Alabama Noir

The 16 tales in this entertaining Akashic noir anthology cover the entire state of Alabama, though most circle around the larger cities. Highlights include Ace Atkins’s “Sweet Baby,” in which a former child pageant competitor discovers her inner femme fatale; Marlin Barton’s “All the Dead in Oakwood,” a Hank Williams–infused tale of lovers getting sick of each other long after a crime; Winston Groom’s witty “Murder at the Grand Hotel,” a throwback that shifts a traditional revenge plot to the bayou; and Suzanne Hudson’s “Deepwater, Dark Horizons,” about two unlikely older friends and the woman who cons one of them. Anita Miller Garner’s small-town gang story, “Exhaustion,” is a solid outing save its superfluous final paragraphs. Only one selection, Kirk Curnutt’s “Bubba and Romy’s Platonic Bender,” feels as if it could be taking place in any Southern state. But the flaws are few and far between, and as is so often the case for the series, each contributor consistently embraces the setting. (Apr.)