I love mysteries and thrillers as well as short story collections and was so excited to read this, but unfortunately I found that I didn’t really enjoy any of the shorts.

Hopefully other readers will like these more, but they weren’t for me.



Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the DRC

A Crime Anthology with a Twist in Every Tale

This is a collection of six short stories by six different authors, each centered around a crime and the alibis characters use to get away with it. What makes this anthology particularly engaging is how varied the stories are in tone, style, and execution—you're likely to find at least one that really resonates.

My standout favorite was Death Row by Frieda McFadden, which I gave a full 5 stars. It’s a story that has left many readers puzzled, and Frieda herself even shared an explanation on her group for those who didn’t quite catch the twist. I’m happy to say I understood it right away, and that "aha!" moment made it all the more satisfying.

I also really enjoyed Small Things and Good Neighbors, both of which earned 5 stars from me. They were well-written, intriguing, and kept me engaged from start to finish.

The Ex-Wives Club I gave it 4 stars—entertaining but didn’t quite pack the same punch as the others.

As for False Note and Skydivers, I gave them 3 stars. They didn’t resonate with me as much, either due to pacing, predictability, or lack of connection to the characters.

Overall, this is a clever anthology built around a strong central theme. While not every story was a hit for me, the variety ensures that most readers will find at least one they really enjoy.

Alibis Collection - 4🌟 Enjoyed the whole collection overall. I was also able listen to the narration and it made all of the stories enjoyable. Review for individual stories are below.

Death Row - 4🌟 Frida McFadden just doesn’t miss. Great short story with an unexpected twist.
The Ex Wives Club - 4🌟 All I’m going to say is YASSSSS, love a girl’s girl group.
False Note - 2🌟 Already forgotten, the worst in the collection.
The Skydivers - 3🌟 Ehh, the ending felt disconnected but it was a good twist that I didn’t see coming.
Good Neighbors - 4🌟 All I was thinking, EVERYBODY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!
Small Things - 5🌟 They saved the best for last. Two Words: Well Deserved.

Each book could be read individually and didn't need the others to complete the story. Some of the books were better than others.

This collection includes stories by writers who will be familiar to readers of mysteries and thrillers. Here are stories by very popular authors including Freida McFadden, Sally Hepworth, David Lagercrantz, Chris Bohjalian, Chadd Zunker, and Wanda M Morris.

Along with the stories, readers can also find out a bit more about each of the authors.

Read a story by a writer that you already enjoy or easily take a chance on someone new. Either way, there are some good tales here.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this title. All opinions are my own.

Note: I think that this title is free in both print and audio for those who subscribe to Amazon Prime or Kindle Unlimited.

Come sempre nelle raccolte un gruppo misto, forse un pochino più blando del solito; nessun racconto ha spiccato particolarmente, se non The Good Neighbours, ma in male.
Perdibili.

This is a collection of 6 different short stories by 6 different authors. I have to say my favourite of all the stories was Death Row by Frieda McFadden that I gave 5 stars too. This story seems to confuse a lot of people and Freida herself has put out an explanation on Facebook for those that didn't understand it (I'm happy to say I got it right away). I gave Small Things and Good Neighbors 4 stars, the Ex-Wives Club 3 stars and False Note and Skydivers 2 stars. The stories here each revolve around a crime and the alibis that the characters have to get away with it. The stories are all very different and you likely will find at least one story that you really enjoy.

Publishers- please take note. MORE COLLECTIONS LIKE THIS. I absolutely loved this collection of stories. What an amazing way to introduce new authors in easily readable short stories.

Death Row- Holy cow, Freida. First story out the bunch and I am absolutely gobsmacked. I would write a synopsis but I truly do prefer to go into books blind, I actually cannot recommend it enough to other readers and this is a short but thrilling ride of a that I would absolutely recommend not reading anything about and just sitting down, and letting it take you where it takes you!

The Ex-Wives Club- Another super strong offering right off the gate, and the embodiment of the title of the collection. I absolutely love the premise-philandering celebrity chef found dead in his own walk in cooler, and everyone's eyes are on his three main ex-lovers. The trio are not only all still friendly with their ex-restaurateur, but they are also quite close with each other, even having their own designated booth in his restaurant. This book was witty and clever and fast paced to the last line!

