If you like true crime stories with a local twist, look no further than Christine Pelisek's L.A. Weekly murder coverage. If you crave hard-boiled tales of crime spun by the imaginations of writers such as Raymond Chandler, Walter Mosley, Susan Straight, James Ellroy and Dick Lochte, grab a seat for readings from two original noir anthologies, Los Angeles Noir 2 with editor Denise Hamilton and Orange County Noir with editor Gary Phillips. “Our fascination with the genre, and with crime itself, is primal and eternal,” says Hamilton. “Noir is about the delicious dissonance of watching a deluded character spiral to his doom, even as he remains convinced until the very last page that he's going to pull off the heist, the adultery, the faked identity.” It's the best way to witness blood spilled on beaches from Venice to Huntington … and maybe even in South Coast Plaza.

Thu., July 15, 2010

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