Abbott, Megan

http://www.meganabbott.com

If you've spent any time in Phoenix you'll likely have heard about the 1931 Winnie Ruth Judd "Trunk Murder" case. Ruth Judd was arrested in Los Angeles after authorities discovered two large steamer trunks containing the bodies of her two close friends (one of whom was cut into pieces), which she'd hauled from Phoenix. The case made for the kind of sensationalized tabloid fodder that would only be matched later during the Black Dahlia aftermath.

Did the pretty, diminutive 26 year old Judd actually kill the two girls herself, and did she "operate" on the bodies? Or did she have some help from the nefarious and well-connected businessman with whom she'd been having an affair? Did the old boy's network of Arizona politics tidy up its dirty little secrets and send Ruth Judd away for 40 years?

Megan Abbott takes the basic WRJ story in her fictional treatment but asks the question: what might have happened if those trunks hadn't been discovered right away? The result is a stylish and expertly crafted noir tale set in our own backyard. Her evocation of 1930's Jazz-era Phoenix is rich with lush, sensual prose and exhaustively researched period detail. Abbott is such a damn smart writer and this is her finest achievement yet.

Abbott and Schwegel, who shares the program, both have stories in Hell of a Woman ($18) which Abbott edited in 2007.