Queens Noir

Book excerpt: Nineteen authors share mystery stories set in New York City’s largest borough in this anthology. Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Queens becomes the fourth New York City borough to enter the arena in this riveting collection edited by defense attorney and acclaimed fiction writer Robert Knightly. With stories by: Denis Hamill, Malachy McCourt, Maggie Estep, Edgar Award–winner Megan Abbott, Robert Knightly, Liz Martínez, Jill Eisenstadt, Mary Byrne, Tori Carrington, Shailly P. Agnihotri, K.J.A. Wishnia, Victoria Eng, Alan Gordon, Beverly Farley, Joe Guglielmelli, and Glenville Lovell. Includes the story “Bucker’s Error,” winner of the 2009 Edgar Award (Robert L. Fish Memorial Award). Praise for Queens Noir “The ethnically diverse New York borough of Queens is the setting for this solid entry in Akashic’s noir anthology series (Brooklyn Noir, etc.) . . . . with protagonists ranging from a young woman out for revenge (Denis Hamill’s “Under the Throgs Neck Bridge”) to a trigger-happy cop protecting her cousin from an abusive ex-husband (Stephen Solomita’s “Crazy Jill Saves the Slinky”). The husband-and-wife team writing as Tori Carrington . . . weighs in with a gritty whodunit set in a Greek diner in “Last Stop, Ditmars.” The standout by far is “Hollywood Lanes” by Megan Abbott (The Song Is You), a bleak and masterful story of passion and betrayal set in a Forest Hills bowling alley. There’s plenty to enjoy here for Akashic completists and anyone who’s ever cheered (or jeered) the Mets.” —Publishers Weekly