Just when I don’t need another series on my radar, I stumble upon two books in a massive themed series. While browsing a mystery section, I picked up a book entitled Copenhagen Noir. Thinking this was a neat find, as I like Scandinavian crime fiction, I immediately added it to my stack of to-buy-books at that store. Later in the day, while in Austin, Texas of all places, I found a book called Austin Noir. Too much of a coincidence, I thought, and checked the front pages. Yep, there I found a long list of books, almost all with a city in the title, followed by “Noir.” I’d found another series…
According to the end page, the series was started in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book has a collection of all-original stories, set in a different and distinct neighborhood in that city. While I’ve been to Copenhagen a couple of times, I know next to nothing about that city. Austin, on the other hand, is a place I know well, having lived there for several years. It will be interesting to read this one and see if I still recognize those areas, since I left there 25 years ago.
So much fun, with all these cities. What a great concept. As a bonus, there’s even a story from my favorite Norwegian author, Gunnar Staalesen, in the Copenhagen Noir book. I guess there are too few writers for a Bergen Noir book…Then again, Staalesen’s Bergen detective, Varg Veum, has been to Copenhagen a few times in his investigations.
