Maxim Jakubowski - London Noir

LondonNoir

EditedBy Maxim Jakubowski

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CONTENTS

CHRISTOPHER FOWLER

MARK TIMLIN

LIZA CODY

DEREK RAYMOND

CHAZ BRENCHLEY

DENISEDANKS

MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI

IAN RANKIN

JESSICA PALMER

JULIAN RATHBONE

MOLLY BROWN

JOHN HARVEY

MICHAEL Z. LEWIN

LIZ HOLLIDAY

ANDREW KLAVAN

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INTRODUCTION

L ike so many of the great cities of the world, Londonis many things to different people.

For thosefrom abroad and tourists, it conveys images of tarnished royal splendours,faded imperial monuments, the tawdry glamour of Soho and Piccadilly Circus. Forthe more historically-minded amongst them, visions are conjured of Victorianfog and dread and square-shaped East End gangsters, while for others London isjust a gentle panorama of terraced houses with tiled roofs and front gardens insuburbia.

For thosewho live there, London is alternately a quiet, often boring sprawl of amegalopolis with its myriad villages, parks and greenery, or in the grey lightof day, a sordid capital where misery and poverty are inescapable.

While forlovers, London can be a graveyard of sweet memories.

For me,London, a city where I was born but did not return to until my mid-twenties,has a thousand varied faces: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, St Paul's and theCity on which I had to do a book during my publishing years, Camden Town andits increasingly bizarre markets, the hills of Hampstead, the genteel bohemiaof Notting Hill and Islington, tennis at Wimbledon, the colour of the Thamesnear Richmond Bridge, football stadia in Tottenham and Highbury and cricketpitches at the Oval and Lord's, the unending ascent of the Finchley Road whereI had my first London flat, the late Scala cinema near King's Cross, the WestIndian accents in Brixton, pretty women in Clapham and Blackheath, OrthodoxJewish kids ambling down the Golders Green Road with their anachronistic locks,cavernous Victoria Station's gateways to the South, and so much more.

But then,for you the reader of this anthology, London will mean many other things, alldifferent.

And youthere, yes, you the wondrous tall lady standing quietly at the back with her massof tangled hair, London might well be another set of images and memoriesaltogether. Hotel rooms near Heathrow or West End basements maybe?

I supposethat's the way of fascinating cities, to grip, charm and inspire us.

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Somehow,most noir writing automatically brings America and its legendary dark side tomind: the rainy mean streets of night-time California in the pages of RaymondChandler or James Ellroy's hell-pit of Los Angeles, mafia hoods in New York'sLittle Italy, countless road movies or gangster flicks full of fury anddespair. But London also enjoys its share of gloom, doom and heart-break. Here,people live, suffer and love in their own idiosyncratic ways too. Think of sucheminent London writers as Gerald Kersh, Patrick Hamilton, a certain Dickensand, today, Michael Moorcock, Peter Ackroyd, Iain Sinclair, Derek Raymond.

Well,Whitechapel did spawn Jack the Ripper Esquire after all!

So Ithought I would ask several friends and writers each to pen a new story about thedarkness they saw at the heart of our contradictory city. The responses,collected here, are both varied and fascinating, and provide us with apatchwork portrait of a London we never knew, a dark London, a London Noir.

Often avery bleak view, I am aware, but then urban nightmares must always have asilver lining, and lancing a boil can have beneficial effects in the long run.

London,this is your other life.

Maxim Jakubowski

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CONTRIBUTORS

CHRISTOPHER FOWLER is one of the leadingBritish contemporary horror writers. He runs a film promotional company inLondon's Soho. Amongst his novels are Roofworld, Red Bride, Darkest Dayand Rune (currently being developed for the screen by Basic Instinct'sPaul Verhoeven with a script by Paul Mayersberg of Merry Christmas, MrLawrence).

After along career in the rock music business, working for The Who and T. Rex, MARK TIMLIN turned to a literary lifeof crime. He is the creator of South London sleuth Nick Sharman, theprotagonist of nine novels and being scripted for television. The latest isAshes By Now.

LIZA CODY is the foremost British exponent of thefemale private eye genre, with her Anna Lee adventures and, recently, a newheroine, the doughty wrestler Eva Wylie in Bucket Nut and MonkeyWrench. She has won the John Creasey, the Anthony and the Silver Daggerawards and lives in Somerset.

After adecade overseas, DEREK RAYMOND(better known as Robin Cook to Soho pub regulars) is now back in London wherehe currently resides in darkest Willesden. His Factory series representsBritish noir at its best and is soon to make it to the small and large screens.His last novel was Dead Man Upright.

CHAZ BRENCHLEY has written a seriesof dark novels on the borderlines of crime and horror. They include MallTime, The Samaritan and The Refuge. In a bid for literaryrespectability, his publishers will be releasing his next novels as by C.S.Brenchley. He was born in Oxford, lives in Newcastle and is writer in residencein Sunderland.

DENISE DANKS ' novel FrameGrabber featured her heroine Georgina Powers in a case featuring virtualreality, erotic asphyxiation and corporate larceny. A computer journalist bytrade, Denise has now written four Georgina Powers novels. She lives in EastLondon with her husband and daughter, and is the winner of the 1994 RaymondChandler Fulbright Fellowship.

MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI owns London's MurderOne mystery bookshop. Previously a publisher, he was the editor of the BlackBox Thrillers and Blue Murder imprints. He has written or edited overthirty-five books and, in 1992, won the Anthony award for One Hundred GreatDetectives.

A Scotsmanpresently living in France with wife and son, IAN RANKIN is the creator of Inspector Rebus, an unconventionalScottish sleuth whose latest appearance was in The Black Book. He wasthe winner of the 1992 Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in crime anddetective fiction.

JESSICA PALMER is an American writerwho lives in Harrow, outside London. Her first two novels are in the horrorfield, Dark Lullaby and Cradle Song. She is currently writing aseries of fantasy books for young adults. She was once called Sam, but that wasin Texas.

Possiblythe only thriller writer ever to have been nominated twice for the BookerPrize, JULIAN RATHBONE is related tothat most revered of Sherlock Holmes impersonators, Basil Rathbone. Hisinternational thrillers have been translated into several languages; the latestwas Sand Blind.

MOLLY BROWN is another Americanexpatriate living outside London. Her short stories have been regularlyappearing in some of the leading anthologies and magazines in both the crimeand science fiction field, where she won the Best Short Story of the Year BSFAaward in 1992. Previously a stand-up comic, she is writing her first crimenovel.

After anearly career in teaching and western writing, JOHN HARVEY made a much noticed entry into the crime field, withhis dour Nottingham policeman Charlie Resnick. The object of a well-receivedtelevision series, Resnick's last appearance was in Wasted Years. Hisappearance in this volume is his first short story.

MICHAEL Z. LEWIN (the Z stands forZinn) is an American crime writer who lives in Somerset. He is known for hissoft-boiled Albert Samson and Leroy Powder mysteries, and his many radio plays.He also co-edits (with Liza Cody) the annual Crime Writers' Associationanthology