3890+ 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

“When I Read Beckett” by Liz Grosul

🏆 Winner of Contest #241

…in…in this room…cursed room…loved?... cursed…. where she slept…half-grown in her hometown t-shirt…shorts…no shorts…t-shirt worn with holes…on the floor…he having thrown it…under the bed…dust collected and swept and settled again…. and again…who?... he… not she?...gracious!...there for the first time…assuredly last time…no boys in the room, father said…keep out!...nodded her head… but in the room…blue light hugging the window…scotch tape…peeling off the paint whether chipped or freshly laid or…exhumed…he found her in the— no, not found…held…...

75 likes 73 comments 73

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“No Junior League” by Mary Lynne Schuster

🏆 Winner of Contest #231

You are sure you want to do this?   Running away. Starting over.  It’s not as easy as people think. You have to give up everything.  Oh, that part’s easy. Everyone thinks we are all traceable, that you can’t really hide. But, see, everything is tied to your identity. Your papers. If you change those, you are a different person.  Fingerprints? If they’re in the system, if yo...

124 likes 61 comments 61

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“Cell 3.47” by Kate Hughes

🏆 Winner of Contest #219

Cell 3.47 was situated on the third floor of B wing in Stocken Gate prison, slap bang in the heart of London’s east end. Known as The Gate, the prison had a reputation for being a tough place to do time. The inmates behind the doors at The Gate endured long cold winters in the Victorian slammer that had been condemned many times but had always escaped closure. It was harsh, it was hard, and it was overrun by rats.Paula Pritchard was the sole resident of cell 3.47, but due to the rodent crisis she ...

123 likes 63 comments 63

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“Number Thirty-Three” by Kim Melchert

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #242

“I don’t get art,” says Katrina. “Why pay so much for something that looks like a kindergartner made it?” She is staring at a beautifully chaotic painting stationed in the foyer.  “That’s a Molinkska original”, replies Jake, approaching from behind. “It also happens to be my personal favorite.” “Well, to each his own.” Her roving eye gave it one last look before moving on to the next painting hanging in the bright foyer. “It’s just not my cup of tea. I much prefer something more traditional, like a landscape or portrait.” Jake sidesteps...

25 likes 7 comments 7

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“In Too Deep” by William Maher

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #241

(Contains adult language)Sean sat alone in a dark confession booth, fighting back his tears. The mesh slat to his right took the shape of the crucifix. A door clicked open and light shone through the slat, before vanishing as the door shut.“I wondered if I would see you again,” said the priest, sitting beyond the divider to Sean’s right.The devil sat on his left.“Read it to me one more time, Father,” Sean said.The voice that spoke through the crucifix was soft, “I would be more help if you just told me—”“Please… Father… don’t. Just read me t...

29 likes 21 comments 21

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“The Boy with Frozen Wings” by Robert Egan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #238

"You have my attention," says the Grand Assassin. "Who?" "He…" The boy drops his gaze to the Varos gold coin on the tavern's backroom table, his guarantee of safe audience, then looks back up at the man. The Grand Assassin's wrinkles and white hair may or may not be real, but the eyes are. Pinprick pupils caught in stillwater stare back at the boy. "I can't say it." ...

40 likes 37 comments 37

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✍️ All stories

“Eclipse Escape” by Eric Smith

Submitted to Contest #245

The rust-colored Mustang sped down the road. Although it didn't look like much from the outside, its small block V8 purred along smoothly. The stereo blared loudly, providing melodies that went along with the rhythm of the engine.   "Hand in hand in a violent life. Making love on the edge of a knife. And the world comes tumbling down…"  With the top down, the Mustang sped along. The driver and his passenger's black hoodies and cargo pants stood out against the duct tape and off-white cracked vinyl interior. Behind the wheel, C...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“Evil under the Moon” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #245

It was the 29th of June 1927. Deep in the Devon countryside the Harcourt family were making the most of a pleasant sunny afternoon in the beautiful gardens of their ancestral home, Harcourt Manor. Suddenly everything went dark.“What’s happening?”“What is this? I can’t see anything.”“It must be the solar eclipse!”“No, that’s not due to happen for another hour.”“I don’t understand what is going on. They said on the wireless that the solar eclipse wasn’t due to happen till 4pm.”“But it is only just after 3. Those scientist chappies must have ma...

3 likes 5 comments 5

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“The Fate In Our Stars: A Professor Deshpande Mystery” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #245

“You are no fan,” Saanvi observed.The man would have attracted little notice nearly anywhere in Millington but the Theodore Bradbury Gallery. He turned slowly with only his torso, lowered his gaze nearly two feet.“This is some woke shit.” He turned back to the print, shaved head glinting in the studio light. The towering, sunbaked man was in jeans and a black pocket tee turned a dusty near-indigo by constant self-laundering.“And how so? How is this painting ‘woke’?”He now turned completely, and the Arts Department chief regarded the ink peek...

22 likes 13 comments 13

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“A Fear of the Dark ” by Julia Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #245

Why are we afraid of the dark? Is it the inky blackness? The swirling shadows closing in on us? The way the light is squeezed out of every inch of our sight? Or is it the unknown that really scares us? Is it the feeling of not know what is behind you and what is to come? The feeling of being left in the dark. I have seen a lot of darkness in my life. Dark people, dark times, dark deeds. I should know that there is no black and white - there are only a million shades of grey in between. I should know that everyone has a shadow, no matter how ...

5 likes 3 comments 3

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“The Night of the Red Falling” by Anna Vyush

Submitted to Contest #245

Blood Falls are a natural phenomenon that normally occurs in very cold places such as Antarctica. But there is one Blood Fall on a mountain in Central Europe that starts flowing only once a century, when the amount of salt in water is increased by a factor of one hundred so that the melting point of ice is lower which allows water to flow even when it’s below 0 °C. People know the scientific story behind the Blood Fall and that it is iron that gives it its signature colour. What they cannot explain, however, is how it comes to that sali...

