Columbus Noir

 Welsh-Huggins, Andrew (ed). Columbus Noir. Brooklyn : Akashic 2020. Print.

First Sentences:

You can kill a lot more than time in Columbus these days. Gang slayings, fetanyl poisoning, murder-suicide: we have it all, soup to nuts. Yet it's not like the older, supposedly kinder and gentler Columbus had completely disappeared. 


Description:

I thought I had found a rare and unique gem in Columbus Noir (edited by Andrew Welsh-Huggins). What a great idea it presented: crime writings by authors from Columbus, Ohio, using their city as the backdrop for every one of their short stories. I revealed great writing from local authors of renown who allowed me to recognize landmark sites in Columbus along with familiar restaurants and neighborhoods on every page. 

 

Little did I know that Akashic Press, publishers of Columbus Noir, had created similar dark crime books from local authors for 123 different cities. So, while Colmbus Noir is not a unique concept, nonetheless it is well worth the time of any reader interested in this seedy mystery/detective/crime fiction, especially if you want to read offerings from authors you may not be familiar with which focus on Columbus.

 

Like all great noir fiction, this collection is full of tales of hardened men, gorgeous women, nefarious baddies, dark streets, and twisty plots. Always, one can never be certain which character is telling the truth, who is plotting a double cross, and who will come through (or run away) when the going gets tough, as it always does. 

 

The characters are clearly drawn, but full of complexities that are only revealed later. The plots are wildly compelling, offering no easy courses of action which will release the characters from threatening situations without engaging in some sort of evil or violent solutions. 

 

Here's a sampling of the crime stories you will find here:

• A college graduate assistant teacher who falls for a beautiful student, but soon needs to end the relationship without incriminating himself;

• A gossipy woman overhears the plans of a young woman and her fiance to marry without her parents' approval, then works behind the scenes to disrupt their future;

• A cop who has been stealing drugs from the police evidence storage is discovered by a ruthless criminal who threatens him with exposure;

• A beautiful real estate agent begins an affair with her ordinary-looking next door neighbor to start a house-flipping partnership;

• A young girl, seeking drugs for her abusive boyfriend, hides out in a cemetery where she meets an old man offering her shelter, wisdom, and maybe more. 

Needless to say, I devoured these tales quickly. Each story was gripping, full of questionable characters that I thought I knew and could predict their intentions and actions ... right up to the very end when everything always got turned on its head. A great read to curl up with and experience a darker side of Columbus and its inhabitants.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Welsh-Huggins. The Mailman.

The editor of Columbus Noir has written this wonderfully gripping, unpredictable thriller that I only recently discovered. One of the best I have ever read, and now highly recommend it. 

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 480 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]