Eight Very Bad Nights

This award-winning collection of Hanukkah noir, curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg, features eleven stories that run the gamut from hardboiled to heartfelt.

Delightful, poignant, wry, creeping, twisted: these capers will entertain readers through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights. In Stefanie Leder’s “Not a Dinner Party Person,” an unstable pharmaceutical rep tries not to kill anyone at the family Hanukkah gathering; in Ivy Pochoda’s “Johnny Christmas,” a taciturn Gulf War vet commissions a tattoo from a man he knew from his prison days, a man not named Christmas but Goldfarb; in David L. Ulin’s “Shamash,” it’s Zot Hanukkah, and a live-at-home adult son considers doing something drastic to get out of his elderly father’s Upper West Side apartment; in James D.F. Hannah’s “Twenty Centuries,” a pair of detectives solve a curiously unprompted murder during the holiday season.

This captivating collection—which includes three stories recognized by Best American Mystery and Suspense, an International Thriller Award nominee, and an Anthony Award nominee—contains old-school slapstick comedy, hardboiled noir, gritty procedurals and poignant reminders of the meaning of Hanukkah, boasting something for almost every reader willing to take the journey through these twisted tales.

Praise for Eight Very Bad Nights

• A Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery of the Year
• An LA Times Best Mystery of the Fall
• Finalist for the Anthony Award for Best Anthology
• Nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Short Story (“Twenty Centuries”)
• Finalist for the ITW Thriller Award for Best Short Story (“Not a Dinner Party Person”)
• Best American Mystery & Suspense (“Not A Dinner Party Person”)
• A South Florida Sun Sentinel Best Mystery Fiction Book of 2024

“An engaging Hanukkah anthology that scrambles the holiday’s traditions into eight so-bad-they’re-good nights.”

—Paula Woods, Los Angeles Times

“Even the weirdest narratives retain a certain here’s-grit-in-your-eye homage to the noir genre, in which tough exteriors can conceal hearts of gold. But just as often, tough exteriors belong to hardened criminals, and figuring out who is who will keep you up reading late by your Menorah lights.”

—Oprah Daily

“Edited by Tod Goldberg, this collection of 11 short stories from Goldberg and 10 other writers showcases plots, protagonists, and tones that vary wildly, which is another way of saying there’s something for everyone.”

—Boston Globe

“Right away, you know there will be blood . . . but humor, too. Would it kill you to bring a little something to gnosh on while we figure out who dunnit?”

—Parade

“Tod Gold­berg has put togeth­er a won­der­ful book that scratch­es an itch many read­ers might not know that they had. Com­posed of eleven sto­ries writ­ten by heavy­weights in the crime fic­tion genre — includ­ing Ivy Pocho­da, Lee Gold­berg, and Tod Gold­berg him­self—Eight Very Bad Nights is a thrilling col­lec­tion that touch­es on the breadth of what noir can offer.”

—Jewish Book Council

“These are stories about loyalty, such as Ivy Pochoda’s ‘Johnny Christmas;’ responsibilities, such as David L. Ulin’s ‘Shamash;’ family issues, such as James D.F. Hannah’s ‘Twenty Centuries’ and Stefanie Leder’s ‘Not a Dinner Party Person,’ with its gleefully sociopathic pharmaceutical sales rep who really doesn’t want to see her family in their Florida trailer park . . . While eight stories would be in keeping with Hanukkah’s legend, readers will be grateful for the extra stories as each is a winner. Savor these dark, yet energetic stories as you light the menorah.”

—South Florida Sun Sentinel

“Goldberg is one of the best (and funniest) crime writers working today . . . [The] contributors are likely to serve up thrills alongside your latkes.”

—Orange County Register

“A welcome departure from the usual holiday fare.”

—The Irish Times

“The Festival of Lights has never been so dark.”

—Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

“Eight Very Bad Nights is guaranteed to entertain and amuse readers of mysteries and crime fiction. Pass the latkes, please.”

—BookTrib

“Fortunately, unlike your cousin’s famous and always mushy kugel recipe, this book’s tasty enough to keep reheating—that is, re-reading.”

—New York Journal of Books

“With their dark hearts and memorable antiheroes, these stories make an entertaining complement to Soho Crime’s Christmas anthology, The Usual Santas.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Feh.”

–Kirkus