Hanukkah and Noir is a combination that I didn't know I wanted, but apparently I needed it. A great collection to get cozy with this holiday season, this book has stories of a desperate furniture salesman trying to pay his staff by getting deeper into trouble, a driver going deeper than she's ever been, a man looking for diamonds at whatever the cost, and so much more, all set under the eight days of Hanukkah. In some, Hanukkah was more a background than a plot point: 'tis the season, so let's make latkes, to it's Hanukkah, so use the menorah to light the house on fire. It was a really fun collection.

I had hopes of enjoying this, but it wasn't my vibe. It seems like an interesting concept, but I picked it up in hopes for it being a book club pick for the bookstore. Unfortunately, I don't think this is what the club members are going to be looking for. Thinking of picking this up next year! Love the premise.

As with all anthologies, some stories will resonate more than others. Plus, there's the sheer novelty of Hanukkah-themed crime stories. Overall, it was an enjoyable collection with enough variety to keep you interested.

3.5 - Rounding up

Like most story collections, there are some stories that resonate while others do not. The ones that do shine, though, shine bright in this Hanukkah book. They have stories and characters that grab the reader. I especially enjoyed the final titular story "Eight Very Bad Nights" by the editor, Tod Goldberg.
For the other stories, they often had interesting premises, but I'm a character-focused reader first and foremost. If I don't want to follow the people in your world, I don't care as much about the stuff that is happening around them.

There are an untold number of Christmas anthologies of murder, mayhem and crime and an even larger number of Christmas mystery novels, but poor Hanukkah doesn’t get even close to the same love. Now, thanks to crime writer Tod Goldberg, the festival of lights does!

This anthology prepared by Goldberg, contains not eight, but 11 tales of Hanukkah havoc. Unfortunately, nearly half of the short stories are mediocre or pointless. The best story is J.R. Angelella’s “Mi Sheberirach,” a tale quite fitting with the holiday. The other exceptions are Stepanie Leder’s “Not a Dinner Party Person,” Tod Goldberg’s titular “Eight Very Bad Nights,” “If I Were a Rich Man” by Lee Goldberg (Tod’s brother), James D.F. Hannah’s “Twenty Centuries” and Jim Ruland’s “The Demo.”

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Soho Press and Soho Crime in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry but though I wanted very much to like this book based on the title, I could not get past the second story.

Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noi by Tod Goldberg has now introduced me to more new authors to investigate. Also, it introduced me to Hanukkah in a very different way. Each story was fun to read and I hope there is another book in the making.