Friday, January 23, 2015

Cozy-Noir Fiction: Where rain-slick streets and cozy kitchens intersect

THE ANTHOLOGY OF COZY-NOIR
Where rain-slick streets and cozy kitchens intersect
Review by Bobbi A. Chukran




There is something for everyone in this new anthology of mystery cozy-noir fiction. Cozy-noir is that "mood indigo," murky meeting place where rain-slick streets and cozy kitchens sometimes intersect. On the surface, cozy-noir is a "self-contradicting theme," but the authors were inspired to make it work in some unique ways.

Thirteen authors, Robert Lopresti, Judy Brownsword, Magdalena Jones, Herschel Cozine, L.E. Schwaller, Percy Spurlark Parker, Michael Guillebeau, Kate McCorkle, David Himmel, Lynn Kinnaman, Wenda Morrone, John Haas and Bobbi A. Chukran (myself) contributed stories that run the gamut from dark and murderous to light and tongue-in-cheek.

The stories were set in small towns and large cities and in diverse locations---from the Ozark hills, New York City in the 1940s, a Chicago penthouse, a Canal Street bar, a pizza joint, a Texas honky tonk, a county fair, a masquerade charity ball, diners where you just might run into the wrong dame, a small town where jukeboxes play sad country songs to a home where a bedroom game turns deadly.

There are stories of lust, murder, deceit, mayhem, revenge—with a smattering of knitting and a few servings of pie.

Cowboys, mobsters, private dicks, lawyers, bodyguards, devious dames and your average Joes star in each of these stories of cozy-noir. Editor Andrew MacRae did an admirable job of selecting a diverse overview of characters, locations and story types.

Disclaimer: Although I do have a story in the book, I purchased a paperback copy from which my review was written.

http://darkhousebooks.com

Available in paperback and e-books 

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