* * *
He climbs the wooden steps that lead to the small porch under her window. At the top, he sees his face clearly in the shiny dark of the glass. He tricks the window and steps inside. Her nose is snoring. Her mouth has filled the room with breath. He picks up the bracelet from the night table and touches a charm onto his tongue. He stands there and listens to her breathe.
About the Contributors
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Kenneth Abel is the author of the highly praised Bait and The Blue Wall. Down in the Flood is his third in the critically acclaimed Danny Chaisson thriller series; previous titles include Cold Steel Rain and The Burying Field. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Linda Barnes, winner of Anthony and American Mystery awards, has written seventeen novels, twelve featuring 6'1" redheaded Boston private investigator Carlotta Carlyle. Her most recent Carlyle novel, Lie Down with the Devil, was named one of the best mysteries of 2008 by Publishers Weekly. The Perfect Ghost, a nonseries novel, will be published in 2013.
Jason Brown is the author of two books of short stories, Driving the Heart and Other Stories and Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work. His short fiction has appeared in Harper's, the Atlantic, Best American Short Stories, NPR's Selected Shorts, and many journals and anthologies. He teaches in the MFA program at the University of Oregon.
Jaime Clarke is the author of the novel We're So Famous; editor of Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes and Conversations with Jonathan Lethem; and coeditor of No Near Exit: Writers Select Their Favorite Work from Post Road Magazine. He is a founding editor of the literary magazine Post Road and has taught creative writing at UMASS-Boston and Emerson College. He is co-owner of Newtonville Books, an independent bookstore in Boston.
Mary Cotton is the pseudonymous author of nine novels for young adults, six of them New York Times best sellers. She is also a fiction editor for the literary magazine Post Road, and is coeditor of No Near Exit: Writers Select Their Favorite Work from Post Road Magazine. She is co-owner of Newtonville Books, an independent bookstore in Boston.
Andre Dubus (1936–1999) is considered one of the greatest American short story writers of the twentieth century. Over an illustrious career, he wrote a total of six collections of short fiction, two collections of essays, one novel, and a stand-alone novella. He was awarded the Boston Globe's Lawrence L. Winship Award, the PEN/Malamud Award, the Rea Award for the Short Story, and the Jean Stein Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
George Harrar is the author of the literary mystery The Spinning Man, described by the New York Times as "elegant and unnerving." Among his dozen published short stories, "The 5:22" won the Carson McCullers Prize and was selected for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 1999. In 2013, Other Press will publish his psychological drama Reunion at Red Paint Bay. Harrar lives west of Boston with his wife, Linda, a documentary filmmaker.
George V. Higgins (1939–1999) was the author of more than twenty novels, including the best sellers The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Cogan's Trade, The Rat on Fire, and The Digger's Game. He was a reporter for the Providence Journal and the Associated Press before obtaining a law degree from Boston College Law School in 1967. He was assistant attorney general and then an assistant US attorney in Boston from 1969 to 1973. He later taught creative writing at Boston University.
Chuck Hogan is the New York Times best-selling author of several acclaimed novels, including Devils in Exile and Prince of Thieves, which was awarded the Hammett Prize and was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film The Town. His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times and ESPN The Magazine, and his short fiction has twice been anthologized in Best American Mystery Stories. He lives outside Boston with his family.
Dennis Lehane is the author of the Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro mystery series (A Drink Before the War; Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone, Baby, Gone; Prayers for Rain, and Moonlight Mile), as well as Coronado (five stories and a play) and the novels Mystic River, Shutter Island, The Given Day, and Live By Night. Three of his novels have been made into award-winning films. In 2009, he edited the best-selling anthology Boston Noir for Akashic Books.
Barbara Neely writes novels, short stories, and plays wherever she can. Her first novel in the Blanche White series won three of the four major mystery awards for best first novel. Neely's short stories have appeared in anthologies, magazines, university texts, and journals. She is currently working on a stand-alone novel and a play.
Joyce Carol Oates, editor of New Jersey Noir (2011), is the author most recently of the story collection The Corn Maiden (Mysterious Press) and the novel Mudwoman (Ecco/ HarperCollins). Her earliest fascination with Boston and its historic environs sprang from her experience as a nineteen-year-old undergraduate in the Harvard Summer School, living in an antiquated residence in the Harvard Yard during a particularly hot and torpid summer some decades ago.
