Richmond Noir
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The River City emerges as a hot spot for unseemly noir in this anthology with a foreword by New York Times–bestselling author Tom Robbins.
A rich literary tradition sets the stage for this talented group of authors who take their inspiration from Virginia’s capital city. Edgar Allan Poe has left his mark on the atmospheric town, giving its residents a taste for walking on the dark side. It’s no wonder that three local writers took it upon themselves to curate this moody and menacing collection, featuring stories by Dean King, Laura Browder, Howard Owen, Yazmina Beverly, Tom De Haven, X.C. Atkins, Meagan J. Saunders, Anne Thomas Soffee, Clint McCown, Conrad Ashley Persons, Clay McLeod Chapman, Pir Rothenberg, David L. Robbins, Hermine Pinson, and Dennis Danvers.
“[Fifteen] gritty and ominous tales . . . The writing of Poe—who grew up and forged a literary reputation in Richmond, and is usually credited with inventing the detective story—may have set the stage for the town’s kiss-me-deadly tradition.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
David L. Robbins's "Homework," a moving account of a brief encounter between a burglar and a teacher, stands head and shoulders above the 14 other tales in Akashic's solid noir anthology devoted to Richmond, Va. Pir Rothenberg's "The Rose Red Vial," among the better of the many recent Poe-inspired stories, features nicely nasty betrayals and counterbetrayals among those who covet Poe memorabilia on loan to the Virginia Historical Society. Set in 1807, Dean King's concise "The Fall Lines" supplies an intriguing backstory to Aaron Burr's treason trial. In Howard Owen's "The Thirteenth Floor," a well-done contemporary fair play whodunit, a political reporter reassigned to the night police beat ends up investigating a murder-by-gunshot in his own apartment building. The three editors have done a better job offering variety than some other volumes in this acclaimed series.
