Florida Noir and the makings of a shady crime story

People come to Florida in droves for the beaches and warm weather. But the sunshine state also attracts its fair share of shady characters, in real life and in fiction.

There’s even a genre of crime fiction set in the Sunshine State – Florida Noir.

And even if you haven’t read them, you’ve probably heard of homegrown practitioners of Florida Noir like Carl Hiassen, the late Tampa resident, Tim Dorsey or Randy Wayne White.

On this episode of Florida Matters, we speak to three people with different perspectives on Florida Noir:

Colette Bancroft is the recently retired book editor at the Tampa Bay Times. For years, she led the Times’ annual “Festival of Reading.” She’s also the editor of Tampa Bay Noir, a collection of short stories that reveal the dark side of sunny Tampa Bay.

John Brandon is the author of five novels. He grew up in Tampa Bay, and his latest, Penalties of June, is set in Tampa.

And Andrew F. Gulli is the editor of “The Strand Magazine” - a quarterly magazine dedicated to short fiction. A recent edition featured a previously unpublished story by famed Florida crime writer John D. MacDonald.