SUNSHINE NOIR

 Wed--Kwei

Up against a deadline this week, my brains are scrambled; so I’m resurrecting an old (and rather short) blog from my website in 2016 (five years already?).

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We all know about Nordic Noir, right? It’s a tradition of realistic crime fiction written in a cold, often gray, snowy setting. A group of writers including me has come up with Sunshine Noir, the principle being quality noir crime can take place in the hot countries as well. The brighter the sun, the darker the shadows. As Timothy Hallinan, acclaimed author of King Maybe, says, “Move over, mysteries set in Nordic places. The bright, warm, lush world is a greenhouse for evil.”

Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip (aka Michael Stanley) and Annamaria Alfieri are the editors (and contributors as well) of this collection of seventeen short stories, which range from the brutal, dry heat of the Sonoran Desert, to the Dominican Republic, to turmoil-torn Ethiopia.

In addition to Stanley and Alfieri, the authors are Leye Adenle, Colin Cotterill, Susan Froetschel, Jason Goodwin, Paul Hardisty, Greg Herren, Tamar Myers, Barbara Nadel, Richie Narvaez, Jeffrey Siger, Nick Sweet, Timothy Williams, Robert Wilson, Ovidia Yu, and me.

Although we clear our throats and nudge our Nordic counterparts with good humor, there is a serious side of the issue of “cold and gray versus hot and bright,” and that is the perception in reading and publisher circles that Euro- and Nordocentric fiction is inherently superior. This cannot possibly be the case. There is much crime fiction for example out of Africa, but you almost wouldn’t know it. The website Murder Is Everywhere  is dedicated to the concept that crime fiction can spring from anywhere, and the wide variety of the authors named above with their rich and varied tales is testament.

So give Sunshine Noir a read and be pleasantly surprised. It’s available as an e-book and paperback. The short story format is perfect for air travel because one can finish a story during a short flight or several for longer hops. Be kind enough to leave a review of one, two or several stories–or even better, the whole book. Reviews and reactions are of great value.