Domestic Thrillers Short Stories

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.

‘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 ...

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.

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.

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....

He thought he was celebrating. She thought it was justice. After finishing his final exam and picking up his brand-new Tesla, David feels on top of the world. A chance meeting with a charming elderly woman, Brenda, seems like a sweet encounter—until tea turns into terror. Invited into her flat for cake and conversation, David finds himself drawn into the warmth of a stranger who might just be the grandmother he never had. But behind Brenda’s floral wallpaper and polite smile lies a long-held grudge. And David is about to discover that revenge can be served with tea and sponge cake. A ...

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.

My husband is dead. I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car. My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.

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.

She said she’d stay one night. She lied. Sophie and Tom finally have the perfect life - or so it seems. A quiet village. A freshly renovated guest room. And a little extra income from the occasional overnight visitor. Then Lena Moore arrives. Polite. Elegant. Unsettling. She claims she’s attending a writing retreat nearby. But the retreat doesn’t exist. And by morning, she hasn’t left. Each day, Lena’s presence deepens. She knows things she shouldn't. She watches. She listens. She moves through the house like it already belongs to her. As secrets rise to the surface - from ...

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.

She thought it was just another job. She was wrong. When Clara Davies accepts a live-in housekeeping position at the remote and imposing Harrow estate, she’s looking for one thing: a place to disappear. With a new name and a forged résumé, she hopes to bury her past and start again. But something isn’t right at Harrow House. Eleanor Harrow is cool, watchful — and far too interested in Clara’s history. Daniel Harrow’s charm barely masks a predator’s smile. And the house itself feels alive, its silent halls heavy with the weight of long-buried truths. As strange noises echo ...

Acclaimed Agatha Award-winning author Nancy Pickard presents this anthology of original mystery stories by some of the most distinguished mystery writers of the 20th century, including Dorothy Cannell and Sharyn McCrumb.

The Price of Perfect Order For two decades, Mrs. Eliza Nesbitt, the immaculate housekeeper of Ashworth Manor, has lived by one rule: order is power. Her ledger is flawless, her control absolute, and her secret perfectly buried. But on the day a timid new maid named Sally arrives, Nesbitt's life is fractured by a familiar curve of the jaw and a single, terrifying truth: A secret she must struggle to keep hidden at all costs.. But, with a triumphant rival housekeeper, Mrs. Finch, closing in, and a cryptic attic note threatening to reveal Nesbitt's past lie, the seemingly cold housekeeper must...

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. ...

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.

In a world built on beauty, power, and perfectly filtered lies, Grace is about to uncover the truth they’ll do anything to hide. After her divorce, Grace Anderson is desperate for a fresh start. So when an old acquaintance introduces her to Aurabelle—a glittering wellness empire built on sisterhood, self-worth, and six-figure dreams—Grace jumps in, ready to rebuild her life. At first, everything seems perfect. The women are polished and powerful. The energy is intoxicating. And Grace finally feels seen. But when cracks begin to form—vanishing friends, doctored posts, warning ...

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.

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.

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.