2210+ Short Crime 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

“unoccupied” by R E

Guest rooms were always hiding things. No one starts out wanting a guest room. It’s usually an office first, but then you got fired and can’t look at it anymore, so you throw a bed in it that you’ll never sleep in. Sometimes it’s a kid’s room, but they’ve moved out into a college dorm room. It used to be storage but then the divorce happened leaving it depressingly empty. A studio for recording music but the bass player ...

367 likes 143 comments 143 WINNER 🏆

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“Just Eggs” by Tre P

(CW/TW: mentions of WEAPONS, MILD LANGUAGE and BLOOD) ‘First, let’s take our cake mix and pour it into a large bowl. Next, we’re going to-’ The baker instructed from the screen of Lauren’s iPad, but was paused before she could continue to the next step that was required. Lauren had just finished adding in the rest of the cake mix into the bowl, then grabbing onto the cake box, ignoring the rest of the video. She’s got this. “Alright, now I need eggs.” She stated, as she turned herself around from the counter towards the refr...

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“A Legacy” by R.S. Louvierre

There was an eerie smell when we walked through the front door of my grandpa’s house. He had died a week earlier in the living room from a heart attack, and the lingering smell of death had never vacated. He had left his San Francisco home to my parents, who were eager to rummage through his belongings, throw away what they didn’t want and move us in. I did not know much about my grandpa. He had sent m...

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“A Thousand Years in Tokyo” by Alex Sultan

Anyone who wins the lottery on their first ticket should be considered a time traveler. A win on their second ticket as well and they're giving themselves away. Takeshi yawned. The car radio read 2:45 a.m. He drank the last of his coffee, cold and bitter, then clicked on the overhead lights. In a couple of minutes, a woman by the name of Naoko Asari would walk out of the gas station with two winning lottery tickets. She’d cash them in before returning to her time.He would arrest her before she could.Takeshi checked hi...

88 likes 50 comments 50 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Procrastination Kills” by Chris Mc Kinstry

"Why do I always wait until the last minute to do anything?" James asked himself aloud while driving through the rain. It was midnight and James had just left work. James is 20 years old, a smaller guy, and not very athletic. James is the 4-12 manager at Wendy's and if he isn't at work then he spends most of his time playing video games and reading. It had just started to rain half an hour ago and was just a light rain but his windshield wipers were less than ideal. With less rubber on his wipers than an ultra-thin Trojan, they were causi...

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“I Swear I Didn't” by Shelby Schwartz

Prequel to "This is Worse":I've caused pain before, but not like this. I've done things I can't undo. I have caused other pain, but never damaged someone so much that they can't come back from it. This is worse. I wasn't even in the room. I was at the other end of the house and I come back to this. There she is laying on the hardwood floor. She is face down, her auburn hair flowing over her, and blood pooling around her. I heard her fall from my bedroom where I was laying down. Resting after a long day at my new job. She...

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“Just Eggs” by Tre P

(CW/TW: mentions of WEAPONS, MILD LANGUAGE and BLOOD) ‘First, let’s take our cake mix and pour it into a large bowl. Next, we’re going to-’ The baker instructed from the screen of Lauren’s iPad, but was paused before she could continue to the next step that was required. Lauren had just finished adding in the rest of the cake mix into the bowl, then grabbing onto the cake box, ignoring the rest of the video. She’s got this. “Alright, now I need eggs.” She stated, as she turned herself around from the counter towards the refr...

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“Shenanigans” by Andas Adinoyi

Rain! Rain! go away, come again another day, little Jerry wants to play... Jerry and I sang as i hurriedly search around the park for a place to ease myself. It's empty and I'm pressed, adding to my discomfort is not having a network service on my phone. We soon find a tree with an umbrella-like covering, i told Jerry to turn around as i quietly ease myself. Mum! when is daddy coming? Jerry asked and i wondered why he had kept so long after calling him to inform him that my car had broken down before i lost the network ser...

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“When It Rains, I Think of You” by Dave Floyd

The summer was so hot this year; it seemed as if it would be endless. To the consternation of the newspapers it still hadn't rained by the end of September, but that all changed last week and it hasn't stopped since. It’s as well I live alone. I must look a mess, slumped on the sofa in my pyjamas with one eye monitoring the news channel and a hand never more than an inch from a whisky bottle, its contents evaporat...

