Noir

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Brand-new stories by: Peter Heller, Barbara Nickless, Cynthia Swanson, Mario Acevedo, Francelia Belton, R. Alan Brooks, D.L. Cordero, Amy Drayer, Twanna LaTrice Hill, Manuel Ramos, Mark Stevens, Mathangi Subramanian, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, and Erika T. Wurth. From the introduction by Cynthia Swanson:

In the title story, private investigator Nick Shelby is struggling to move on from the abrupt and unexplained departure of Louise, the woman he loved. When she turns up dead in Mexico, he sets off to investigate her death and, in the process, unravels a web of lies and betrayal woven together by a roster of shady characters in 1940s Los Angeles. A mysterious man thought to be dead, a deceiving doctor and a notorious gangster are all connected, but the big question is who killed Louise and why?

Everyone has secrets. Some more deadly than others. When the ninth girl falls into the clutches of a serial killer, Detective Temeke faces a race against time to save her life. The Duke City Police Department in Albuquerque, New Mexico is no stranger to gruesome murders, but this new serial killer on their block keeps the body parts of his eight young victims as trophies and has a worrying obsession with the number 9.