Caged Canary

Story 9 in the “Tales of Suspense” Series

When a fledgling and failing novelist comes up with the idea of a lifetime—a murder mystery—he brings in a stenographer to type it up as he feverishly dictates the story. Up against an unyielding deadline, the writer tells his tale while struggling with his disinterested typist in a battle of wills.

The author’s novel—embedded into Final Draft—is the story of a hardboiled crime reporter who figures out a plot to seduce and marry a dying heiress in order to gain her fortune. His plan however, is beset with challenges and he finds himself in an ever darker, ever deeping maze of intrigue…something the author suddenly seems unable to escape himself as the writer’s fiction merges with his own life.

Each book in the “Tales of Suspense” Series is a standalone story and not connected to the others. Readers can jump in at any point.

Story 11 in the “Tales of Suspense” Series

When the rich and handsome Gregg and his fiance—the peppy, mysterious Emmie—decide to take a drive to “meet the parents,” they had expected a five-hour journey of sunshine and top-40 tunes on the radio in their convertible. But then came a summer storm. 

It was indeed the storm of the century, but—far from simply a meteorological event—it also creates an inner turmoil of epic proportions as they try to solve and survive an impossible situation that was beyond their grasp. 

Unprepared for what they would face and how they would react to each other, with each passing mile along a muddy country road—lightning crackling in the distance and thunder rocking their car—the fear grows and the terror is amplified.

Each book in the “Tales of Suspense” Series is a standalone story and not connected to the others. Readers can jump in at any point.

Story 1 in the “Tales of Suspense” Series

Della Adderly was a twenty-something aspiring art director who was anxious to make her mark in the advertising world of the late 1960s. Tired of laboring behind men who took the credit for her work, she took a risk and strode into the office of Miss Veronica Landon—a sharp, no-nonsense Creative Director for one of the fastest-rising agencies in Manhattan—and demanded an interview.

After their meeting, Della strolled down Fifth Avenue—primarily to show off her new outfit—and then settled into a seat at a little sidewalk French Bistro. As she was noshing on a cheese sandwich, there was a scream from bystanders and seconds later a body fell at her feet from twenty stories above. It was Veronica Landon.

Accident? Suicide? Murder? The mystery weaves its way through a colorful cast of characters to a shocking, head-turning conclusion high above the Manhattan skyline.

Each book in the “Tales of Suspense” Series is a standalone story and not connected to the others. Readers can jump in at any point.