A Collection of Four Short Stories Series

A Taste of Noir: Volume 1 includes four short stories from the collection Nice Girl Does Noir by award-winning crime fiction author Libby Fischer Hellmann. The stories in Taste, Volume 1 include: "Detour" This story, about a hit woman who takes out the wrong mark, was originally written for the These Guns for Hire (Bleak House, 2007) anthology and was one of Libby's first "noir" stories. "House Rules" What happens when an average Midwestern couple hits Vegas? This darkly humorous Keystone cops-like short story was written for the Murder in Vegas anthology (Forge, 2006) edited by Michael Connelly. It was subsequently nominated for both the Agatha and Anthony Awards for best short story. "The Day Miriam Hirsch Disappeared" In 1938 sixteen year old Jake Foreman spends his free time with his friend Barney Teitleman in Lawndale, a prosperous Jewish community on Chicago's near west side. Jake develops a crush on Miriam Hirsch, an actress in the Yiddish theater who lives at the Teitleman's boarding house, but Miriam only has eyes for Skull, who might or might not be a gangster. This award-winning short story was first published in 1999. "The Murder of Katie Boyle" Libby's series protagonists, video producer Ellie Foreman and PI Georgia Davis worked together in Doubleback (2009), but this story, originally published in 2009, explains how they originally met. Be sure to look for the three other Hellmann short story "4-packs." Each has a different Volume Number, from Volume 1 to Volume 4. 

A Taste of Noir  includes four short stories from the collection Nice Girl Does Noir by award-winning crime fiction author Libby Fischer Hellmann. The stories in Taste, Volume 2 include: "Your Sweet Man" My contribution to CHICAGO BLUES (Bleak House, 2007) was way out of my comfort zone, but that's what I loved about writing short stories. They allow me to stretch and experiment with different characters, plots, eras, and settings. This story is about a Blues bass player whose ability to love and forgive is tested by events out of his control. There's also a historical element: the story takes place both in the 1980's and the 1950's. It turned out to be one of the sweetest stories I've ever written. "The Jade Elephant" The following story was published in the EXPLETIVE DELETED anthology (Bleak House, 2008) edited by Jen Jordan. I loved researching the seamier, sleazier parts of Chinatown where menus are stained, kitsch is king, and even walking down the street after dark is risky. Add in two older criminals seeking redemption, and the result was irresistible. At least to me.  "Common Scents" Georgia Davis made her first major appearance in my third novel, AN IMAGE OF DEATH which was published in 2004. However, she was also the protagonist in this story, which was written and published about the same time. In this story, Georgia, an officer on the Village police force, is anxious to move up to detective. "The Whole World Is Watching" This story was written and published in the SISTERS ON THE CASE anthology edited by Sara Paretsky (Signet, 2007). I originally wrote this as an exercise in preparation for a thriller that takes place—in part—during the 1960's. I hope that, like a delicious hors d'oeuvre, it whets readers' appetites by capturing the passion, the hope, and the fury of that era. Be sure to look for the three other Hellmann short story "4-packs." Each has a different Volume Number, from Volume 1 to Volume 4. 

A Taste of Noir includes four short stories from the collection Nice Girl Does Noir by award-winning crime fiction author Libby Fischer Hellmann. The stories in Taste, Volume 3 include: 'A Berlin Story' This story first appeared in the SHOW BUSINESS IS MURDER anthology, edited by the late, great Stuart Kaminsky (Berkley Prime Crime, 2004). The time of World War Two has always resonated with me—I can't think of another period of history that has been fraught with such bitter conflict, such a clear demarcation between good and evil, or so many examples of heroism and cowardice. I still return there for inspiration. This story plumbs Berlin's cabaret culture of the early '30s: the desperate need to party, the hollowness of the frivolity, the sense of impending doom. To that end the story also pays homage to Christopher Isherwood, whose work captured that atmosphere perfectly. 'Dumber Than Dirt' This story was first published in 2000 in Blue Murder Magazine, which has since disappeared. It was reprinted in Twilight Tales' Blood and Doughnuts, and most recently in the ONCE UPON A CRIME ANTHOLOGY edited by Gary Bush. An "only in Chicago" story, it's goofy and noir at the same time. 'The Last Radical' In 1999 '70s radical Kathleen Soliah was arrested after spending 23 years under the alias of Sara Jane Olson. In 1975 she was charged with attempting to bomb police cars with the SLA, the group that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. But Olson vanished after she was charged and reinvented herself as a housewife - changing her name, marrying a doctor and becoming a mother of three in St. Paul, Minnesota. During that time she was active in the community and was known to be a progressive. I am old enough to remember her original crime, but what intrigued me was her life on the lam. Did she panic every time she saw a police car or heard a siren? How did she explain her youth to her husband and kids? How does someone with something to hide live? This story is the result of that curiosity. It was published in FUTURES Magazine in 2001. 'The Rainforest Messiah' This was originally published in the WORLD WIDE WRITERS Magazine, (UK, November, 2000). It was republished in the webzine, Mysterical-E, in January 2001, and was voted one of the best five stories of that year. It was one of the first stories I wrote that wasn't set in Chicago. Be sure to look for the three other Hellmann short story "4-packs." Each has a different Volume Number, from Volume 1 to Volume 4. 

"Josef's Angel" This story begins during World War Two but jumps to Chicago in the 1970's. The plot and characters surprised me; I didn't know it would turn out the way it did. Happily, that's one of the joys of writing crime fiction. JOSEF'S ANGEL was originally published in digital format in 2006. "High Yellow" I grew up in Washington, DC, and I always wanted to set a story there. For some reason, it never quite worked until now. HIGH YELLOW remains one of my favorites, not just because it triggered so many memories of my childhood, but for what it says about the culture of what was—until the Kennedy administration—essentially a southern city. It was written for and published in Megan Abbott's A HELL OF A WOMAN: An Anthology of Female Noir (Busted Flush Press, 2007). "A Winter's Tale" This Ellie Foreman story, about the murder of one of Ellie's wealthy neighbosr and his trophy wife's involvement, was published in 2005 in the TECHNO NOIR anthology, edited by Eva Batonne and Jeffrey Marks. Bear in mind that the anthology was released pre-Facebook and Twitter. "Capital Partners" This short story was originally published in the Writes of Spring Anthology, Nodin Press, 2012, edited by Pat Frovarp and Gary Shulze. The story is about two women whose husbands are caught in a Ponzi scheme and take matters into their own hands.  "A fine story..." Publishers Weekly