Witnesses for the Dead: Stories

by Gary Phillips (Editor), Gar Anthony Haywood (Editor)

Overview

How does witnessing a crime change a person? This powerful collection of stories by a star-studded roster of contributors examines this very question, with proceeds benefitting the Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops.

Inspired by recent true events, the all-original stories in Witnesses for the Dead are set in motion by the act of witnessing. The characters who populate these pages are not themselves the perpetrators of the crimes they see, but as they grapple with what to do—take action or retreat into the shadows—their lives are indelibly changed.
 
In “Envy” by Christopher Chambers, a sweet, shy wallflower looks on as something horrific happens in his neighborhood—revealing something horrific about himself. Agatha Award–winner Richie Narvaez’s “The Gardener of Roses” sees a Puertorriqueña college student on the run from the FBI for her accidental involvement in a “terrorist” plot. Anthony Award–winner Gary Phillips confronts police corruption in “Spiders and Fly.” And the protagonist of “A Family Matter” by IPPY Award–winner Sarah M. Chen investigates the murder of a stranger, leading her to question the political structure of Taiwan entirely. Other stories feature a brothel, the film industry, immigrant detention centers at the Mexico-US border, World War II–torn France, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories are incisive, unflinching, wry, dark, and, in some cases, terrifying. You’ll ask yourself: If I saw what they saw, what would I do?
 
Edited by Anthony Award–winner Gary Phillips and Shamus Award–winner Gar Anthony Haywood, the collection includes contributions from NAACP Image Award–winner Pamela Samuels Young, New York Times bestsellers Cara Black and Tod Goldberg, Edgar Award–winner SJ Rozan, Agatha Award–winner Richie Narvaez, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641293990
Publisher:	Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Gary Phillips has published novels, comics, novellas, short stories and edited anthologies, including the Anthony-winning The Obama Inheritance. Violent Spring, his 1994 debut, was recently named one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was also a story editor on Snowfall, an FX show about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central, where he grew up.

Gar Anthony Haywood is the Shamus and Anthony Award–winning author of fourteen novels, including the Aaron Gunner private eye series and Joe and Dottie Loudermilk mysteries. His short fiction has been included in the Best American Mystery Stories anthologies and he has written for network television and both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He and his wife, Donna, make their home in Denver, Colorado.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction
 
When former First Lady Nancy Reagan introduced the phrase “Just Say No” to young Americans as an approach to avoid crack cocaine in the early 1980s, no one could deny how catchy it was. And as a tactic in the War on Drugs, it sounded so simple and easily adopted. But just saying “no” to some things is often difficult, if not impossible, and the slogan’s advice soon proved easier said than done.
     Similarly, “See Something, Say Something” suffers from this same dichotomy: it sounds so easy to do and yet is quite often anything but. Aside from the natural reluctance many have to get involved in other peoples’ business, reporting someone to the authorities over one infraction or another we just happened to witness feels something like only a snitch or a “rat” would do, to quote every film noir ever made. For in some cases, you can get yourself hurt or even killed for being a rat.
     Luckily for all of us, there are heroes among us who, when they saw something, they said something. Despite the possible consequences for them. Darnella Frazier is one such hero.
     Ms. Frazier at the time was a seventeen-year-old Black woman who, in recording George Floyd’s death at the hands (or rather, left knee) of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May of 2020, helped lead to Chauvin’s eventual conviction on murder and manslaughter charges. People across the country, including Floyd’s family, have applauded her bravery and quick thinking in the face of police pressure to leave the scene, which they say made the guilty verdict possible.
     The stories in Witnesses for the Dead are inspired by Ms. Frazier’s courage in choosing to make George Floyd’s business her own. These tales are indeed about people driven, to lesser and greater degrees, to do the right thing, though what is “right” in some cases is purely subjective. The ideas some have about balancing the scales might give you, the ordinary, upright, pay-my-bills-on-time denizen, considerable pause.
     There are characters populating these pages who, rather than simply observing a crime, take the initiative to see that the guilty are punished and the victims receive justice. In some stories, our “heroes” are drawn into perilous situations against their will, and must fight to survive just to ensure what they’ve witnessed will matter.
     For the most part, the protagonists herein don’t wear uniforms or carry a badge—they’re ordinary people, sometimes shady people, who nonetheless take extraordinary steps to right a wrong. Given the choice between inaction and action, these men and women take the latter route, sometimes with great reluctance, and occasionally at great risk to themselves.
     As the editors of this collection, we hope you’ll find these stories entertaining as well as thought-provoking. You may not always find the actions of these characters “heroic,” but you might admire their courage in the face of danger enough to find such courage yourself, should the need ever arise. Because you never know when you might stumble upon something dark and frightening that you weren’t meant to see, and you’ll have to decide what to do about it. Pretend it didn’t happen or shine a light to answer an injustice?
 
