Suitcase Stories

A Chilling Collection of Twisted Tales and Timeless Mysteries

From eerie dreams to moonlit murders, Suitcase Stories by Debbie De Louise is a gripping collection of twenty short stories that showcase the darker—and sometimes stranger—sides of human nature. These stories span decades of De Louise’s writing life and blend mystery, suspense, a touch of the supernatural, and psychological intrigue.

Whether it’s a murder at a comedy club, a twin’s plot that turns against her, or a spell gone wrong in the hands of a scorned librarian, each story takes an unexpected turn. Alongside newer and previously published works, readers will also discover rare gems from the 1980s—never-before-seen stories penned in notebooks and on typewritten pages that followed the author through every move of her life.

Suitcase Stories proves there’s more to De Louise than cozy mysteries and feline sleuths. These are stories that linger, twist, and surprise.

Get your copy of Suitcase Stories today and lose yourself in a suitcase full of suspense.

Excerpt from the book

I wrote this from a prompt. It’s the first time it’s been published.

Detective Scott Waverly sat at his desk, four manilla files and a sketch of a young woman spread out before him. The folders contained a year and a half’s worth of information on four men who’d been killed in Scott’s small hometown of Haven’s Oak, Pennsylvania. Each man had been a public employee. The first was John Calverton, a mail deliverer who’d been shot on his route. Six months later, Dr. Gil Hudson was murdered by a fatal injection administered while he was on hospital rounds. Six months after that, Frank Martel, a waiter at the town’s restaurant, was poisoned, and now Lyle Bennet, a librarian at the public library, was killed just two days ago when several volumes were knocked off a high stack on to his head.

Waverly had read the men’s files over hundreds of times since he’d been assigned the case. None of them owed money to anyone or suffered from drug or alcohol addictions. Neither had any been tried for crimes. Calverton was divorced, but he and his wife were on amicable terms. Hudson was a homosexual but was in a monogamous and happy relationship with his partner. Martel and Bennet were never married but both had alibis and girlfriends who seemed seriously upset by their deaths. Everyone connected with the four men had been questioned numerous times except the girl in the sketch. As Waverly touched the mysterious woman’s picture, his partner, Cynthia Trent, entered his office with a cup of steaming hot coffee.

“Thought you could use this,” the tall, pregnant redhead with the floppy curls said.

He nodded as she placed the mug on his desk. “I probably could use a stiff drink more. Have a seat, Cindy. I’d like to review some facts with you.”

Trent sighed, lowering herself into the hard-backed chair across from him. At eight months pregnant, it was difficult for her to sit comfortably, but it was tougher getting up from the low wood seat.

“We’ve gone over this fifty-seven times, Scott. Is it necessary to do it again before we have more evidence?”

Waverly cracked a smile that twisted his thin mustache. “You’re counting? Yes. Besides, we do have evidence. This.” He slid the sketch of the woman across his desk.

Trent smiled, showing teeth that could’ve benefitted from braces fifteen years ago if her family could’ve afforded them. “You call that evidence. We don’t even know who that woman is or if she’s connected with the killings.”

“It’s our first big lead, Cindy. We have to check it out. The head librarian at Haven’s Oak Public Library gave us this description of a woman she says she saw there recently and who always asked for Mr. Bennett.”

“What are you thinking? They were having an affair? Didn’t you say that Bennett’s girlfriend was completely distraught? I know people can put on good acts, but even if there was something between this mystery woman and our last victim, what about the others? How are they connected?”