Noir fiction — that deliciously dark genre of crime novel — is getting as popular as film noir. Take, for example, the best-selling Noir series launched in 2004 by independent publisher Akashic Books. The series' MO combines sex and murder with neighborhood landmarks in short stories that depict the dark underworlds of cities like Brooklyn, Chicago and San Francisco. Florida finally made the cut this year when editor Les Standiford released Miami Noir, an anthology of vice set in the one-time murder capital of the world. The book has earned stellar reviews by Dade County critics, and Standiford and three of the book's authors — Tom Corcoran, Vicki Hendricks and Anthony Dale Gagliano — visit Inkwood Books to read from their stories. Fri., Dec. 15, 6 p.m., 216 S. Armenia Ave., Tampa, 813-253-2638.
This article appears in Dec 13-19, 2006.