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Robert Knightly is a trial lawyer in the Criminal Defense Division of the Queens Legal Aid Society. In another life, he was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department, The president of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America, he was born and raise in New York City and lives in Queens.

On the heels of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx, the borough of Queens enters the chambers of noir.

Publishers Weekly

The ethnically diverse New York borough of Queens is the setting for this solid entry in Akashic's noir anthology series (Brooklyn Noir, etc.). Rather than featuring big name authors only loosely connected to Queens, Knightly has brought in a crew of local writers that includes many unknowns. The result is a satisfying if unspectacular volume, 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 (Sofie Metropolis) 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. (Jan.)