10 likes 7 comments 7

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“The Grave Diggers' Karma” by Mickey Platko

Submitted to Contest #245

Warning: Contains mention of a death.Archie Duchesne irritated the shit out of me and probably did so to every person he met. And true to form, his body turned up during the biggest event our little horticulture group had ever hosted, thus grabbing the attention that should have gone to our greatest achievement.Our group’s unique hybrid Corpse Flower was blooming. The Grave Diggers, as we called ourselves, had been cultivating this strain for nearly a century. Not the current members, of course, but our group had been breeding these delightf...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“#SaveLaSombra” by Sarah Coury

Submitted to Contest #245

It is outrageously difficult to steal an eighty-six foot mural, yet somehow the Dallas Museum of Art has managed it—or at least, that’s what the internet seems to believe.By the time the moon first breaches the sun’s edge, the DMA enters its forty-seventh consecutive hour as a trending topic on Twitter. Currently tucked between #SolarEclipse2024 and Path of Totality, this impressive streak of prolonged international attention comes at the tail end of a months-long, on-and-off digital debate held in the grizzly trenches of threads and comment...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“Ripples Across The Universe” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #245

The moon was absent that night. This was a night when the see lapped at the night sky. Kissing it gently until the dark heavens succumbed and there was no way of knowing where sky and ocean began or ended. The two lovers intertwined in a brief embrace that should have been desperate in its stolen transience, but was instead languorous and so hypnotically natural that Glen could no longer remember where the horizon should have been. He stared out across the boat and lost himself in that distant lovemaking. The ebb and flow of the water undern...

16 likes 10 comments 10

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“A Silent Intelligencer” by Lucrecia Cabrera-Quintana

Submitted to Contest #244

"Cheat, steal, lie but don't get caught doing it." Is what my instructor always told me. In this industry, you have to do whatever it takes to survive and get the job done. Or meet your gruesome end, by getting killed while doing it. As an agent in the SIA [Secret Intelligence Agency] my role is to take pictures and provide the other agents with information of criminals. The tricky part is doing it without getting caught. Getting caught could mean torture or worse....death. But in case we do get caught and have the chance, we're authorized t...

7 likes 1 comment 1

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“These Small Moments” by Chase Haden

Submitted to Contest #244

Looking at him gave me a vision of a future I couldn't have, deep brown eyes that held my every dream of a better life. I was a dead man. My end was in sight, but the mere sight of him filled me with a feeling more painful than the threat of death. Hope. Hope for a way out of this mess, hope that there was anything that could change my fate, and above all else, hoped to love and be loved once again. In the face of certain demise, even the barest hint of his crooked smile could force me out of my resignation. Death row was a terrible place fo...

3 likes 1 comment 1

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“Hard Reality” by Yossi Katzin

Submitted to Contest #244

Is there anything in this world more unwanted than an unsolicited dick pic?“What the fuck, Richard?” My girlfriend was fuming. She stormed up to me and thrust her phone into my face. It bore an unmistakably erect penis.I winced at the photo and glanced around the outdoor cafe we frequented. “What the fuck, Elaine?” I murmured. “Look familiar?”“I’m not looking at some dude’s cock. Why would you show me this?”“It’s not some dude’s, Richard. It’s yours.” She was berating me at full volume. I glanced around again. We were getting looks.“Kee...

5 likes 1 comment 1

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“The Secret In the Attic” by Annabella Obasi

Submitted to Contest #244

The rain was falling heavily on the foggy window, and the wind was blowing dangerously. The sky was getting darker and darker by the minute. Meanwhile, a little girl named Amelia was in her cottage with her grandfather. Her grandfather appeared to be sweet and innocent, but Amelia soon discovered that things were not as they seemed. Amelia’s parents died when she was two years old. She vividly remembers it. Her parents left her with her babysitter and told her they would be at her grandparents’ house. Thirty minutes later, she found out that...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“The Forest for the Bears” by Jeremy Burgess

Submitted to Contest #244

Mrs Bear arrived in my office on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, unannounced. She wasn't your standard Grizzly, a snappy dresser in a long scarlet number that had to have been tailored to fit; Ursus Arctos Fashionista.  "Ms Lox, I hear you have a knack for infidelity," she growled, low and thunderous. "Finding it, not participating in it," I replied dryly, "what's it to you?" She dropped a roll of bills on my desk and said, "you're the investigator, you tell me." I looked her up and down. She wasn't the typical jilted wife or sobbing sta...

16 likes 12 comments 12

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“A Clean Slate” by Johnathan Nelson

Submitted to Contest #244

A flame swaying atop a stub of melted, beige candle wax illuminates a round, dark walnut kitchen table. A picture of a toddler, creased and faded from decades spent trapped in the depths of a brown, leather billfold lays next to a plate of cold grouper and withered vegetable medley. Howard, a man in his early fifties, dressed in a white button down shirt and charcoal slacks holds a cell phone with the contact ‘Son’ at the top of the screen with four identical texts left unanswered, Danny, where are you? Howard’s urgency growing with eac...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“gone.” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #244

The photo trembled in my shaking hands. My memory was foggy and distant with grief. I must have taken the photo because I was not in it. I strained my memory to remember the last moments of that day as I stood with camera in hand looking at my friends who stood with the lake at their backs. The fog began to dissipate. It was moments later, I hugged my friends, climbed into the car with my parents and put the horrific summer in the rearview mirror. I brought the photo to my face and that is when I saw it. I did not want to believe my eyes. Th...

9 likes 2 comments 2

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