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“Weeping Heavens” by Saptarshi Mukherjee

[CW : Strong language, domestic violence]Be careful what you wish for, they say.Well said.In his search for eternal peace and quiet he had wound up here,the five feet by five feet room of solitary confinement. The only opening on the rear wall of his cell, what passed for a window here, opened into an alley within the prison compound not more than two feet wide. The alley was as confined as him, by his cell on one side and a gray wall on the other, seeming like a cliff for all...

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“A Legacy” by R.S. Louvierre

There was an eerie smell when we walked through the front door of my grandpa’s house. He had died a week earlier in the living room from a heart attack, and the lingering smell of death had never vacated. He had left his San Francisco home to my parents, who were eager to rummage through his belongings, throw away what they didn’t want and move us in. I did not know much about my grandpa. He had sent m...

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“Silver Rain” by Hope Wells

Silver RainI think about the silver rain, or rather the season of the silver rain. When the miracles came. Definition of miracle:an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.Or:an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of GodHowever, I will not speak of the secret things. T...

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“LIKE THIS MUSIC/ THE GREEN FACE” by Mara Masolini

LIKE THIS MUSIC / THE GREEN FACE/ TIME, what does not erases time, what does not end up in oblivion as time going by , it often happened to Alma to think so. She , who was already forty, could not help but feel a shiver through her back , when she thought how quickly the forty years of her life had passed. In a breath, in a flash they were gone.  And she could not help but think, with tre...

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“Black, Violet, Green, then Yellow” by Nicholas Castine

Ten years of sleep will make you cold. The liquid nitrogen sees to that. It cools your bones, muscles, and mind. It was clear to her that there was a connection between heat and memory. She lay on the aluminum table trying to understand the questions the doctors asked her, but she was too cold, her memories hadn’t yet thawed.  “Mrs. Trudell, do you remember anything from your time before?” a doctor aske...

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“The Search for Effective Family Communication” by Bruce Friedman

My name is Jack and I can honestly say that my life with my wife Karen in our small town in Michigan has been quite ordinary, at least until recently. My day job is selling agricultural equipment. I am also a part-time, volunteer fireman in town. My fire fighter duties are probably relevant to the story that I am about to tell you but more on this as I continue. We are the parents of twin boys, Brad and Chad. Like many t...

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“Liar Sammy's Truth” by Biji Varghese

Liar Sammy. She was always Liar Sammy. No one believed anything she said. It was always like that since 5th grade. Her principal's son Jonathan was the first one who called her Liar Sammy. Sammy saw Jonathan stealing money from one of the classmates. She told the teacher who always thought Jonathan was the way to get into the principal's good book. Teacher asked a series of questions in front of the whole class which Sam...

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“Murder of Aunt Rosa” by Shoshana A

“She is dead. It seems that she struggled a lot before she gave up. She had an asthma attack last night. I am so sorry. Please come fast, we need someone to perform last rites and you and you mother were her closest,” said the female voice on the other end of the call. There was a sense of urgency in her tone.I could not believe it. How could a woman, who always was prepare for the worst, die of asthma attack? Last time when I saw her, she looked ...

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“Whitechapel Red” by Megan Honrud

The wind smelled putrid at this time of night, but perhaps the blood and gore on one’s leather-gloved hands made it so vial. Or perhaps it was the stench of poverty slowly poisoning my pure city, dampening the air, rustic enough to peel the sides of the buildings. My once shining jewel of a neighborhood has become impoverished, full of Women of the Night and hungry children covered in soot. What has happened to my sweet Whitechapel, London?Using a brand new handkerchief to open the door, it’s too late t...

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“The Mother Goose Murders” by Katharine Widdows

TW: murder, injury.The coffee was going cold in his hands but the conversation around him was starting to warm. Mr Williams shook the wide, white, frill of his cuff as it escaped the edge of his black legal robes. He lifted a brown cup to his lips, drained the final, lukewarm dregs and looked up.Mr George was pushing his way through the coffee house door, removing his hat to reveal his neatly tied-back hair. The bright yellow thread detail, contrasted against the dark green of his tail coat and caught t...

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