From the dawn of time to the present day, crime is an unavoidable by-product of our human existence.
Visit the cave of the world’s first detective; pass through the blitz-torn London streets; explore the pitfalls of the 1980s Giallo film industry; delve into the life of a serial killer’s wife; search for a stolen child; follow the journey of dangerous women seeking revenge; experience the pain of a man losing the love of his life to dementia; journey to Lahore to witness the survival of a woman after an honour attack; and enter the mind of a woman who writes to the world’s worst killers! These are just some of the subjects touched on within Criminal Pursuits.
Fourteen powerful tales of crime, murder, revenge and love.
Edited by Samantha Lee Howe
Featuring stories by: A A Chaudhuri, Raven Dane, Caroline England, Paul Finch, Samantha Lee Howe, Rhys Hughes, Maxim Jakubowski, Awais Khan, Paul Magrs, Sandra Murphy, Amy Myers, Bryony Pearce, Christine Poulson and Sally Spedding.
In aid of POhWER – www.pohwer.net
CONTAINS 5 STORIES LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER 2022; 3 STORIES SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER 2022; AND THE WINNER OF THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER 2022: PAUL MAGRS’ ‘FLESH OF A FANCY WOMAN’.
ISBN: 978-1-84583-193-6
232pp Paperback Original Anthology. Also available in ebook (Kindle/Nook/Kobo).
Cover by Martin Baines
Published 10 October 2021
ABOUT THE EDITOR
USA TODAY bestselling author Samantha Lee Howe began her professional writing career in 2007 and has been working as a freelance writer for small, medium and large publishers ever since.
Samantha’s breakaway debut psychological thriller, The Stranger In Our Bed, was released in Febuary 2020 with Harper Collins imprint, One More Chapter. The book rapidly became a USA TODAY bestseller. In August 2020, Samantha signed a deal with production company Buffalo Dragon for the option and screenplay for The Stranger in Our Bed. The feature film went into production in November 2020 and should be released in 2022.
In June 2020, Samantha signed a three-book deal with One More Chapter for her explosive spy thriller trilogy, The House of Killers (Book 1 The House of Killers), Kill Or Die (Book 2) and Kill A Spy (Book 3) were all released in 2021. Pitched as Killing Eve meets Jason Bourne this is a nerve shredding, enemies to lovers tale that is simmering with obsession and espionage.
To date, Samantha has written 20 novels, 3 novellas, 3 collections, over 40 short stories, an audio drama, a Doctor Who spin-off drama that went to DVD, as well as the screenplay for The Stranger in our Bed.
A former high school English and Drama teacher, Samantha has a BA (Hons) in English and Writing for Performance, an MA in Creative Writing and a PGCE in English.
Samantha lives in South Yorkshire with her husband David and their two cats Leeloo and Skye. She is the proud mother of a lovely daughter called Linzi.
www.samanthaleehowe.co.uk
Sally Spedding –
REVIEWED ON AMAZON
All fourteen varied and accomplished crime short stories in this brilliant collection, kept me reading despite having other matters to attend to. This is rare! But worth every minute spent exploring the darkest of secrets and lies. Trying to unravel the truth and realising how truly devious we – as human beings – really are! No wonder most people prefer dogs!
Gripping from start to finish, and it wouldn’t be fair to single out those which still doggedly linger in my mind, except to say that ‘Faceless Killer’ by Christine Poulson, ‘Flesh of a Fancy Woman’ by Paul Magrs, ‘Slash’ by editor Samantha Lee Howe, and ‘The Good Neighbourhood’ by Paul Finch, plus all the rest, have kept me awake at night! I found Maxim Jakubowski’s ‘Travellers’ to be particularly vivid and also heart-breaking.
This collection truly is a treasure trove whose sales will help POhWER, a really worthy charity for those less fortunate than most, to continue its good work. Da iawn! As they say in Wales. And congratulations to its fearless editor for also including me, and to Telos publishers for producing such a fine book.