Discover twelve dark and twisted mysteries from USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett.

This page-turning collection features The Man Cave in which Darren regains consciousness in a dank basement where escape turns out to be the least of his worries; in All Night Long Zoe soon wishes she wasn’t working the late shift; and in Nowhere to Run a rookie detective encounters her first serial killer… but will she survive?

#CaseFiles Instagram: @rachelamphlett Facebook: rachelamphlett.author #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour 

Case Files Short Crime Stories Volume 1:
The Reckoning
A Grave Mistake
The Beachcomber
The Man Cave
A Dirty Business
The Last Super
Something in the Air
Special Delivery
A Pain in the Neck
The Last Days of Tony MacBride
The Moment Before
Nowhere to Run

Case Files: short crime fiction stories that will have you on the edge of your seat.

My Review

As there are so many stories, I have picked out the ones that resonated with me the most. That’s not to say the others weren’t brilliant as well.

‘…your sin will find you out.’ Isn’t that what they say? In The Reckoning nonagenarian Evelyn arrives at the nursing for one night respite care, so she isn’t left alone at home. Sadie tends to her needs and hears all about Evelyn’s time during the war when she sang to the troops.

Alan Hendrick is a lovely old man, whom everyone adores. Apart from Roger Sanders that is, who seems to have a problem with him. But is it all as it seems, or is someone keeping secrets? My favourite out of all of them.

In The Man Cave Darren wakes up in a dark, dank cellar. He’s tied to a chair and has no food or water. He remembers being pushed down the stairs. No-one knows where he is, and his wife Tess is away for five days. What if no-one comes to rescue him? Maybe he can find a way to escape.

But who would keep him down there? It can’t be for the money, so who hates him enough? The twist at the end was totally shocking and unexpected.

A Dirty Business, recycling, (though my husband says I am so obsessed, I should work in a recycling centre rescuing the soft toys). Michael Hawkins has been doing it for years and his wife Lisa makes him take his clothes off at the door and have a shower before entering the rest of the house because he stinks. But when she asks him to ‘take out the trash’ it’s a step too far. And results in yet another argument.

Heather doesn’t seem to mind though. Their affair has been carrying on in secret for a while now. But for Lisa, recycling will take on a whole new meaning.

The Last Super – Larry has been the superintendent at the flats for seventeen years, nine months and four days. He has looked after his tenants, particularly elderly Brenda Friedman, the Bancrofts and twenty-something Melissa, but now the building is to be demolished and a new development put up. He’s going to miss his ‘old friends’. Larry can’t leave though. He’s hiding a secret that would tear one family apart. But as always, Larry will have a solution.

Nowhere to Run is a short story that revolves around Detective Kay Hunter, who has featured in 11 best-selling books so far by Rachel Amphlett. It’s the longest of the Case Files.

Two women have been murdered, both runners, hit over the head with a blunt instrument while out on a jog. They didn’t know each other – the only similarity being the running and the fact that they went to a gym at some point. Kay is determined to find a link, if there is one, and ends up putting herself in danger in order to trick the killer into revealing themselves.

All the stories have a twist in the tail that you won’t see coming (though I admit I guessed one of them). I love a good short story and these are all brilliant.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Rachel has written more than 30 crime novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins. The USA Today bestselling author has created two detective series, Detective Kay Hunter and Detective Mark Turpin as well as thrillers featuring Dan Taylor and Eva Delacourt.

Inspired by reading books as a child, her aim is ‘to write gripping stories that you won’t want to put down’.

Bookchatter@cookiebiscuit is currently number 79 out of 100 on Feedspot Top 100 UK Book Blogs 

See my entry here