Robert B. Parker (1932–2010) was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole–Everett Hitch westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010.
David Ryan's fiction has appeared in BOMB, NERVE, Mississippi Review, Denver Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Tin House, Alaska Quarterly Review, New Orleans Review, Hobart, 5_Trope, and the W. W. Norton anthology Flash Fiction Forward, among others. He is a recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a recent arts grant from the state of Connecticut.
Hannah Tinti grew up in Salem, Massachusetts. She is the author of a story collection, Animal Crackers (which includes "Home Sweet Home"), and a novel, The Good Thief. She is also cofounder and editor in chief of One Story magazine. Recently, she joined the National Public Radio program Selected Shorts, as their literary commentator.
David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) wrote the novels The Pale King, Infinite Jest, and The Broom of the System, as well as the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl with Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes Consider the Lobster, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Everything and More, and This Is Water.
About the Akashic Noir Series
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The Akashic Books Noir series was launched in 2004 with the award-winning anthology, Brooklyn Noir. Each book is comprised of all new stories, each taking place within a distinct location in the city of the book. Stories in the series have won multiple Edgar, Shamus, and Hammett awards and the volumes have been translated into 10 languages. Each book is available on our website, as eBooks from your favorite vendor, and in print at online and brick & mortar bookstores everywhere. For more information on the series, including an up-to-date list of available titles, and information on how to purchase the paperback edition of all titles in the series at a group discount (currently 56 titles) please visit www.akashicbooks.com/noirseries.htm.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE AKASHIC NOIR SERIES
BALTIMORE NOIR, edited by LAURA LIPPMAN
BARCELONA NOIR (SPAIN), edited by ADRIANA V. LÓPEZ & CARMEN OSPINA
BOSTON NOIR, edited by DENNIS LEHANE
BOSTON NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS, edited by DENNIS LEHANE, JAIME CLARKE & MARY COTTON
BRONX NOIR, edited by S.J. ROZAN
BROOKLYN NOIR, edited by TIM MCLOUGHLIN
BROOKLYN NOIR 3: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, edited by TIM MCLOUGHLIN & THOMAS ADCOCK
CAPE COD NOIR, edited by DAVID L. ULIN
CHICAGO NOIR, edited by NEAL POLLACK
COPENHAGEN NOIR (DENMARK), edited by BO TAO MICHAËLIS
D.C. NOIR, edited by GEORGE PELECANOS
D.C. NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS, edited by GEORGE PELECANOS
DELHI NOIR (INDIA), edited by HIRSH SAWHNEY
DETROIT NOIR, edited by E.J. OLSEN & JOHN C. HOCKING
DUBLIN NOIR (IRELAND), edited by KEN BRUEN
HAVANA NOIR (CUBA), edited by ACHY OBEJAS
INDIAN COUNTRY NOIR, edited by SARAH CORTEZ & LIZ MARTÍNEZ
ISTANBUL NOIR (TURKEY), edited by MUSTAFA ZIYALAN & AMY SPANGLER
KANSAS CITY NOIR, edited by STEVE PAUL
KINGSTON NOIR (JAMAICA), edited by COLIN CHANNER
LAS VEGAS NOIR, edited by JARRET KEENE & TODD JAMES PIERCE
LONDON NOIR (ENGLAND), edited by CATHI UNSWORTH
LONE STAR NOIR, edited by BOBY BYRD & JOHNNY BYRD
LONG ISLAND NOIR, edited by KAYLIE JONES
LOS ANGELES NOIR, edited by DENISE HAMILTON
LOS ANGELES NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS, edited by DENISE HAMILTON
