I don't know if you noticed that the world changed on Monday, October 7, but I did. Down and Out Books published Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy. It is the first anthology I have edited.
As I hope the title makes clear, each story relates crime to some ecological issue: climate change, wildfire, environmental justice, invasive species, recycling, overtourism, etc. The types of stories cover the (polluted) waterfront: noir, police, caper, comic, psychological, even one inspired by comic books!
This book has been a long time coming. I remember telling my buddy S.J. Rozan about the idea at the Bouchercon in Raleigh and that was, heaven help us, 2015.
Why did it take ten years? Because I'm not the most efficient go-getter in the writing trade and because it took a while to find the right publisher.
Once Down and Out said yes my first move was to go back to S.J. and remind her of her enthusiasm for the project a decade ago.
She replied approximately that she had no time and couldn't possibly do it,so of course she would. As I have said before, S.J. is a mensch. She even provided what I had hoped for but did not dare to request: a story about Chin Yong-Yun, the wonderful mother of Lydia Chin, who stars in many of Rozan's novels. Like all the shorts about Mrs. Chin, this one is a treat.
As for the other authors, some will be very familiar to the SleuthSayers readers: Michael Bracken, Barb Goffman, R.T. Lawton, Janice Law, and (ahem) Robert Lopresti.
Then there is a category of some of the best names in the short mystery field: Josh Pachter, Gary Phillips, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch,
Some authors I consider newcomers, although that may only be because I suspect I was first published before they were born: Sosan Breen, Sarah M.Chen, Karen Harrington, and David Heska Hanbli Weiden.
Finally we have Jon McGoran and Mark Stevens, whom I chose because their excellent writing has centered on the environment.
It's a stellar cast and I can't wait for you to discover what dirt they have dug up.
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