New Haven Noir

Starred review from June 12, 2017
Town-gown tensions highlight several of the 15 stories in this stellar Akashic noir anthology set in the Elm City. In “Evening Prayer,” Stephen L. Carter movingly presents the world of white Ivy League privilege as seen through the eyes of an African-American boy whose father alternates between his positions as a respected church deacon and as an obsequious employee at a segregated hotel. Editor Bloom’s “I’ve Never Been to Paris” is a nicely downbeat whodunit centered on the murder of a Yale English professor killed with a bust of Herman Melville. Roxana Robinson demonstrates that violence is not essential to noir in “The Secret Societies,” the lead of which cloisters herself in Yale’s Beinecke Library in a race to finish writing a biography of a reclusive author before a rival does. And an aspiring actress falls for a deli man in Jessica Speart’s “Second Act,” which leaves a nicely nasty aftertaste. In contrast to other recent volumes in this acclaimed series, this entry is particularly strong on established authors, many of whom have impressive credentials outside the genre.

July 1, 2017
In an Ivy League town, Bloom (Lucky Us, 2014, etc.) turns Yale's motto--Lux et Veritas--on its head, finding darkness and deceit in every corner of New Haven.The university features prominently in these 15 new stories. Hirsh Sawhney's "A Woe for Every Season" highlights the dark side of being a faculty spouse. Jonathan Stone's "The Gauntlet" describes the challenges of five undergraduates living in a marginal neighborhood. Editor Bloom's "I've Never Been to Paris" chronicles the woes of a junior faculty member who can't seem to get out of her own way. John Crowley takes Yale into cyberspace in "Spring Break." And Roxana Robinson's "The Secret Societies" shows that even the solemn hush of the Beinecke Library can be the backdrop to dark doings. But danger lurks off campus as well. An actress finds trouble at Long Wharf in David Rich's "Sure Thing." A commercial artist tangles with sister lingerie models and his own complicated past in Wooster Square in Chandra Prasad's "Silhouettes." A plumber finds peril in a three-story Audubon Court brownstone in Susan Pemberton Strong's "Callback." Karen Olson's "The Boy" chronicles the changes across the Q Bridge in Fair Haven. And Alice Mattison's "Innovative Methods" tells the chilling tale of what a teenage runaway faces in Lighthouse Point Park. The stories Bloom chooses share a strong sense of place, detailing the quirks that make every corner of New Haven distinctive. But it's the lucid writing and clear, compelling storylines that make her dark tales shine. Maybe she offers a noir version of Light and Truth after all.

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