MANHATTAN NOIR, edited by LAWRENCE BLOCK
MANHATTAN NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS, edited by LAWRENCE BLOCK
MEXICO CITY NOIR (MEXICO), edited by PACO I. TAIBO II
MIAMI NOIR, edited by LES STANDIFORD
MOSCOW NOIR (RUSSIA), edited by NATALIA SMIRNOVA & JULIA GOUMEN
MUMBAI NOIR (INDIA), edited by ALTAF TYREWALA
NEW JERSEY NOIR, edited by JOYCE CAROL OATES
NEW ORLEANS NOIR, edited by JULIE SMITH
ORANGE COUNTY NOIR, edited by GARY PHILLIPS
PARIS NOIR (FRANCE), edited by AURéLIEN MASSON
PHILADELPHIA NOIR, edited by CARLIN ROMANO
PHOENIX NOIR, edited by PATRICK MILLIKIN
PITTSBURGH NOIR, edited by KATHLEEN GEORGE
PORTLAND NOIR, edited by KEVIN SAMPSELL
QUEENS NOIR, edited by ROBERT KNIGHTLY
RICHMOND NOIR, edited by ANDREW BLOSSOM, BRIAN CASTLEBERRY & TOM DE HAVEN
ROME NOIR (ITALY), edited by CHIARA STANGALINO & MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI
SAN DIEGO NOIR, edited by MARYELIZABETH HART
SAN FRANCISCO NOIR, edited by PETER MARAVELIS
SAN FRANCISCO NOIR 2: THE CLASSICS, edited by PETER MARAVELIS
SEATTLE NOIR, edited by CURT COLBERT
ST. PETERSBURG NOIR, edited by NATALIA SMIRNOVA & JULIA GOUMEN
STATEN ISLAND NOIR, edited by DENNIS LEHANE, MARY COTTON, AND JAIME CLARKE
TORONTO NOIR (CANADA), edited by JANINE ARMIN & NATHANIEL G. MORE
TRINIDAD NOIR (TRINIDAD & TOBAGO), edited by LISA ALEN-AGOSTINI & JEANNE MASON
TWIN CITIES NOIR, edited by JULIE SCHAPER & STEVEN HORWITZ
VENICE NOIR (ITALY), edited by MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI
WALL STREET NOIR, edited by PETER SPIEGELMAN
FORTHCOMING
BEIRUT NOIR (LEBANON), edited by IMAN HUMAYDAN
BOGOTÁ NOIR (COLOMBIA), edited by ANDREA MONTEJO
BUFFALO NOIR, edited by BRIGID HUGHES & ED PARK
DALLAS NOIR, edited by DAVID HALE SMITH
HELSINKI NOIR, (FINLAND) edited by JAMES THOMPSON
JERUSALEM NOIR, edited by DROR MISHANI
LAGOS NOIR (NIGERIA), edited by CHRIS ABANI
MANILA NOIR (PHILIPPINES), edited by JESSICA HAGEDORN
PRISON NOIR, edited by JOYCE CAROL OATES
SEOUL NOIR (KOREA), edited by BS PUBLISHING CO.
SINGAPORE NOIR, edited by CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN
TEL AVIV NOIR (ISRAEL), edited by ETGAR KERET & ASSAF GAVRON
Bonus Materials
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To follow, please enjoy "Femme Sole" by Dana Cameron, the Edgar Award-nominated short story from the original Boston Noir anthology. Boston Noir features brand new stories by Cameron, Dennis Lehane, Stewart O'Nan, Patricia Powell, John Dufresne, Lynne Heitman and many more, and is available in both print and e-book editions from online and brick & mortar booksellers everywhere. See the end of "Femme Sole" for more information.
Boston Noir Excerpt
Please enjoy "Femme Sole" from Boston Noir.
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FEMME SOLE
BY DANA CAMERON
North End
A moment of your time, Anna Hoyt."
Anna slowed and cursed to herself. She'd seen dam Seaver as she crossed Prince Street, and for a terrible moment thought he was following her. She'd hoped to lose him amid the peddlers and shoppers at the busy market near Dock Square, but she couldn't ignore him after he called out. His brogue was no more than a low growl, but conversations around him tended to fade and die. He never raised his voice, but he never had a problem making himself heard, even over the loudest of Boston's boisterous hawkers.
In fact, with anxious glances, the crowd melted back in retreat from around her. No one wanted to be between Seaver and whatever he was after.
Cowards, she thought. But her own mouth was dry as he approached.
