London After Dark

I raved about Cathi Unsworth’s ability to bring London to life in her first novel, The Not Knowing, and I’ll continue that praise with this collection of carefully-chosen stories by some of the best new names in crime fiction. Like last year’s Chicago Noir, these tales are each set in distinct neighborhoods, from Unsworth’s own entry (“Trouble Is a Lonesome Town”) firmly rooted in King’s Cross, to Dagenham (in Martyn Waites’s exceptional “Love”) as well as others in Soho, Ladbroke Grove, Camden Town and Canary Wharf. With collections from Manhattan, Baltimore and Havana in the works, just how far will Akashic’s Noir net be thrown? When they get to Ventura County, give me a call…