Akashic Noir books in order

Reading order

The Akashic Noir series is one of the longest-running and most expansive anthology projects in crime fiction. Launched with San Francisco Noir in 2002, the series has grown to more than 120 volumes, each focused on a different city or region. Every anthology features short stories by various authors, all set in the named location and exploring its darker side through crime fiction.

The geographic range is enormous. Early volumes covered American cities like Brooklyn, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but the series quickly expanded to international locations including Dublin, Havana, Delhi, Lagos, and Baghdad. Several cities have received multiple volumes, and there are also “Classics” editions that reprint notable crime stories from earlier eras. The series has published work by hundreds of writers and has become a reference point for readers interested in how place shapes crime fiction.