Domestic Thrillers Short Stories

Paige Barrett was living her dream as a journalist in New York City, racking up bylines as a staff writer at The Razor, a cutting-edge online magazine. But when she’s suddenly fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, she finds herself back home in the quaint seaside town of Shoreham, Florida, waiting tables and living in her sister’s guesthouse. Restless and itching for something meaningful to occupy her time, she decides to launch a true-crime podcast about the death of Jessica Cady, a beloved teacher who died mysteriously 20 years earlier.

When overwhelmed stay-at-home mom Alexis finds herself at odds with her husband after she’s charged with a DUI, she is given one chance to get her family back: complete AA and admit her faults. The problem is, she’s never had a drinking problem and has no idea what caused the blackout that led to her arrest. Still, she’s committed to working through the program, if that’s what it takes to be reunited with her two young children. But when she connects with a new friend, Farrah, she’s empowered to take a closer look at her husband’s role in her downfall.

Marti Greenwood has just moved into a brand-new home after a bitter divorce from her husband Emery, and while she’s still not quite done with him - of course, some of her most cherished possessions are nowhere to be found once she unpacks her things - a fresh start in a beautiful LA neighborhood is exactly what she needs. But days after her arrival, Marti is attacked in her home. She's found shaken and beaten, and her neighbors who immediately call the police. She never saw the face of her attacker, and so there is little to go on as detectives open an investigation.

‘WHAT WAS THAT?!?! I didn't plan on staying up til 2am to finish this! It had me gripped from the start. I loved the characters and it kept me guessing until the very last pages! So good!!!’ Goodreads, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It’s Christmas Day and my family are opening presents around the tree. Lights twinkle, festive music is playing and everything looks perfect. But when I open an unexpected gift and discover what’s inside, I’m left reeling. I feel like I can’t breathe… The truth I’ve just unwrapped has the power to destroy everything. Looking around at the smiling faces of my ...

From the bestselling author of Strange Houses and Strange Pictures comes a mesmerizing novel of eleven strange buildings and one terrible secret. A lonely hut in the woods. A murder house. A hidden chamber. A mysterious shrine. A home in flames. A nightmarish prison. . . . Each of the buildings...

Iris Thomas thought she’d never have to see Sasha Everett again after Sasha seduced her husband and broke up their marriage in a devastating betrayal. But as luck would have it, when Iris’ stepdaughter, Molly, and Sasha’s daughter, Bailey, wind up in the same second-grade class at an elite private school in Los Angeles, they form an instant bond and force the two women back into each other’s lives. Iris wants to put the past behind her and support Molly, but as time goes on, she suspects that Sasha may be guilty of something even worse than adultery....

This collection of romantic thrillers proves one thing: some hearts are better left unbroken. From twisted love triangles to forbidden affairs, each story unearths the chaos that erupts when heartbreak push women past their limits. Desire becomes a death sentence. Lies are laced with lust. And love comes with a body count. These three stories are perfect for fans of messy love, dangerous games, and Black women who refuse to go down without a fight.

Anne is barely keeping it together. A frazzled ghostwriter and aspiring novelist, she juggles nine-year-old twins and a listless marriage from an overcrowded Manhattan apartment, spreading herself thinner each day. Just as Anne is about to give up on her dreams, she lands her biggest client yet: Melody Wells. Melody paints a picture of serenity and empowerment in the lavender haze of her visualization workshops—however, the one thing she can’t manifest are the pages her publisher is demanding for her new motivational book. Enter Anne.

Three sisters. Two secrets. One will kill to keep the truth buried. When Daisy Hawthorne returns home to settle her mother’s affairs, a hidden box in the attic reveals a trail of unsettling clues tied to the night that shattered her family. Letters, diary entries, and long-buried secrets begin to unravel everything Daisy thought she knew about her sister… and about herself. Told through chilling letters and shocking revelations, My Dear Sister is a fast, addictive psychological thriller short story about dangerous women, twisted family secrets, and a truth someone is willing to kill for...

