Columbus Noir

by Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Editor)

Overview

The state of Ohio could only escape the Akashic Noir Series for so long.

“Perfect for fans of crime novels and mysteries. The book tells stories of Columbus’ dark doppelgänger, where greed and pride have run rampant.” —Columbus Monthly Magazine

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: Lee Martin, Robin Yocum, Kristen Lepionka, Craig McDonald, Chris Bournea, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Tom Barlow, Mercedes King, Daniel Best, Laura Bickle, Yolonda Tonette Sanders, Julia Keller, Khalid Moalim, and Nancy Zafris.

From the introduction by Andrew Welsh-Huggins:

Today, Columbus is an epicenter of the opioid epidemic, awash in heroin and the even deadlier fentanyl as dealers flood the city with their wares . . .  The wealth gap in the city is growing, and Columbus is now one of the deadliest places in the state for babies trying to make it to their first birthday, even more so if their mothers are African American. These days, Columbus is a place forensic investigators are moving to. Overdoses, homicides, infant mortality: at long last, we’re finally as lethal as any big American city.

In that light (and darkness) I’m pleased to present Columbus Noir, a collection of shadowy tales from the city’s best storytellers set in neighborhoods across the metropolis. Sexual passion drives many of the stories, appropriate for a genre marked by protagonists striving for things out of their reach. Racism makes an appearance or two, as do those twin pillars of noir, greed and pride. Still, a deep appreciation of Columbus runs through the book as forcefully as the swath cut by the Olentangy after a couple of days of hard rain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617759109
Publisher:	Akashic Books, Ltd.
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Series:	Akashic Noir Series
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Welsh-Huggins, of Columbus, Ohio, writes the critically acclaimed Mercury Carter thriller series and the Shamus Award–nominated Andy Hayes private eye series. Andrew’s short mystery stories have appeared in multiple magazines and anthologies, including The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021, 2024, and 2025.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Sin in Cbus

“The Satin Fox” by Robin Yocum (Victorian Village)

“Gun People” by Kristen Lepionka (Olde Towne East)

“Curb Appeal” by Craig McDonald (German Village)

“My Name Is Not Susan” by Chris Bournea (Eastmoor)

Part II: Capital Offenses

“Going Places” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Ohio Statehouse)

“Honor Guard” by Tom Barlow (Clintonville)

“An Agreeable Wife for a Suitable Husband” by Mercedes King (South End)

“Take the Wheel” by Daniel Best (Short North)

“The Dead and the Quiet” by Laura Bickle (Union Cemetery)

Part III: Buckeye Betrayals

“The Luckiest Man Alive” by Lee Martin (San Margherita)

“The Valley” by Yolanda Tonette Sanders (Whitehall)

“All That Burns the Mind” by Julia Keller (Ohio State University)

“Long Ears” by Khalid Moalim (North Side)

“Foreign Study” by Nancy Zafris (West Broad Street)

Editorial Reviews

"This entry in Akashic's signature series is solid and brings attention to a growing metropolis that is claiming homegrown crime-fiction talent. Columbus may not be as exotic as Belfast, Havana, or Baghdad, but this collection demonstrates that it is equally as sinister."
—The Rap Sheet

"This superior Akashic noir anthology gathers 14 dark snapshots of Ohio's capital, a very dangerous place indeed, with heavy drug use and murder touching down everywhere, from the German Village neighborhood to the statehouse...Noir fans should be well satisfied."
—Publishers Weekly

"The latest stage in Akashic's master plan to paint the world black is marked by 14 new stories...and the different shades of noir they invoke, from light gray to pitch black."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Very appealing."
—The Cyberlibrarian

From the Publisher

2019-11-24
The latest stage in Akashic's master plan to paint the world black is marked by 14 new stories whose most appealing features are their come-hither titles and the different shades of noir they invoke, from light gray to pitch black.

The hallmark here is competent but unspectacular professionalism that ticks all the boxes but originality. Sex fuels the plots of Robin Yocum's "The Satin Fox," in which a vice cop's romance with a junkie stripper is threatened by blackmail; Kristen Lepionka's "Gun People," in which a wife takes up with one of the contractors upgrading the place her accountant husband has purchased; Craig McDonald's "Curb Appeal," which follows a woodworker's romance with an interior decorator to its all-too-logical end; Mercedes King's "An Agreeable Wife for a Suitable Husband," whose ill-assorted title couple plot to rid themselves of each other; Julia Keller's "All That Burns the Mind," in which an Ohio State University English teacher finds a sadly predictable way of dealing with two problem students; and Khalid Moalim's "Long Ears," whose heroine learns a great deal about an ancient accident and a present-day murder but keeps mum. None of the entries excels editor Welsh-Huggins' "Going Places," in which a rising politician's wife and fixer collude to shelter him from the consequences of his peccadilloes; the nearest competitors are Chris Bournea's "My Name Is Not Susan" (a retired football player's lover is suspected when he and his wife, the lover's friend, are murdered), Tom Barlow's "Honor Guard" (a chronically disappointing son negotiates frantically to keep his father out of prison after an argument with a stranger turns deadly), and Daniel Best's "Take the Wheel" (a tawdry, fast-moving tale of a pair of frenemies whose partnership in a coffee shop is threatened by some lethally laced heroin). The newly arrived Chinese student in Nancy Zefris' darkly comic "Foreign Study" manages to stumble through town without occasioning a single felony, and Laura Bickle's "The Dead and the Quiet," Lee Martin's "The Luckiest Man Alive," and Yolanda Tonette Sanders' "The Valley" are notable for their closing intimations of grace, that rarest of qualities in noir.

As for Columbus, it comes across much like other Midwestern cities in noir stories, which may be the point.

Kirkus Reviews