the escalator. "Another boring day," he thought, "That's the life of a bank clerk. Barely a life at all." He stopped on the escalator steps and looked around. The station was still almost empty. On the escalator going down to the platform, he spotted a woman. A tall blonde in a red dress. "What a strawberry," he thought while pretending he didn't stare at her. He waited u...

4 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“The Stranger and the Lioness” by Halle Giannelli

Nothing brings out the animal in people like a full moon during a heat wave. Katherine Jane Wright was pure feline, as she prowled along the muddy creek bank. Stockings balled tightly in her fist, she stretched out her arms for balance. The moon was glorious, and provided just enough light to tip toe from one moss-slick rock to the next. Something about the thick humid air made her feel positively feral—dangerous even. It was unlike Katherine to be out past dark. Phillip would be livid, if he knew that his newest bride was som...

6 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Annabella” by Amy Bepko

Distracted. That was the best word to describe me at this moment. Struggling. I was distracted and struggling. Searching for Gate 22 in this overcrowded, hot airport. I was already 25 minutes late thanks to my uncanny ability to set off the metal detectors every single time. Part of me thinks I should just ask to be searched. Save myself the time.  Instead, here I am, distracted as I wander down Terminal A looki...

7 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“PANDORA'S DIARY” by Charles Corkery

PANDORA’S DIARY It was her fault I found the bloody thing in the first place so she only had herself to blame. I hated that stupid rug chest at the bottom of our bed because I kept stubbing my toe on it when I got up in the middle of the night to pee. But she insisted that it was chic, so, when I bashed my foot one morning and bent down to push the trunk back into position, you c...

4 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“A Real Page Turner” by Bob Faszczewski

          As John Jordan turned over the first shovelful of soil at the groundbreaking ceremony for his new insurance office in the Rehobeth Beach Coastal Mall he struck an unusually hard object. He reached down to retrieve what felt like hardened cardboard.        He had found some type of book, like a journal or diary.         John wanted to begin a new chapter in his life with h...

5 likes 3 comments 3

Read story

“My Singapore Garden” by Ace Baker

Warning: This story contains an attempted rape and grisly murders. My Singapore Garden It sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke: What’s black and white and green all over? For me, back then, the answer was a paradox: boldness and brokenness; an open door and a closed cage; a paradise and a prison...

10 likes 11 comments 11

Read story

“The History of the Night” by Szal Veilwinter

Edmund was not his real name. The lone man in a brown double breasted suit leaned against the railing as the ship cut its way through the night. There was laughter and light coming from the ballroom above, but Edmund simply ignored it. He arched his neck to observe the full yellow moon in the sky, throwing its light carelessly onto the shimmering sea. It was a warm ...

8 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Blocked Chakras” by Kelly DiMario

"Take a deep slow breath in through your nose. One, two, three, four, five. Now slowly exhale through your nose and feel your belly empty. Five, four, three, two, one," says the yoga instructor. I lift my head off my mat and squint my eyes in the dark wooden room to take a look at the owner of the tranquilizing voice up front. The lithe, red-headed teacher sits in a meditation pose, the tiny center of a candle circle."Let's repeat the breath again slowly,” she says and I drop my anxious head and comply. After three round...

4 likes 0 comments 0

Read story