She turned, swallowed, met his eyes, then lowered hers, hoping it looked like modesty or respect and not revulsion. His face was weathered and, in places, blurred with scars, marks of fights from which he'd walked away the winner; there was a nick above his ear where he'd had his head shaved. Seaver smiled; she could see two rows of sharp, ugly teeth like a mouthful of broken glass or like one of the bluefish the men sometimes caught in the harbor. Bluefish were so vicious they had to be clubbed when they were brought into the boat or they'd shear your finger off.
He didn't touch her, but she flinched when he gestured to a quiet space behind the stalls. It was blustery autumn, salt air and a hint of snow to come, but a sour milk smell nearly gagged her. Dried leaves skittered over discarded rotten vegetables, or was it that even the boldest rats fled when Seaver approached?
"How are you, Mr. Seaver ?" she asked. She tried to imagine that she was safely behind her bar. She felt she could manage anything with the bar between her and the rest of the world.
"Fair enough. Yourself?"
"Fine." She wished he'd get on with it. "Thanks." His excessive manners worried her. He'd never spoken to her before, other than to order his rum and thank her.
When he didn't speak, Anna felt the sweat prickle along the hairline at the back of her neck. The wind blew a little colder, and the crowd and imagined safety of the market seemed remote. The upright brick structure of the Town House was impossibly far away, and the ships anchored groaning at the wharves could have been at sea.
He waited, searched her face, then looked down. "What very pretty shoes."
"Thank you. They're from Turner's." She shifted uncomfortably. She didn't believe he was interested in her shoes, but neither did she imagine he was trying to spare her feelings by not staring at the bruises that ran up the side of her head. These were almost hidden with an artfully draped shawl, but her lip was still visibly puffy. It was too easy to trace the line from that to the black and blue marks. One mark led to the next like a constellation.
One thing always led to another.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Seaver?" she said at last. Not knowing was too much.
"I may be in a way to do something for you."
Anna couldn't help it: she sighed. She heard the offer five times a night.
"Nothing like that," he said, showing that rank of teeth. "It's your husband."
"What about him?" Gambling debts, whores, petty theft? Another harebrained investment gone west? Her mind raced over the many ways Thomas could have offended Mr. Seaver.
"I saw him at Clark's law office this morning. I had business with Clark … on behalf of my employer … "
Anna barely stifled a shudder. Best to know nothing of Seaver or his employer's business, which had brought a fortune so quickly that it could only have come from some brutal trade in West Indian contraband. Thick Thomas Hoyt was well beneath the notice of Seaver's boss, praise God.
" … and your husband was still talking to Clark."
"Yes?" Anna refused to reveal surprise at Thomas visiting a lawyer. He had no use or regard for the law.
"He was asking how he could sell your establishment."
"He can't. It's mine," she said before thinking.
Seaver showed no surprise at her vehemence. "Much as I thought, and exactly what Clark told him. Apparently, Hook Miller wants the place."
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"So he said last night. I thanked him, but I'm not selling. He was more than understanding."
Seaver tilted his head. "Because he thinks the way to acquire your tavern is through your husband."
The words went through Anna like a knife, and she understood. Her hand rose to her cheek. The beating had come only hours after Miller's offer and her refusal. Thomas had been blind drunk, and she could barely make out what had driven him this time.
"If I sell it, how will we live? The man's an idiot." She was shocked to realize that she'd actually said this, that she was having a conversation, this conversation, with Seaver.
"Perhaps Thomas thinks he can weasel a big enough price from Miller."
"The place is mine. No one can take it, not even my husband. My father said so. He showed me the papers." Feme sole merchant were what the lawyers called her, with their fancy Latin. The documents allowed her to conduct business almost as if she was a man. At first, it was only with her father's consent, but as she prospered—and he sickened—it was accepted that she was responsible, allowed to trade on her own. Very nearly independent, almost as good as a man, in the year of Our Lord 1745. And, though she could never say so aloud, better than most.
"I think Clark will be bound by the document," Seaver said. "At least until someone more persuasive than Thomas comes along."
The list of people more persuasive and smarter than her husband was lengthy.
"It's only a piece of paper." Seaver shrugged. "A fragile thing."
Anna nodded, trying not to shift from one foot to another. Eventually, Hook Miller would find a way. As long as she'd known him, he always had.
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