Short Story Wednesday Review: The Amber Waves of Autumn: Noir Stories Editor David M. Olsen

 

Received from the publisher, Kelp Books, LLC, through NetGalley long after the December 2024 publication date, The Amber Waves of Autumn: Noir Stories is an interesting read that certainly lives up to the title. Edited by David M. Olsen, several of the stories contain fantasy and horror elements while relating a noir style story. Others are more straight forward crime fiction style tales. The 17 stories in the book make use of the sea, directly or indirectly, as a backdrop to the characters and the events in the tale. Some of the stories that resonated with this reader were:

 

Bev Vincent’s short story, “A Tawny Brown Liveaboard” main character isn’t a fan of having to stay onboard a houseboat moored in San Diego’s Shelter Cove Marina. Travis McGee made it sound great in his novels. The reality has been far different and not nearly as positive. That was before the angry loud voices and the gunshot wake up call at three in the morning.

 

The only folks that refer to a certain area as “The Hamptons” are those folks not from there. Everybody born and raised, going back generations, still refer to it as Long Island. The occasionally cynical narrator of “Hampton Bays Tommy on the Backstairs” by Michael Newirth is on the job for East Hamptons PD. Late one night, or very early one morning as it depends on how you look at it, he is called out to an apparent murder. The victim used to be one of the top five criminal defense attorneys in New York City. Now he is just very dead. It is going to be a mess in more ways than one.

 

“Keller’s Therapy” by the legendary Lawrence Block is one of two reprints in the book. In this one, Keller is working various problems as they come up. Some of those problems are out of town. Some are local. All of them require planning and precautions as a man has to do what he has to in order to protect his secrets.

 

She thought she was doing a good thing in “Dead Calm” by Ruthie Marlenée. Phil is so not pleased when she shows up at the dock in Marina Del Rey. But, she is on the boat, he has a schedule to keep, and so they must make it all work.

 

While 2 of the stories are reprints, the other 15 are original for this anthology. All the tales in The Amber Waves of Autumn: Noir Stories are good ones. No doubt you will find several ones you very much like in this anthology edited by David M. Olsen.

 

Amazon Associates Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4hhdMcj

 

My digital ARC was provided by the publisher, Kelp Books, LLC, through NetGalley and with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025