False Note- While this was probably the story I connected to the least, I absolutely loved the atmosphere and location. This is a story of a toxic father son relationship set in the gorgeous and moody Stockholm.

The Skydivers- This is a short story about a skydiving trip gone gruesomely, horribly wrong. I found the first half incredibly intriguing, but the ending happened way too fas, and seemed forced and rushed. Basically there was a lot of buildup for not a whole lot of payout. I expected more from the female character, more from the motive, just more overall. This story did not feel completed.

Good Neighbors- This was the story that I think could have possibly been expanded upon to create a full sized novel, but the twists and turns and suspense packed into such a short amount of pages helped it feel so propulsive. Honestly at first I did not think I was going to like this author, there were a lot of expedition dumps in the first pages, but with this being a short story perhaps the author felt they had to get that out of the way so they could spend the bulk of the writing on the good parts!

Small Things- I think this story was really well done and well crafted, but I am personally just so completely over stories about timid and meek women in abusive relationships. I love that this ultimately became a story of revenge, I just personally don't enjoy the journey to get there. I can definitely see this being one of the most well liked and top stories of the collection though!

This was a pretty cool collection. Not gonna lie, I saw the name Sally Hepworth and that was all I needed to know. Well, this is a collection of short stories from several authors, hers being one of them. Sally's writing is amazing and even in short form, The Ex-Wives Club was a great story! I loved it!
Next up was Frieda McFadden, and she is hit or miss with me. Death Row was pretty good. Typical Frieda with her twisty style!
Chris Bohjalian had The Skydivers. Not sure how this story fit with the Alibi theme, but it was a good read.
I ended up really enjoying The Good Neighbors by Chad Zunker. I have never read anything from him, and I wish this one could've been longer!
Small Wonder by Wanda Morris was good and I also would've liked that one to be a bit longer!
And last but not least, The False Note by David Lagercrantz, another new to me author. I would read more from him, definitely!

All in all, another pretty great collection! Thank you to #NetGalley and Amazon original stories for this short-story collection.

I loved this collection! Each story was amazing and I wanted more! I went in only familiar with Freida McFadden and Sally Hepworth and came out a new fan of Lagercrantz, Bohjalian, Zunker and Morris. I think The Ex Wives Club was my favorite but they were all great!

I feel like it isn’t fair to rate the collection as a whole because each piece is individual to the writer.

Death Row was creative and I enjoyed the suspense, the last two books I read by the author weren’t as exciting as The Housemaid (in my opinion). I love the authors books over all, my favorites being Ward D and Brain Damage but I feel like the writing and the tone lately does not compare. Death Row seems to be getting back to that vibe.

Small Things was creative and I wasn’t expecting the twist. I enjoy books where the underdog wins, but not in a way that you would expect.

The Ex Wives Club was hard to follow for a piece of it but then it got really interesting and I don’t know if that was a “me” issue or not, but I loved it. I love Sally Hepworth’s writing, the emotional books + her thrillers. I love how everything came together.

False Note I feel like I probably liked the least because there was an element of confusion, and all the characters were awful. However, I feel like it may have been overshadowed in a way because there’s always an element of comparison when within a mix of other short stories.

The Skydivers.. I couldn’t connect with. I felt like it could have been executed a bit differently. It just wasn’t for me.

The Good Neighbors was a typical drama, someone trying to do “good” and gets manipulated, but it was enjoyable.

Overall they were quick, easy enjoyable reads. Thank you NetGalley + Amazon for the ARCs.

Overall, I completely enjoyed the Alibis Collection. I was familiar with a few of the authors, but not all. It was a great introduction to each individual's style of writing. I enjoyed a few more than others-but it was all time well spent!

Definitely recommend for fans of thriller novellas, who want a quick escape. While there's a lot of story packed into a handful of pages, they're easy to pick up on the fly when you have a few minutes, and stay in touch with what's going on.

If you're looking for new authors to try out in the genre, it's a good glimpse.

Recommend-yeah!

With thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the early digital Alibis Collection copy!

