Rookie Noir: 12 Short Stories About 2 Short Detectives

Every large city has its dark alleys run down warehouses and dens of dubious virtue. A citys skyline landscape and neighborhoods are but the basic colors of a much more interesting tapestry of life. Woven within it all are its citizens who add to the vibrancy of a city on the move and give music and voice to its life. But the shrill off-key notes of a life of crime that make you grip your head in desperation of humanity doesnt begin in dark alleys abandoned warehouses and dimly lit street corners. No! It happens at recess in elementary school. And many times its a Catholic elementary school. Rookie Noir begins in the 1959-60 school year and two 8 year old gumshoes know that the Baltimore City Police dont have time to investigate crimes that occur right before their lunch break and the Franciscan nuns at the Shrine of the Large Flower School are out-numbered. Its up to David and Mark to stop the wannabe jailbirds aspiring hoods and fumbling ginks in their going-to-hell-at-any-cost fervor of shady dealing in baseball cards and comic books shooting spitballs in class and teasing the dickens out of dames. Those crimes wont make the headlines in The Baltimore Sun or The News American but if David and Mark dont act now youll read about really bad crimes in the local newspaper soon maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but soon.