When and if that time ever comes, we trust you’ll let what Darnella Frazier did be your guide.
     All royalties from this collection will be donated to the Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Death at the Sundial Motel Aaron Philip Clark 5

The Gardener of Roses Richie Narvaez 32

Envy Christopher Chambers 52

Star Witness Darrell James 69

Code Name Pénélope Cara Black 100

The Killing at Joshua Lake Scott Adlerberg 118

Post-Game Alex Segura 143

Spiders and Fly Gary Phillips 157

A Family Matter Sarah M. Chen 174

Havana Caliente Teresa Dovalpage 203

Fatal Assumptions Pamela Samuels Young 223

On Gossamer Wings Gar Anthony Haywood 241

This Night in Question Tod Goldberg 264

Pearl Joy SJ Rozan 285

About the Editors 297

About the Contributors 299

Editorial Reviews

09/05/2022

The 14 stories in this strong all-original anthology from Phillips (The Obama Inheritance) and Haywood (the Aaron Gunner series) focus on witnesses to crimes who, as the editors point out in their introduction, “take the initiative to see that the guilty are punished and the victims receive justice.” Standouts include Aaron Philip Clark’s stunning “Death at the Sundial Motel,” in which an undocumented woman from Haiti seeks to do right by her 20-year-old son after he’s killed in a hit-and-run in San Diego County; Richie Narvaez’s riveting “The Gardener of Roses,” in which a budding journalist gets caught up in “fake news,” a terrorist plot, and an FBI search in Puerto Rico; and Darrell Jones’s “Star Witness,” which exposes the abuses of Arizona guards in a migrant border detention center. Also notable are Cara Black’s tense spy tale set in German-occupied Paris, “Code Name Pénélope,” and S.J. Rozan’s “Pearl Joy,” which makes clever use of Chinese superstitions such as vertical chopsticks in a rice bowl, “an offering from the living to the deceased.” These tales put a gimlet eye on the satisfying rewards of retribution. Agents: (for Phillips) David Hale Smith, InkWell Management; (for Haywood) Lukas Ortiz, Philip Spitzer. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Witness for the Dead: Stories

“Explores the ramifications of bearing witness to terrible crimes.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Marvelously unique premise supported by equally marvelous stories. I think it's the best short story anthology I've read in ages. Especially fond of co-editor Gary Phillips's 'Spider and Fly,' but you can't go wrong with any of these stories.”
—Joe R. Lansdale

“The 14 stories in this strong all-original anthology from Phillips (The Obama Inheritance) and Haywood (the Aaron Gunner series) focus on witnesses to crimes who, as the editors point out in their introduction, 'take the initiative to see that the guilty are punished and the victims receive justice.' . . . These tales put a gimlet eye on the satisfying rewards of retribution.”
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

10/28/2022

The stories in this collection are inspired by Darnella Frazier's actions in recording George Floyd's murder. They feature characters who observe a crime, then take the initiative to see that the guilty are punished, and the victim receives justice. Usually the stories feature ordinary people who witness the crime in the course of their daily lives. Editors Haywood and Phillips are two of the authors included in the collection. In Haywood's "On Gossamer Wings," the police have to determine if a jumper's death was murder or suicide. Phillips's story, "Spiders and Fly," confronts police corruption. Alex Segura's series character, sports reporter Pete Fernandez, fails to get a basketball story, but witnesses a hit-and-run in "Post-Game." There are other stories that stand out, by authors Sarah M. Chen, Pamela Samuels Young, Cara Black, and Darrell James. VERDICT A representative collection of authors are included, featuring intriguing stories with settings as varied as a detention center for immigrants to occupied Paris in 1941. The premise is unusual for a crime collection, with characters who witness a crime, and sometimes take justice into their own hands. Royalties go to the Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal