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Looking for a steady supply of crime short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

150+ 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.

Crime Short Stories – Page 6 of 10

Shutterbug Shutdown

Submitted to Contest #307

On a boring Saturday morning I decided to take a hike on the outskirts of my home town, Berlin, Maryland. My adventure began on one of the many cornfields in the area.A thriving chicken-raising industry long ago had dominated this area, but now only abandoned grow out houses dotted the landscape. This seemed like the ideal place to search for historical treasures that might help me discover a forgotten link to the past that could highlight the new book knocking around in my brain for some time.Possibly risking a confrontation with some gun-t...

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The Easiest Confession

Submitted to Contest #306

Who is it? Hello? Alex? Its Hilda calling. You didn’t show up for last Thursday’s meeting, so I was just, y’know, calling to see if you were going to show up today. No, I didn’t plan on it. Oh! Oh. Okay, well, if you can’t make it in person, do you- You’re going to ask if we can talk over the phone?…Yeah that’s fine. I don’t care. If you wanna talk that badly- I don’t mean to pressure you! You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to, I’ll understand. Since we’re over the phone, I get it if you don’t want to say certain things. Just, y’k...

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Insider Threat

Submitted to Contest #306

Jamie, do you have it?Who is this?Do you have it? Leave me aloneReported you as spamJamie, do you have it?Who is this???Not important.I’ll report you againYou can report me and block me as much as you like.Do you have it?What the hell are you talking about?You know what I’m talking about.Please stop pretending.Leave me aloneAll right.I will spell it out for you.Where are the documents you stole?I didn’t steal anything.Please don’t be tiresome.I know that you’ve arrived at St. Elizabeths.Tell me when you get to your workstation.WHAT IS THIS A...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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Collateral Echoes of Events

Submitted to Contest #306

Shelly’s Restaurant Review - 5/5Dated - 13.04.2025 The food is great for a fast-food joint, especially considering it was almost 2 AM. The banana cake was amazing, fluffy and tender. The fish fingers served with their in-house sauce: chef’s kiss. The waitress looked overworked and tired, but she was trying her best. Poor thing, she kept forgetting the order. I hope she is compensated well. Shelly’s Restaurant Review - 3/5Dated - 03.05.2025 The in-house sauce was amazing, goes with almost anything. The service can be better. The waitress kept...

6 likes 4 comments 4
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Hollow Graves

Submitted to Contest #307

“And you are?”He traded his kevlar vest for a Brooks Brothers suit. No living in shadows. No jungle to blend in.Just glass. Linoleum. Fluorescent lights blinking like gunfire.Footsteps echoed soft and sharp like teeth clacking in the dark.“Allen Robidoux,” he said.Inside Brooks Brothers jacket. Left pocket swung heavy. One kiss if things get hardcore.Everything else was foreign.No mag: Just cellphone.No knife: Just cuff links.No camo face paint: Just Ray-Ban.“I’m here to see director David Reeves.”Cade takes off glasses.“Oh my god,” she said...

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A letter was left for you at the front desk, Sir.

Submitted to Contest #307

Hi, You don’t know me, but that’s not important. I won't tell you who I am, what I do, but if you’re as good as I think you are, you’ll figure it out. I saw you today, walking a dog we both know isn’t yours, down by the water, amongst the tourists and teenagers that litter the beaches at this time of year. You looked relaxed. Smiled when a kid rode past and almost knocked you over. His mother tried to catch your eye, a blush creeping up her cheeks that was more than just embarrassment, but I guess you were lost in thought. Thinking of Tokyo...

2 likes 1 comment 1
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The Teflon King

Submitted to Contest #306

No one suspects that the three cheerful-looking people sitting in the back of Sidewinder’s Saloon are planning a revolution.Their leader, Nestor Bukharin, is a pleasant-looking, fit, twenty-something with granny glasses and a Vladimir Lenin T-shirt. Simone Bolivar maintains her low-key appearance as a part-time kindergarten teacher, wearing a gray jumpsuit and mirrored sunglasses. Only the third member, known only as Tito, looks slightly threatening, reflecting the bulky and bearded aura of a wrestler.The three are part of the Adria Socialis...

