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

150+ Mystery Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. No need to go out hunting for clues — you’ve solved the puzzle of where to find the newest mystery short stories just by landing on this page.

Mystery Short Stories – Page 5 of 10

From Bernadette

Submitted to Contest #317

Sometime in 2006 Papsi: If you're reading this letter, then something has already happened to me. I just want to tell you that I love you, and I appreciate everything you've done for me after Kuya died. Please stop blaming yourself for what he did. You and Mamsi don't deserve to suffer like this. He had always blamed you for every bad decision he made. You know how stubborn he was. It wasn't your fault that he fell blindly in love with the wrong girl. I'm sorry if I didn't tell you what was happening to me. I was at the bombing site because ...

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The Last Ride

Submitted to Contest #317

Rain hammered against the windshield, blurring the runway lights in the distance as Jane pulled her car into the airport's rideshare queue. Friday nights were usually busy, but tonight's storm had turned the world into a maze of slick streets and glowing reflections. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced at the clock—8:47 p.m. A few more runs and she'd call it a night. The double shifts were wearing on her, but the extra money helped keep her mind off things she'd rather not think about.Her phone buzzed: Pickup: Max. Terminal C.She ...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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The Midnight Pub

Submitted to Contest #317

The name “The Midnight Pub” was not its own but given by desperate hopefuls and the lucky few who claimed to step inside. Nestled, or rather hidden in Soho, London, the pub has been compared to Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (2011), for its share a strikingly similar, impossible premise. Yet this is not cinema. This is rumor, myth and obsession. And, if you believe the stories, this is reality. No one had The Midnight Pub on their 2025 bingo card. It doesn't appear on Google Maps. It has no phone number, no listed owner, no records in city ...

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The Secret I Feed

Submitted to Contest #316

At first, Gavin was uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving. He’d run from the cameras, hide from the growing crowd of fans waiting outside, and refused all requests for interviews.Now he thrived under the spotlight.He stopped for photos, signed autographs, and spoke at schools. Encouraging the young minds, consoling the desolate and grieving, and winning his way into the hearts of everyone who saw him solve another case that no one else could.He was a new type of celebrity. A new type of Hero.One that was sorely needed in modern t...

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The Double

Submitted to Contest #317

Ethan Ward had not stepped into the café in years. Not since the accident, not since the slow unraveling of what he once believed was a sturdy, unshakable life. He had walked past it plenty of times, catching whiffs of roasted beans and cinnamon buns carried by the wind, but he never crossed the threshold. Avoidance had become a habit. The café was where he and Julia used to sit with steaming mugs and stacks of crossword puzzles, laughing over her quick wit and his slower guesses. She had been gone five years now, but the place was haunted b...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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The Hitchhiker

Submitted to Contest #317

Date of Incident: June 3rd, 2005Case Number: 67 This account is one of the more recent cases. As I continue to investigate the high strangeness surrounding the town of Selene, I realize that many of these cases require some back story. I will lay out for you the events of what happened on June 3rd and then recall for you the history of this small junction in Selene. The frightful events that occurred that day have all been relayed by Lissa Sanders: "That afternoon, my husband and I had gotten lost on our way to Selene. Without knowing it...

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The Shape of an Echo

Submitted to Contest #317

For five years, Amelia had lived her life in the quiet, orderly stacks of the city library. It was a world of contained stories, of beginnings and endings bound neatly in cloth and paper. Her own story felt as if it had been torn in half, the latter part left unwritten since the day her brother, Collin, had disappeared. He’d gone hiking in the Cascades, a simple day trip, and had never come back. No note, no body, no trace. He had simply been erased by the wilderness, leaving a void that Amelia had tried to fill with the rustle of turning pa...

