Murder in the Library: The Akashic Noir Series

It’s a Noir World, After All

Ex-punk rocker Johnny Temple’s feisty and defiantly political little imprint struck gold of the blackest hue with this string of regionalized collections of noir. Starting way back in 2004 with the publication of Brooklyn Noir (edited by Pete Hamill), the series has become a crime fiction juggernaut, spreading its noirish tentacles all over the world.

And while the definition of noir may be stretched to the breaking point at times, there’s no denying how potent and powerful so many of these stories are. They’ve been written by writers you’ve never heard of, and writers you know and love, including Ken Bruen, Michael Connelly, Robert Ferrigno, Harry Stephen Keeler, Sherwood Anderson, Max Allan Collins, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Fredric Brown, Patricia Highsmith, Barry Gifford, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sara Paretsky, Percy Spurlark Parker,. Gary Phillips, Lawrence Block, S.J. Rozan, Steven Torres, Joyce Carol Oates, Loren D. Estleman, P.J. Parrish, Craig Holden, Megan Abbott, James W. Hall, Jim Pascoe, Scott Phillips, Laura Lippman, Reed Farrel Coleman and about a zillion more.

No, not all these stories feature private eyes — in fact, very few do. But that in no way diminishes how the deliciously dark, unsettling and wonderful most of them are.

(By the way, this notion that a private eye story can’t be noir is strictly for mouth-breathers and only goes to show how blindered some of these modern-day noiristas are, and how poorly read they are in the very genre they claim to champion.)

