Megan Abbott - Phoenix Noir

Stella Pope Duartehas won two creative writing fellowships from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, for Fragile Night and Let Their Spirits Dance , her highly acclaimed debut novel. Duarte has won honors and awards nationwide, and her most recent novel, If I Die in Juárez , is the story of the over 400 young women brutally murdered in Ciudad Juárez. Currently, she teaches creative writing for an assortment of college, university, and community-based programs. She lives in Phoenix.

Diana Gabaldonis the author of the award-winning, New York Times best-selling Outlander novels and the Lord John Grey novels. Gabaldon holds several advanced degrees in science and spent a dozen years as a university professor with an expertise in scientific computation before beginning to write fiction. A third-generation Arizonan, Gabaldon lives with her husband in Scottsdale.

Dogo Barry Grahamis a novelist, poet, screenwriter, social activist, and Zen Buddhist monk whose works include The Book of Man, Before, and Kill Your Self . His nonfiction has appeared in such national magazines as Harper’s and Flaunt .Originally from Scotland, he has traveled widely and has made his home in the U.S. since 1995. He lives in Phoenix, where he is the abbot of the Sitting Frog Zen Sangha. His blog, The Urban Monk, can be found at the-urban-monk.livejournal.com.

Charles Kelly, as a reporter for the Arizona Republic , found missing heirs, investigated the 1976 bomb murder of Republic reporter Don Bolles, and helped a falsely convicted American tugboat captain get out of a Mexican prison. He is the author of the novel Pay Here and is currently working on a new novel as well as a biography of the hardboiled writer Dan J. Marlowe. Kelly lives in Scottsdale.

Patrick Millikinis a bookseller at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. As a freelance writer, his articles, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Firsts Magazine, Paradoxa, Your flesh Quarterly , and other publications. Born in Los Angeles, he moved to Arizona in 1972 and grew up in Scottsdale. Millikin currently lives in central Phoenix.

Gary Phillipshas been a community organizer, taught incarcerated youth, was a union rep, and worked for one of those shadowy 527s. He has written hard-boiled books and such for a long damn time. His short stories have appeared in several previous Akashic Noir Series volumes, among other publications.

Kurt Reichenbaughgrew up in Tampa, Florida and earned his English degree at Florida State University. He has lived since 1990 in Phoenix, where his day job is grinding out financial spreadsheets for a life insurance company. His stories have appeared in Sounds of the Night, Tales from the Moonlit Path, and Niteblade . He has recently completed his first novel and is working on his second.

James Sallisis the author of over thirty books, as well as hundreds of stories, poems, and essays. Perhaps best known for his New Orleans — set Lew Griffin detective series, Sallis has also written Drive , a modern noir classic soon to be adapted into a film starring Hugh Jackman. Sallis teaches creative writing at Phoenix College and Arizona State University. An accomplished musician, he performs regularly around town, both as a solo artist and with his trio, Three-Legged Dog.

Jon Taltonis the author of the David Mapstone mysteries, including Dry Heat and Cactus Heart, as well as The Pain Nurse . A fourth-generation Arizonan, Talton has worked for newspapers around the country, including as a columnist for the Arizona Republic . Before journalism, he spent four years as an ambulance medic in Phoenix. He now lives in Seattle, where he is economy columnist for the Seattle Times and runs the blog Rogue Columnist.

Laura Toheis Diné (Navajo) and lives in Phoenix. She writes poetry, short fiction, and essays, some of which have won awards. Her publications include No Parole Today and Tséyi’/ Deep in the Rock: Reflections on Canyon de Chelly. She is also the author of a libretto, Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio .Currently, Tohe is at work on a book about the Navajo Code Talkers. She teaches at Arizona State University.

Luis Alberto Urreahas written many books, including the national best sellers The Hummingbird’s Daughter and The Devil’s Highway (a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist). He has also won the Kiriyama Prize for fiction, a Lannan Literary Award, an American Book Award, a Christopher Award, and a Western States Book Award. Urrea lives with his family in the Chicago area, where he teaches creative writing at the University of Illinois — Chicago.

Don Winslow’snovels include A Cool Breeze on the Underground, The Death and Life of Bobby Z, and The Power of the Dog . He also coauthored a nonfiction book, Looking for a Hero , with historian Pete Maslowski. His script The Winter of Frankie Machine is being developed into a film directed by Michael Mann and starring Robert De Niro. Winslow lives with his wife and son in Southern California. His latest book is The Dawn Patrol.

This story is a fictionalized account of a real-life incident, as reported in Robert Graysmith’s Auto Focus: The Murder of Bob Crane (Berkley, 2002).