Mulholland / Strand Magazine Short

A young man struggles to find his identity in this short story by the bestselling author of The Tourist. Olen Steinhauer's crafty story begins as an affectionate recounting by Tom, a down-on-his-luck graduate caring for his sick mother and reconnecting with his awkward friend, Jerry McLaughlin. Jerry lives in a relative's basement in Chicago, and over the intervening months the two young men strategize Jerry's seemingly innocuous plan to become a super-villain in the spirit of Bond greats like Blofeld. Things turn dark, however, when Jerry's plans find success, and he enlists the wayward Tom to help him expand his little start-up to the next level. At turns witty and diabolical, "The Start-Up" is a fiendish take on the spy genre, as well as the dangerous friendships of Highsmith, le Carré, and others. "Start-Up" by Olen Steinhauer is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives.

In a city where a girl can go missing for years, a retired New York cop investigates a gruesome crime. Tank is a retired New York City cop coping with two teenaged problems: one is his recently-orphaned nephew, and the other is a girl whose decomposed body was found in a cooler off the Henry Hudson Parkway. Determined to bring the girl's killer to justice, Tank hits the streets of upper Manhattan, chasing leads and searching for clues about her tragically short life. "Tin Badges" by Lorenzo Carcaterra is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

A man convicted of murdering his wife finds an unlikely champion in this short story by the bestselling author of The Dante Club. Our narrator is a man convicted of first-degree murder with only one person on his side: Ginnifer. After seeing him on TV and becoming obsessed with the case, Ginnifer devotes herself to overturning his sentence. Eventually, Ginnifer's friendship turns into something more--but the closer they become, the more the relationship turns into a prison of its own. "Ginnifer" by Matthew Pearl is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

From the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of “Far from True,” a short story where the grifter is not who he seems. Sam seems like an ordinary guy. While he is filling up his car with gas in Stamford, Connecticut, a car whips into the station lot, stops alongside, and asks him for directions to LaGuardia Airport. Gian claims that he is from Milano, but Sam can spot an imitation in a second. The accent is all wrong, and while Gian tries to sell him counterfeit luxury coats that he can't take back on the plane to Italy, they bump hips, and Sam feels what he thinks is a gun tucked into Gian's belt. "Jacket Man" is a story of how to escape with your life, and some counterfeit pleather coats while you're at it.

From the New York Times bestselling author of “The Theory of Death” comes a short story set in an imaged future where computers speak for humans. This tale begins, "It was a time when the world, though filled with sound, was quiet." Technology has replaced the need to speak with texting, but when a virus spreads across the entire world, it leaves everyone blind. Doctors come together to fight the epidemic, but, as "The Voiceless" seek to answer, what does the ability to speak mean without the desire to do so? "The Voiceless" by Faye Kellerman is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

Ray Bradbury's strange, magical, and unsettling story of a grown boy bent on understanding the man behind the beard, red coat, and hat at his local department store. An adolescent boy stands patiently in the back of the long line of children waiting to sit on the lap of their local Santa Claus. Why is he there? What does he intend? What mysterious hopes does he hold for this holiday season? The answer arrives following a cryptic interaction between the two, when the reality of the boy's awareness and the goals of the man in the red suit become clear. "Dear Santa" by Ray Bradbury is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

From legendary noir novelist Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins, a short story in which world-famous private eye Mike Hammer repays a debt to a dying police chief, proving loyalty can be as deadly as deception. A legendary and retired police chief lies in a New York hospital bed, visited by two strangers: the first is ex-cop-turned-PI Mike Hammer, whose life was saved more than once by the old man. To the detective, the chief gives a mysterious key. The second visitor murders the chief, mere days before he would have died from natural causes. Someone is trying to tie up loose ends, and Mike Hammer is the only one with the evidence and calculation to ferret him or her out. "So Long, Chief" by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

From the internationally #1 bestselling novelist comes a tale of small-time criminals on a new grift that might cost them everything. Peppard and Jarman have a new grift that seems simple enough: Go to the airport. Imitate a hired driver by copying a name that they see in the crowd. Collect the passenger before the real drive does, take him to a secluded area and rob them. It seems like a simple plan to make some quick cash for these two amateurs-that is, until they finally meet a pro.

From the author of the Inspector Morse series, a short story about a freelance investigator and what should be a simple case. Mrs. Isobel Rodgers is an investigator's perfect client: beautiful, wealthy, and offering a straightforward assignment. Mrs. Rodgers suspects her husband of an affair, and it's up to the investigator to determine the object of Mr. Rodger's affections. For someone with brilliant deductive powers, this should be an open-and-shut case-but Mrs. Rodgers may know more than she's letting on. "The Other Half" by Colin Dexter is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

From New York Times bestselling author Philip Kerr, comes a story of a young man growing up in colonial America. No one knows when "something infernal" crept into the heart of young Master Edgar, a well-bred British orphan in the hands of a cool stepfather in 19th century Richmond, Virginia, and under the care of the home's educated and proper slave, Scipio. Was it when his actress mother died, years after moving Edgar and his brother from England to America? Was it during his strange education at the hands of the calculating Scipio? Or was it when he plotted another boy's death so that he could gain entry, through the boy's grave, into the underworld? "The Pocket Handkerchief" by Philip Kerr is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Michael Palmer and Matthew Palmer join forces to pen the story of John, a low-level criminal looking for the next big score in the in the factory town of Logan. A small-time criminal joins a gang, he does a year in prison, and he swears he's better than all of it. That's when he decides he will rob the home of the Harpy, an ancient women living out her last days in a moldering mansion above town. But things don't go as John expects, and Harpy is given a reward that may well be a curse. With this information, John swears he's invincible...but has he thought of every angle? "The Deal" by Michael Palmer and Matthew Palmer is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

A masterful short story from the acclaimed author of Catch-22, about one long night of anticipation. In a small town in the American South, it is night in the middle of the twentieth century. Carter, a high-school teacher and football coach in the newly desegregated schools, is awaiting news of two of his students who have been in a serious altercation. Outside the building where Carter has kept his vigil, a crowd of townspeople have also gathered to keep watch. Carter must choose how much he wants to participate in the spectacle, and how much he can afford to keep his distance. "Almost Like Christmas" by Joseph Heller is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!