Brooklyn Noir (2004; edited by Pete Hamill) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics (2005; edited by Tim McLoughlin) | Buy this book
Chicago Noir (2005; edited by Neal Pollack) | Buy this book
San Francisco Noir (2005; edited by Peter Maravelis) | Buy this book
DC Noir (2006; edited by George P. Pelecanos) | Buy this book
Dublin Noir (2006; edited by Ken Bruen) | Buy this book
London Noir (2006; edited by Cathi Unsworth) | Buy this book
Miami Noir (2006; edited by Les Standiford) | Buy this book
Manhattan Noir (2006; edited by Lawrence Block) | Buy this book
Baltimore Noir (2006; edited by Laura Lippman) | Buy this book
Twin Cities Noir (2006; edited by Julie Schaper & Steven Horwitz) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
New Orleans Noir (2007; edited by Julie Smith) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Los Angeles Noir (2007; edited by Denise Hamilton) | .Buy this book
Wall Street Noir (2007; edited by Peter Spiegelman) | Buy this book
Bronx Noir (2007; edited by S.J. Rozan) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Havana Noir (2007; edited by Achy Obejas) | .Buy this book
Detroit Noir (2007; edited by E.J. Olsen and John C. Hocking) | Buy this book
Queens Noir (2008, edited by Robert Knightly) | Buy this book
Toronto Noir (2008; edited by Armin, Janine, and Nathaniel G. Moore) | Buy this book
DC Noir 2 (2008; edited by George Pelecanos) | Buy this book
Istanbul Noir (2008; edited by Mustafa Ziyalan) | Buy this book
Paris Noir (2008; edited by Aurélien Masson) | Buy this book
Trinidad Noir (2017; edited by Lisa Allen-Agostini & Jeanne Mason) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth (2008; Tim McLoughlin & Thomas Adcock, eds.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
True crime. The first non-fiction collection in the series.
San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics (edited by Peter Maravelis) | Buy this book
Rome Noir (2009; edited by Chiara Stangalino & Maxim, Jakubowski) | Buy this book
Portland Noir (2009; edited by Kevin Sampell) | Buy this book
Delhi Noir (2009; edited by Hirsh Sawhney) | Buy this book
Boston Noir (2009; edited by Dennis Lehane) | Buy this book
Phoenix Noir (2009; edited by Millikin, Patrick) | Buy this book
Richmond Noir (2010; Andrew Blossom, Brian Castleberry & Tom De Haven, eds.)
Mexico City Noir (2010; Paco Ignacio Taibo II, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Los Angeles Noir 2: The Classics (2010; Denise Hamilton, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Orange County Noir (2010; Gary Phillips, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Moscow Noir (2010; Natalia Smirnova and Julia Goumen, eds.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Indian Country Noir (2010; Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez, eds.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Lone Star Noir (2010; Bobby Byrd & Johnny Byrd, eds.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Haiti Noir (2010; edited by Edwidge Danticat, Edwidge) | Buy this book
Copenhagen Noir (2010; Bo Tao Michaelis, editor)
Cape Cod Noir (2011; David L. Ulin, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Pittsburgh Noir (2011; Kathleen George, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
San Diego Noir (2011; Maryelizabeth Hart, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
New Jersey Noir (2011; Joyce Carol Oates, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Kansas City Noir (2012; Steve Paul, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Staten Island Noir (2012; Patricia Smith, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Boston Noir 2: The Classics (2012; Lehane, Cotton & Clarke, eds.) Buy this book | Kindle it!
Manila Noir (2013; Jessica Hagedom, editor) | Buy this book
Buffalo Noir (2013; Brigid Hughes, editor) | Buy this book
Dallas Noir (2013; David Hale Smith, editor) | Buy this book
USA Noir (2013; Johnny Temple, editor) | Buy this book
Haiti Noir 2: The Classics (2013; Edwidge Danticat, editor) | Buy this book. Kindle it!
Singapore Noir (2014; Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, editor) | Buy this book
Prison Noir (2014; Joyce Carol Oates, editor) | Buy this book
Tel Aviv Noir (2014; Etgar Keret & Assaf Gavron, editor) | Buy this book
Tehran Noir (2014; Salar Abdoh, editor) | Buy this book
Helsinki Noir (2014; James Thompson, editor) | Buy this book
Belfast Noir (2014; Adrian McKinty, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Providence Noir (2015; Ann Hood, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it
Chicago Noir: The Classics (2015; Joe Meno, editor) | Buy this book
Buffalo Noir (2015; Brian Hughes & Ed Park, editor) | Buy this book
Memphis Noir (2015; Laureen Cantwell & Leonard Gill, eds.) | Buy this book
Zagreb Noir (2015; Ivan Srsen, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it
Beirut Noir (2015; Iman Humaydan, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Marseille Noir (2015; David Ball & Nicole Ball, eds.) | Buy this book
Stockholm Noir (2016, Nathan Larson & Carl-Michael Edenborg, eds.) | Buy this book
New Orleans Noir: The Classics (2016; Julie Smith, editor) | Buy this book
Rio Noir (2016; Tony Bellotto, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Brussels Noir (2016; Michel Dufranne, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Mississippi Noir (2016; Tom Franklin, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
St. Louis Noir (2016; Scott Phillips, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
San Juan Noir (2016; Mayra Santos-Febre, editor) | Buy this book
San Juan Noir (2016; Mayra Santos-Febre, editor) (in Spanish!) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Trinidad Noir: The Classics (2017; Earl Lovelace & Robert Antoni, ed.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Oakland Noir (2017; Jerry Thompson & Eddie Muller, editors) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Atlanta Noir (2017; Tayari Jones, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
New Haven Noir (2017; Amy Bloom, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Montana Noir (2017; James Grady & Keir Graf, eds.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Montreal Noir (2017, John McFetridge & Jacques Filippi, eds.) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Buenos Aires Noir (2017; Ernesto Mallo, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Prague Noir (2018; Pavel Mandys, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Sao Paulo Noir (2018; Tony Bellotto, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Baghdad Noir (2018; Samuel Shimon, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Santa Cruz Noir (2018, Susie Bright, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Lagos Noir (2018; Chris Abani, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Marrakech Noir (2018; Yassin Adrian, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Vancouver Noir (2018; Sam Wiebe, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
Hong Kong Noir (2018; Jason Ng & Susan Blumberg-Kason, editors) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Sydney Noir (2019; John Dale, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Amsterdam Noir (2019; René Appel & Josh Pachter, editors) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Milwaukee Noir (2019; Tim Hennessy, editor) | Buy this book
Berlin Noir (2019; Thomas Wörtche, editor) | Buy this book
Houston Noir (2019; Gwendolyn Zepeda, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Nairobi Noir (2020; Peter Kimani, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Santa Fe Noir (2020; Ariel Gore, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Columbus Noir (2020; andrew Welsh-Huggins, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Alabama Noir 2020; Don Noble, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Berkeley Noir (2020; Jerry Thompson & Owen Hill, editors) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Tampa Bay Noir (2020; Colette Bancroft, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Addis Ababa Noir (2020; Maaza Mengiste, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Miami Noir: The Classics (2020; Les Standiford, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Belgrade Noir (2020; Milorad Ivanović, editor, ) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Accra Noir (2020, Nana-Ama Danquah, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Palm Springs Noir (2021; Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Denver Noir (2022, Cynthia Swanson, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
South Central Noir (2022, Gary Philloips, editor) | Buy this book | Kindle it!

WANT A NEW DRUG?

Inspired by the success of their city-based Noir series, Akashic decided where you live wasn’t enough, and unleashed the Drug Chronicles Series in 2005.

The Cocaine Chronicles (2005; Gary Phillips & Jervey Tervalon, editors) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
The Speed Chronicles (2011; Joseph Mattson, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
The Heroin Chronicles (2013, Jerry Stahl, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
The Marijuana Chronicles (2014; Jonathan Santlofer, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
The Nicotine Chronicles (2020; Lee Child, editor) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!

COLLECTIONS

New York City Noir: The Five Borough Set (2012) | Kindle it!
Includes Brooklyn Noir, Manhattan Noir, Bronx Noir, Queens Noir andStaten Island Noir.