New Orleans Noir »

Julie Smith is the author of two detective series set in New Orleans, and an Edgar Award winner. A former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the San Francisco Chronicle, she lives in the Faubourg Marigny section of New Orleans, which is much funkier than it sounds like.

New Orleans has always had a heart of noir.

Publishers Weekly

The excellent 12th entry in Akashic's city-specific noir series illustrates the diversity of the chosen locale with 18 previously unpublished short stories from authors both well known (Laura Lippman, Barbara Hambly) and emerging (Kalamu Ya Salaam, Jeri Cain Rossi). Appropriately, Smith divides the book into pre- and post-Katrina sections, and many of the more powerful tales describe the disaster's hellish aftermath. Standouts in the first section, "Before the Levees Broke," include Laura Lippman's short, twisted tale of victims and victimizers, "Pony Girl," and Tim McLoughlin's "Scared Rabbit," a tight, punchy account of a police shooting. Among the contributions to the post-Katrina "Life in Atlantis" section, Thomas Adcock's gritty crime tale, "Lawyers' Tongues," captures the chaos of the hurricane's wake with notable skill. (Apr.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Introduction     13
Before the Levees Broke
What's the Score?: Mid-City     21
Two-Story Brick Houses: Uptown     31
Scared Rabbit: Irish Channel     43
Schevoski: University District     51
Algiers: Algiers     56
Pony Girl: Treme     68
The Battling Priests of Corpus Christi: Seventh Ward     78
Open Mike: French Quarter     88
All I Could Do Was Cry: Lower Ninth Ward     110
There Shall Your Heart Be Also: The Swamp     129
Life in Atlantis
Muddy Pond: Village de l'Est     149
Lawyers' Tongues: Gentilly     171
And Hell Walked In: Bywater     188
Night Taxi: Lakeview     201
Annunciation Shotgun: Lower Garden District     224
Loot: Garden District     244
Angola South: Loyola Avenue     264
Marigny Triangle: Faubourg Marigny     274
About the Contributors     282