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The Report of Murder

Submitted to Contest #317

This is the story of a report that was never to actually be seen. It was the account of all that happened on a rainy day in August. This is how the story will be shared with those who were able to dig it up and the horror involved in what they read. August 5th, 2102 8:26pm questioning suspects in the libraryA mansion at the edge of town where the murder took place at and trying to piece together the various clues and evidence presented by the detectives and police officers. As told by most who were present and accounted for, it was more than...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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The Man on the 4:12

Submitted to Contest #317

Leo’s world was built on the solid bedrock of probability. As a senior risk analyst for a global insurance firm, he didn't just understand statistics; he inhabited them. He could tell you the precise likelihood of a hailstorm in Nebraska in May or a shipping container being lost in the North Atlantic in winter. His life was a fortress of calculated certainties, and he was its comfortable, solitary king.He was reviewing actuarial tables on his tablet when the man sat down opposite him in the half-empty train car. The 4:12 PM express was usual...

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Ocean Warrior

Submitted to Contest #316

Ocean WarriorChapter 1 This was it! He was finally here. Zulemar looked out over the large expansion of crystal blue water. His green eyes were lit with excitement as he watched wave after wave rush to the shore. The weather was perfect with the sun high in the sky and the wind helping the waves grow big enough to catch the young surfer’s attention. If there was a better day than today, he had never known or even imagined it. “We made it,” Kyle ran up and slapped him on the back. “Can you believe it?” He had shaggy blon...

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The Dust of Forgotten Things

Submitted to Contest #317

The scent of old paper and decaying leather was the only history Arthur knew. For five years, his life had been a quiet loop within the four walls of "The Dusty Cover," a bookstore that seemed to exist outside of time. He’d woken up in a hospital bed with a name, a splitting headache, and a past as blank as a fresh page. The doctors called it dissociative amnesia, a clean slate brought on by trauma his mind refused to revisit.He’d found a strange sort of peace in the bookstore, a sanctuary of second-hand stories. He organized them, repaired ...

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A Chef's Journey

Submitted to Contest #317

“Turn back.” An unfamiliar man with an unfamiliar voice warned Elizabeth.“What? Why? Didn’t you say Sherwood was this way?” Elizabeth pointed in the direction behind the stranger. She looked back at him, and only his smile was visible beneath his forlorn cloak.“I did say that, didn’t I?” The stranger chuckled to himself before adding, “if you seek answers, turn back. But if you seek repose, you may find it sooner than expected.”Huh? What the hell does that mean? Is he toying with me? Elizabeth waited for the stranger to elaborate, but instea...

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Legacy: The Book of Three

Submitted to Contest #316

She studied him, tugging her lower lip between her teeth. She needed help - his help - but whether he’d offer it depended on how much he already knew. And that, she wasn’t sure of.He shifted impatiently and looked toward the door, his hand beginning to rise from the top of his desk where it had been resting for the last several minutes of tense small talk.“Miss Co-,” he began, and she made up her mind, decisively cutting him off before he could end the meeting prematurely.“Mr. Murphy, can you keep a secret?”Her sharp tone startled them both....

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Alias: Invisible

Submitted to Contest #316

@BulletNewsWire📅 Aug 21, 2025 · 9:03 AM🚨 BREAKING: “Mr. Invisible” leaked on TickCloc today in a video showing extremely stunning footage of him transforming to man. THE CEO OF TECH_PORT_Ind.??!!!💬 3.2K replies 🔁 12K retweets ❤️ 18K likes @FirstLightMedia📅 Aug 21, 2025 · 9:07 AMReplying to @BulletNewsWire“John Clavet, here speaking on behalf of @FirstLightMedia.” This footage is absolutely 100% fake. Yes folks, its fake. I have worked in the AI department for over 26 years and things just don't add up.💬 1.1K replies 🔁 9.8K retweets ❤️ 14K l...

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Can you keep a secret? Forty years of shame

Submitted to Contest #316

Can you keep a secret? Forty years of shame“Can you keep a secret?” Jason asked me.This was unusual vocabulary to use. We never spoke to each other like this normally, as under normal conditions, Jason would have simply said, ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ or even, ‘Keep this to yourself.’Why was he now speaking in this semi-formal, stilted manner, I wondered. Whatever he wanted to tell me, it had to be pretty important, I figured, so I merely nodded in acquiescence.…….​Jason and I had known each other for about four years, since I had moved into the ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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