Just finished The Best American Mystery Stories 2007. Enjoyed many; detested a few. Best, IMHO, was "Take the Man's Pay" by a Robert Knightly. A Japanese businessman is arrested for murder while in NYC. It presents an interesting comparison between the American and Japanese culture and ends with a clever twist that explains everything that has happened in the story. O'Henry would be proud.
I also got wind of what I guess is a new magazine trend. The volume had stories from a Washington Noir, a Brooklyn Noir and a Miami Noir. I'm assuming someone has come up with the Noir idea and is marketing it in different cities. Not a bad idea, but how far will it go? DC, Brooklyn and Miami I'll buy. But Crawford Noir? Huntsville Noir? Even Buffalo Noir. They just don't have the same zing.
