Out 11/17, this is excellent entry in the Akashic Noir series. Miami Noir: The Classics contains a variety of stories written between 1925 and 2006, so you get a really good sense of Miami over the last 100 years. I wasn’t a fan of the two excerpts for reasons I’ll note below, but most of the other stories were terrific-atmospheric, sometimes sad or dark, but always captivating, much like Miami herself.

“Lemonade and Paris Buns” by John Dufresne and “Tahiti Junk Shop” by Les Standiford were probably my favorites. The first was super short, but packed a punch, and the second had a touch of the supernatural about it and actually was rather heartwarming.

I object to the excerpts for two reasons. First, the excerpt from Hurston’s There Eyes Were Watching God spoils a major plot point for anyone who hasn’t read the exquisite novel. Second, excerpts are meant to be standalone stories, and this is abundantly clear with “Street 8” by Douglas Fairbairn. The reader misses context and the ending of the tale had little to do with the beginning, like the editor wasn’t sure where to cut off the excerpt.

Overall, this is a good collection with very few “misses” and I am grateful to the publisher, Akashic Books, and LibraryThing Early Reviewers program for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. ( )

Miami Noir: The Classics takes a long look back at noir stories from the past. Editor Les Standiford cleverly excerpted novels to provide a broader view of classic noir from Miami. The stories were published between 1926 and 2006, eighty years of desperate men and women fighting to survive and thrive in impossible situations.

The first story is “Pineland” by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a writer whose work has been overwhelmed by the mass murder at a school named after her and the activism of the surviving students. There is an excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s unforgettable “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” It ends with a touch of humor with “The Monkey’s Fist” by Christine Kling.

Miami Noir: The Classics is excellent and I enjoyed it a lot. It complicates the Miami of C.S. I. and Miami Vice, making it a more appealing city, with more than corrupt politicians, Cuban refugees, and cocaine cartels. This anthology gives us a city of farmers, laborers, grifters, and the working class. So much more interesting.

I received an e-galley of Miami Noir: The Classics from the publisher through Edelweiss

Miami Noir: The Classics at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir Series
Les Standiford author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/miami-noir-the-classics-e... ( )

I received this through LibraryThing Early Reads.

It is an anthology of classic noir tales based in Miami. It contains a nice selection of authors from various eras: 1925 to 2006. Writers who has passed, such as Runyon, Halliday and Leonard, and writers who are still alive and writing: Garcia-Aguilera, Standiford and MacGregor.

The stories are such that I took my time reading. The plots have subtle touches that need to be taken in. The locations are all over Miami, a lively town of various arts and money, but tucked in among the glamour are events that aren’t so classy or upscale.

It is interesting to read from the various eras and see how writers change. The styles may vary, and the main theme may be the same, but the feelings left after reading can be very different from tale to tale.

I’ve read other noir collections put out by Akashic Books, and enjoyed each of them. ( )

This is the best short story collection to come along in a long time. ( )

Miami Noir The Classics has made it on to my list of favorite Akashic noir anthologies. Its editor, Les Standiford, has included just the right mix of the old and the newish, from noir’s earliest beginnings up to the early 21st century with views of a city much changed in population makeup, a city fighting its way out of decline, but still in its throes. These stories are so good that it’s difficult to pick just a few to mention, but of course, I do have a few favorites. One of the best is Les Standiford’s own, “Tahiti Junk Shop.” It deserves to be read again and again. Another is “Pineland” by Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Written in 1925 it’s the oldest story included in the anthology and Sarah McDevitt is a wonderful and enduring character. “The Works” by T.J. MacGregor is a South Beach take on assisted suicide and finally, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera’s “Washington Avenue,” originally published in 2001, is an interesting look at the bar scene and proliferation of drugs that plagued Miami from the late 1990s onward. This is a great collection of short stories and one I would highly recommend to noir enthusiasts. ( )