Kenneth Wishnia

Jewish Noir is a unique collection of all-new stories by Jewish and non-Jewish literary and genre writers. The stories explore such issues as the Holocaust and its long-term effects on later generations, anti-Semitism in the mid- and late-20th century United States and the dark side of the Diaspora (the decline of revolutionary fervour, the passing of generations, the Golden Ghetto, etc). The stories in this collection also include many teachable moments about the history of prejudice and the contradictions of ethnic identity and assimilation into American society.

Contemporary Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds

Jewish Noir

23 Shades of Black is socially conscious crime fiction. It takes place in New York City in the early 1980s, i.e., the Reagan years, and was written partly in response to the reactionary discourse of the time, when the current thirty-year assault on the rights of working people began in earnest, and the divide between rich and poor deepened with the blessing of the political and corporate elites. But it is not a political tract, it’s a kick-ass novel that was nominated for the Edgar and the Anthony Awards, and made Booklist’s Best First Mysteries of the Year. The heroine, Filomena Buscarsela, is an immigrant who experienced tremendous poverty and injustice in her native Ecuador, and who grew up determined to devote her life to helping others. She tells us that she really should have been a priest, but since that avenue was closed to her, she chose to become a cop instead. The problem is that as one of the first Latinas on the NYPD, she is not just a woman in a man’s world, she is a woman of color in a white man’s world. And it’s hell. Filomena is mistreated and betrayed by her fellow officers, which leads her to pursue a case independently in the hopes of being promoted to detective for the Rape Crisis Unit. Along the way, she is required to enforce unjust drug laws that she disagrees with, and to betray her own community (which ostracizes her as a result) in an undercover operation to round up undocumented immigrants. Several scenes are set in the East Village art and punk rock scene of the time, and the murder case eventually turns into an investigation of corporate environmental crime from a working class perspective that is all-too-rare in the genre. And yet this thing is damn funny, too.

23 Shades of Black

Ex-NYPD cop Filomena Buscarsela—the irrepressible urban crime fighter of 23 Shades of Black and Soft Money—is back. This time, the tough-talking, street-smart Latina heroine sets her sights on seemingly idyllic suburbia, where an endless sea of green lawns hides a toxic trail of money… and murder. But something is rotten on Long Island. When Filomena discovers that a high-tech Long Island factory is spewing poisons into the water supply, she’s sure that the contaminator is none other than her nemesis, a cutthroat industrial polluter with an airtight financial empire. Armed only with an ax to grind, the gutsy Filomena knows she’ll have to play dirty to clean up the neighborhood. Her search for justice introduces her to the unfamiliar scent of privilege—from the state-of-the-art chemistry lab of a local university to the crumbling ruins of a beachfront estate, from a glittering high-society party to an intimidating high-security chemical plant—and immerses her in the all-too-familiar stench of political corruption and personal greed. Once again, Filomena’s nose for trouble has drawn her into a case that’s more than a little hazardous to her health. As the action heats up, she must juggle the dangers of the investigation with the demands of her three-year-old daughter and the delights of a surprising new romance.

Glass Factory

Filomena Buscarsela has left the NYPD and her deadbeat man for less perilous work with a non-profit company, but she is drawn back into the world of crime when a rookie cop enlists her aid in solving a bodega murder.

Soft Money

Megan Abbott

Maggie Estep

Alan Gordon

Tori Carrington

Jill Eisenstadt

Denis Hamill

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

Kenneth Wishnia

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