ADRIAN MAGSON
Crime and spy thriller author... and a few other things besides.
'Reading . . . is one of life's quiet pleasures'.
A selection of short fiction
For many years I wrote short stories while trying to get the elusive book deal. Mainly crime fiction, of course, which is what I
always wanted to write, but also a market I hadn't planned on writing for - women's magazines. It was the biggest market available
for a struggling writer at the time, so I gave it a go. And that was where I really began to learn the trade of being a writer; of
writing to a word count, of always meeting deadlines and writing for a market that had fairly strict demands on content.
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In the end, however, crime fiction won out.
Shades of Mayhem
Fourteen short crime stories ranging from hard to soft, with varying shades of danger and mystery.
Ice Cream and Aurelie - a young man growing up in New York finds ice-cream parlors have an attraction all of their own... but that some things are not as sweet as they seem.
Something to Trade - a woman stranded out in the African bush has to use her wit to survive an encounter with violent rebels
The Homecoming: - a spy whose cover has been blown returns home. But what sort of reception will she receive?
Pretty Hot T'ing - forced by a ruthless south London gangster to deliver a bomb, a young man finds that some things are worth risking everything for.
Pet Hate - a young woman enters the world of shady deals and creatures that bite.
A Girl Thing - a female police officer goes undercover to trap a sex-trade gang... and discovers talents she didn't know she had.
Stuff Happens - A man goes for a swim without a snorkel.
Hidden Benefits - A Riley Gavin/Frank Palmer short. When a local small-time crook seems to have more than his fair share of money... and wives, Riley and Frank are called in to find out how.
The Trench - A war veteran revisits his old French battleground, and finds that the past has come back to haunt him with a vengeance.
Recipe for Mayhem - A murder/mystery weekend and somebody is stealing from the guests. A chance for the hired help to show they are more astute than the experts.
Procedure - A late-night visit by two enforcers for a big-time Dutch gangster in London finds their intended victim having to play dirty.
Call-Out - A Royal Military Policewoman has a feckless and gullible half-brother with a talent for bad money-making schemes... with deadly consequences.
Dressed to Kill - Three friends go clothes shopping... and find that smoking really can kill.
The Duel - The old methods of settling arguments have not yet died out among certain European Union pen-pushers - but with a dramatic difference.
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