3.5 stars overall

Some of these were great and others not so much. But a few also seemed out of place in an 'Alibis' collection. Maybe if it was named something else

Death Row: I enjoyed the first part of this short story but the ending ruined it for me. Not the bit before the ending, we had clues easily pointing to that but the final part. Maybe would have worked better as a full length book where McFadden's twists and turns could be properly explored?

The Ex Wives Club: This one fit best with the Alibi theme and was a fun read, but the men in it were awful and the policing even worse

False Note: Another where the Alibi does come into play but I don't understand why he wouldn't at least tell his lawyer his alibi so he could find CCTV of him somewhere other than his father's house?

The Skydivers: This worked best as a short story, not leaving me feel like parts should have been explored further, but it also strayed the furthest from the Alibi theme

Good Neighbors: I enjoyed this as a short story too, but again, little in the way of Alibis. A very enjoyable read though and my favourite story of the collection

The Small Things: I wish we saw more of the crime and investigation in this but Morris does a great job showing how emotional abuse can push someone to their breaking point

Anything with Frieda McFaddens name on it is something I want to read! I lived the short stores by multiple authors in this book. Allowed a good stopping point before the book takes over my whole day! Haha. Pick this one up! You’ll enjoy it for sure!

★★★★

I stumbled across the Alibis Collection and could not wait to dig in! As the name suggests, this is all about alibis—suspects with alibis almost too good to be true, suspects with alibis who nonetheless find themselves behind bars, and everything in between.

I really admire all the authors for creating these fantastic tales and pulling readers in so quickly, plotting some complex stories! About half were new-to-me authors, and I am so excited to have discovered them and to be reading more of their work!

Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, Freida McFadden, Sally Hepworth, David Lagercrantz, Chris Bohjalian, Chad Zunker, and Wanda M. Morris for a copy. All opinions are my own.

Did I read this entire collection in one sitting? Yes. Did I guess any plot twists? No! Would I do it again? Absolutely. Each story was beautiful crafted and had me in the edge of my seat. I swear these were all written in crack format. I knew going in I already love Freida and Sally but discovering a new found love for David, Chris, Chad and Wanda was perfect. Catch me reading more by those authors soon!

3/5 Small things By Wanda M. Morris
I really enjoyed this one too, but I wish it was slightly longer so we could find out what happens next. It was my second favourite out of the whole collection.
4/5 Good neighbours By Chad Zunker
I love this one, but I honestly wish it was longer and we could find out a bit more of how it all unfolds. But good, quick read, would definitely recommend this if you want an easy read.
2/5 The Skydivers by Chris Bohjalian
This one was my least favourite, so far from the collection. I just got really bored and felt like it was very wordy. I just couldn’t get into this one, but did finish reading it and did like the storyline.
3/5 The False Note by David Lagercrantz
I honestly really enjoyed this book didn’t expect a lot of the twists, but still enjoyed it just as much. I do feel like there might be a bit to much description in some of the chapters, but still such a good story.
2/5 The Ex-Wives Club By Sally Hepworth
This book was very interesting, and it have some twists that I didn’t expect, but I did find myself skimming through a lot of it as I was getting quite bored, but still wanted to know how it ended.
2/5 Death Row by Freida McFadden
I did quite enjoy this book a lot of twists and turns. A lot I wasn’t expecting to happen. I just got a little bit confused towards the end, and I feel like if there were more details along the way may have been able to clear some things up. However, I did quite enjoy this read

4 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you: NetGalley for this ARC ebook.
Publication Date: June 2, 2025

This was a fun collection of 6 psychological thriller short stories by some really great authors.

Out of the 6, my top 3 short stories were Death Row by Freida Mcfadden, The Ex-Wives Club by Sally Hepworth and Good Neighbors by Chad Zunker

This was an ARC Ebook provided to me for my honest review & although it was a great read, I am actually very excited to listen to my 3 favorites short stories from this collection via audiobook.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this ARC ebook of The Alibis collection. I hope there will be more short story collections like this in the future.

#Netgalley #AmazonOriginalStories
#AlibisCollection #DeathRow #TheExWivesClub #GoodNeighbors
#FalseNote #TheSkydivers #SmallThings

Absolutely amazing loved all of the books in this series! 5 stars for all of them! Will be recommending the series to everyone!

They were okay. Some of the stories could have been a little longer. And some made little to zero sense. That’s usually how I feel about these types of books.