David L. Robbins`s Homework, a moving account of a brief encounter between a burglar & a teacher, stands head & shoulders above the 14 other tales in Akashic`s solid noir anthology devoted to Richmond, Va. Pir Rothenberg`s The Rose Red Vial, among the better of the many recent Poe-inspired stories, features nicely nasty betrayals & counterbetrayals among those who covet Poe memorabilia on loan to the Virginia Historical Society. Set in 1807, Dean King`s concise The Fall Lines supplies an intriguing backstory to Aaron Burr`s treason trial. In Howard Owen`s The Thirteenth Floor, a well-done contemporary fair play whodunit, a political reporter reassigned to the night police beat ends up investigating a murder-by-gunshot in his own apartment building.