Review: Tampa Bay Noir edited by Colette Bancroft

Published: 2020
Acquired and read: August 2020

Tampa Bay Noir 

edited by Colette Bancroft

This is the third of the "urban noir" books from Akashic that I've read, but the first of them set somewhere I actually know; I've lived in Tampa for three years now. Perhaps the reason I got more out of it than the others, that little frisson of knowing what "Swann Avenue" is, or of realizing that a character in one story must be a professor at the same school (and in the same department) that I am!

But I actually don't think that's just it, though I'm sure it helps. A sense of character emanates from Tampa Bay here; unlike in Columbus Noir, it's not just an endless sequence of stories about gentrification. There are stories about the heat, about the cruelty, about the promises and failures, about the wanna-bes and never-bes. It's not a positive character, but it's not like a book of noir stories would be. The stories assembled by editor Colette Bancroft do a good job of capturing the vibe of the city.

Particular favorites of mine included Tim Dorsey's "Triggerfish Lane" (two losers come to the defense of their meek middle-class neighbor with hilarious consequences), Sterling Watson's "Extraordinary Things" (a creepy story of a man finally figuring out what was behind a weird confrontation from decades ago), Luis Castillo's "Local Waters" (a substitute teacher gets desperate as he can neither control his classes nor give his family what they want), Ace Atkins's "Tall, Dark, and Handsome" (a woman falls for an older rich man who is not all he seems), Sarah Gerard's "The Midnight Preachers" (a freelance reporter tries to track down an incendiary preacher in the wake of Trump's victory), Danny López's "Jackknife" (an ex-cop tries to track down his ex-lover's new lover in a carnie town in the middle of a hurricane), Eliot Schrefer's "Wings Beating" (a man with anger management issues tries to bond with his recently-out son on a trip to a mediocre spa), and Colette Bancroft's "The Bite" (a little girl is sexually harassed by colonel from MacDill AFB). They all have a sense of desperation, of a sunny facade covering up dark grime.

There were really only two I flat-out didn't like. Unfortunately one is the opener, "The Guardian" by Michael Connelly, a mediocre mystery with a boring linear plot and no theme or character work of interest. The other was "It's Not Locked Because It Don't Lock" (what a good title, though!) by Ladee Hubbard, where too many characters are discussed in dialogue and I got lost really fast. That's probably the best hit rate I've seen in one of these.

There's also "Pablo Escobar" by my friend Yuly. I might be biased because I read and gave feedback on an early draft, but I really enjoyed this, a dark story of isolation and desperation, as a Colombian immigrant in high school finally meets a friendly face. (It was thanks to this story that I learned of the Clearwater Virgin Mary, surely the most Tampa Bay miracle that could ever exist. Manifested in an office building!)