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RECYCLABLE

Submitted to Contest #306

Mica Dowry sits at a desk as the stream of sunlight hits her like it's watching her. She is hunched over, pen scratching across pages like soft icing on a cake. Her thoughts are steady, weary but raw with truth. I HAD A DREAM - that two little girls with chipped nail polish and secondhand shoes would rule the world through song. I had a dream we would rise together and be untouchable.That the sound of our laughter in my grandmother’s living room would echo all the way to Madison Square Garden.That the teddy bears who sat in our audience woul...

4 likes 3 comments 3
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Original Soul Food

Submitted to Contest #306

Original Soul Food Our StoryWitch, Head Chef and Founder, Marina the Dreaded, started her humble beginnings as a young one hundred and thirty year old harvester of human souls in the underworld. After an apprenticeship with Hades God of the Dead, she asked herself: Why isn't there a convenient place to provide a gourmet experience for witches looking to suck the youth out of fresh and locally sourced humans? So it was. Founded in 1690 Salem, Massachusetts, Marina the Dreaded started our beloved “Original Soul Food”, a restaurant using only l...

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Text Me

Submitted to Contest #306

Text MeBy Anne Armstrong Where are you? Reese shifted in her seat, clutching her phone. She shot off the text again. Her hands started to shake. She hadn’t eaten in hours. She’d been too anxious to scarf down anything at her tiny apartment.Sorry. Late. The text was short. Abrupt. It reminded her of his picture on Hotfix, which she never should’ve swiped on. He had a sharp, square jaw. Hooded hazel eyes. Dark brows and thick black hair. Why hadn’t she gone for a guy with a good-natured grin? Perhaps because she’d been depressed lately, and di...

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Until Next Time

Submitted to Contest #306

11/17/18 It’s been a little over two weeks since he left us, give or take. Mom still rages like her screams can bring him back. Anna cries often, begging her to fetch dad not knowing he’s never coming home. He’s a monster for doing that to her right before Christmas. Reed is more or less the same, neutral about all of the drama that seems to follow us wherever we go. But me? I can’t let this slide, not again. This is the third time he’s done this to her, to Anna. To me. You know what they say, diary. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

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London Pride

Submitted to Contest #306

(NOTE: This script is proving difficult to format here. Hope it doesn't look too bad. We're not Robert Mckee here are we) FADE IN INT. LONDON HEATHROW DEPARTURES – DAY ALBIE CANNING, well into middle age, sits in a Caffè Nero at Heathrow with his younger wife JACKIE. ALBIE You’d better be going. Jackie nods. JACKIE This isn’t right. ALBIE I know, but you’ll be better off with your Mum and Dad. Then when I know mor...

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The Man That Wasn't There

Submitted to Contest #306

The Man Who Wasn’t There I am lying naked in a crowded room. I seem to be of no interest to anyone, save for whichever white figure had haphazardly dropped a towel over my crotch. “Thanks for small favors, right?” seems appropriate…but I said nothing. The table is cold metal. The room is unbearably bright... but it does not bother me. There are people encircling me like pigeons stalking the last French fry in the parking lot. Faceless white blurs point around the room adjusting things and giving orders. The closest to me seem...

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The Big Catch

Submitted to Contest #306

FADE IN: EXT. SEAPORT DOCK - DAY (ESTABLISHING).A FISHING BOAT docks on the pier at dawn. Fish are dumped off the boat and weighed dockside in a bin with a scale meter.The camera pans to where a large plume of black smoke hangs in the air inland off the bay.A MAN DRIVING A FORKLIFT drives a large crate of fish down the pier while seagulls hover. The forklift disappears into a bay door of the fish market compound. INT. FISH MARKET - DAY.Inside the fish market, WORKERS break down pallets and set up a fish stand. THE MAN WITH THE CLIPBOARD mark...

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The Creep Across the Street

Submitted to Contest #306

Trigger Warning- this short story contains Strong Language, and Sexual Content. The Creep Across the Street FADE IN:SUPER: PART 1- IN THE BEGINNINGEXT. THE CARDINAL MOTEL- NIGHTA drone lights up, and takes off towards The Remington Hotel.INT. THE REMINGTON HOTEL- NIGHTMADDIE (20s) and CASSIE WILLIAMS (30s), visit at the front desk while they have no customers. They look sharp in their lime green uniforms.CASSIEI have been really jumpy lately.Yesterday, I screamed when I saw agrasshopper.MADDIEReally, Cassie?CASSIEReally, Maddie. Oh, shit. ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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