Today is supposed to be the happiest day of my lifeI'm engaged to the man of my dreams, and in a few short hours, I'm going to stand before a judge, who will declare us husband and wife, till death does us part. Despite some bumps in the road, this day is everything I dreamed it would be. There's only one problem: Someone out there doesn't want me to live long enough to say my vows. And if I'm not careful, they may very well get their wish.

When Jules first meets the handsome artist Kirin, she’s still mourning her husband’s death, but a fairytale romance soon sweeps her off her feet. Now she and her daughter Scout are moving out of the city and into Kirin’s once-lonely mansion. He’s thoughtfully updated and adapted the home to match their personalities. But Scout is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by rejecting the new life her mother and Kirin have spun for her.

For decades, Marge has been spying on her neighbors Doris and Bob, reporting every sordid thing she sees to her husband, Harold. Flamboyant Doris and boring Bob are an odd couple, but as Marge watches their comings and goings, she starts to wonder if there’s more than meets the eye. Is Doris’s latest hobby—flamenco dancing, of all things—an attempt to spice things up, or is there something more sinister going on in the house across the street? Soon enough, Marge learns that digging into her suspicions means digging herself into a very deep hole.

Three gripping psychological thrillers about secrets, obsession, and control. Perfect lives unravel, hidden truths surface, and nothing stays buried behind closed doors. Discover a chilling collection of dark, character-driven suspense from psychological thriller author Alison Lyle.

Leah has spent her formative years isolated on a remote island with her family. But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, Father’s paranoia escalates. So does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.

Blair Martin’s days rarely vary: she gets up, goes for a run, and then heads to work at a Manhattan literary agency where she nurtures authors through the publishing process. Her nights, spent alone in her too-large apartment, are similarly predictable. Then on an ordinary Wednesday, Blair enters her office building and spies a lost wallet. When Blair tracks down the owner, they arrange for a simple exchange. But the young woman, Maya, seems so vulnerable, much like Blair’s own daughter, Faith, who died tragically just last year, and Blair is unable to simply walk away.

On his eight birthday, Jerry gives himself an imaginary friend. A couple of months ago, Jerry moved to a different country with his parents. From the outside, everything looks fine, but secretly Jerry hates it. He has no friends, misses his old life and is scared of his mother who, every night when she starts drinking, becomes a devil. When he gives himself somebody to play with, life seems to get better. But slowly he starts to realize that his friend is the catalyzer of the horrifying events that follow. Dark Memories is a magical realism, creepy story about alcoholism, domestic violence,...

Mind Games: A Psychological Thriller Anthology Step inside the fractured minds of ten unforgettable characters, each haunted by paranoia, memory manipulation, and emotional sabotage. From digital phantoms to fractured identities, this gripping collection of psychological thrillers explores the thin line between reality and delusion. Whether it is a woman gaslit by her own reflection or a man hunted by his algorithmic double, each story twists deeper into madness, and no one escapes unchanged.

Desperation can make some people dangerous–and Lady Isobelle Trent is No Exception! Lady Felicity Alright has been financially ruined following the death of her father, and now must embrace service as a governess to the wealthy. Once employed in the household of a wealthy businessman, Thomas Caldwell, Felicity learns he is be married and his fiancée is none other than Lady Isobelle Trent, the very woman who destroyed Felicity’s family fortune and brought about her impoverished descent into servitude. A Regency romance short. Tropes: Found family, ruined heroine, triangle. With HEA. ...

Charlie Kroft’s job at the crisis center means she’s often seen as a hero: she’s helped countless people climb out of the deepest pits of personal despair. But when one phone call thrusts Charlie into the spotlight, she must contend with the hidden pain that drives her…and with the mysterious stranger who knows the truth.

When a woman vanishes, most people look for answers. Samantha Leary looks for patterns. A missing wife. A warning delivered in the rain. A hotel room that feels more like a waypoint than a destination. As Samantha follows the quiet trail left behind, she uncovers a story of control disguised as love—and a woman trying to escape a life that refuses to let her go. Each step draws Samantha deeper into a world where fear is normalized, silence is enforced, and disappearance isn’t always an accident. When the truth fractures instead of revealing itself, Samantha is left with what she knows ...