Ep13 Chris Chambers Noir: This month, we shine a light on Whiskey Leavins, author of Santa Lacrimosa Books, on “Are humor and noir spiritually exclusive? Or does humor transform noir into the pulp genre?”
September 2026: On this month’s episode of Chris Chambers Noir, two new hot novelists are the focus of our Q&A with our host, bestselling mystery writer Christopher Chambers.
This month’s topic: Are humor and noir spiritually exclusive? Or does humor transform noir into the pulp genre?
Meet our guest: Whiskey Leavins Whiskey Leavins, a humorist with a crime-writing problem, has lived a nomadic life in multiple cities and states both north and south of the Rio Grande.
Now he loves life in Santa Cruz, California and has no plans to leave. He is the author of the Santa Lacrimosa humorous crime series which features murderous clown factions, turkey-worshiping cults, brawling street performers, and was referred to by one Goodreads reviewer as “A one-man genre.”
His work has appeared in Mythic Pizza, Punk Noir, and his short story Boom Boom Mancini is included in the recent anthology Bad Intentions, crime stories inspired by Warren Zevon. He has been nominated for both Diddly AND Bupkis. Like his main character, Detective Rock Cobbler, Whiskey appreciates a good dive bar and more than a bit of bourbon. He also loves riding around the Santa Cruz Mountains on his Royal Enfield, but not when drinking bourbon. He’s responsible like that. Learn more: whiskeyleavins.com
Murder in Greasepaint: A Rock Cobbler Case (Santa Lacrimosa Book 1) — Washed up pitching prospect, Rock Cobbler, now a hotshot detective with the Santa Lacrimosa PD likes working alone as much as he likes bourbon. That is to say, a lot. One rainy night at Santa Lacrimosa Clown College he finds himself looking out a dorm room window. Down below lay the hilariously twisted body of Mr. Rubadubdub, apparently tossed from that very same window.
The investigation into the defenestration of the promising young clown will lead Rock through dive bars, contemporary Christian clowning performances, and down into the seedy underbelly of clown lore. He will discover what no non-clown should know; like the existence of dangerous, rival clown factions that will stop at nothing in search of clown dominance and the possession of one particular venerated clown relic. To crack the case, he will have to match wits, and game, with the alluring Professor Wiggles. Will Rock take a pie to the face? Or will he solve the case before more clowns die?
Murder in Greasepaint is equal parts Chandler, Christopher Moore, Bozo, and Bourbon.
A Turkey Danced Death: Another Rock Cobbler Case (Santa Lacrimosa Book 2) — Early morning. A wooded clearing. The body surrounded by a conga line of head-bobbing wild turkeys. Then Detective Rock Cobbler’s Thursday really starts to get weird. Before he can begin to dig into this turkey-murder, his attention is diverted by a soft-spoken young woman filing a run-of-the-mill missing person report. Santa Lacrimosa PD’s crack detective knows he should focus on the murder, but unexplainably finds his interest being drawn towards the routine case. The dual investigations will lead Cobbler through seedy residential motels, close encounters with local burlesque royalty Caramel Slice, and on to interactions with a bizarre mountain cult, its charismatic leader, and his bulldog-like henchman. Will the bourbon-loving Cobbler get to the bottom of both cases? Will he figure out the turkey angle? Or will he wind up getting stuffed?
A Turkey Danced Death combines equal parts Chandler, Christopher Moore, Carl Hiaasen, and a dash of Jim Jones into a quirky, tawdry, Whiskey’d up cocktail.
The Busker War: A Sarah and Jess Adventure (Santa Lacrimosa Book 3) — With Detective Rock Cobbler out of town, his sidekicks Sarah, head librarian at Santa Lacrimosa Clown College, and her girlfriend Jess, goth fashionista, and top-drawer bartender, are preparing to compete in The Santa Lacrimosa Cornhole Open. But a dognapping and the arrival of a mysterious street performer dressed as a blue, French cockerel derail their tournament preparations as they find themselves drawn into conflict with the dognaper.
Meanwhile, the French cockerel’s bizarre, offensive behavior quickly earns him the social media name, #badbluebird. A confrontation between the newcomer and local street performer KIA, who dresses as a legendary cryptid named Clawfoot, escalates quickly. Despite his rude ways, #badbluebird attracts disaffected buskers to his cause. Within days, the members of The Greater Santa Lacrimosa Buskers Guild find themselves in a fight for control of their streets and maybe their very lives. An apple juggler, a hot bluegrass chick, and a gay mariachi will find themselves forced to face down the growing menace of a crooner, a street preacher, and a very large Morris dancer.
Who will prevail in The Busker War? Will Sarah and Jess be ready for The Cornhole Open? Who the hell is behind the #badbluebird mask? Will Rock get laid? Wait, what? He’s not even in this book.
Low Angle Shot: A Rock Cobbler Case (Santa Lacrimosa Book 4) — Hollywood has come to Santa Lacrimosa… to die.A-list director Quinlan Russo, in town working on his latest film Beach Blanket Bloodbath, is dead. Naked and dead. On Detective Rock Cobbler’s watch. Now it’s up to SLPD’s most charming, bourbon-loving detective to investigate.
From the get-go, there is no shortage of suspects, two beautiful Hollywood stars, each more alluring and distracting than the other. A slimy studio executive. And a charismatic valet. As Rock’s investigation turns over the metaphorical rocks, the dark truth of Hollywood’s backstabbing, dog-eat-dog culture is revealed. Will more A-listers die on Rocks watch? Can he flip the script before the third act? Or will he wind up on the cutting room floor?
As usual, Whiskey Leavins has cooked up a heady mixture of Raymond Chandler, Carl Hiassen, and Christopher Moore—But in a highly stylized arthouse film kinda way.
The Devil’s Own Piss and Other Stories — The Devil’s Own Piss and Other Stories is a rollicking collection of thirty-odd stories full of devilish doings, Whiskey’d up mythology, crackpot history, and an abundance of altered-reality mayhem.
Lucifestus, the eponymous devil, is a hard-drinking, compulsive-gambling, square-deal-making, black-horned devil. He hangs out in bars, at racetracks, boutique sausage producers, and has been known to haggle during a martyrdom. There are the Trope Brothers, killer bees, ballpark organists, post-apocalyptic hijinks, marooned space aliens, hard-boiled detectives, ambitious Scandinavians, and more than one remarkable chicken. Jesus! Yep, he’s in there too.
If an f-bomb or two sets you to clutching your pearls, you probably need to give this book a hard pass. However, if moderate-to-severe profane blasphemy in the service of dark, satirical, but ultimately good-natured humor is up your alley, you’ve come to the right book.
Noir Author Christopher Chambers
About Christopher Chambers: A Washington, D.C. native, Chris is a lecturer at Georgetown University, Chair of the International Conflict Resolution Center and is General Counsel to a not-for-profit benefitting HBCUs: Student Housing of America. He is the author of the Angela Bivens thriller series for Random House, The Rocket Crockett pulp noir series, and Black Pulp for Prose-Press, and editor, along with Gary Phillips, of The Darker Mask graphic short story collection, the Bronze Buckaroo Rides Again: Honoring Harlem’s Herb Jeffries. He was a finalist in 2008 for the PEN/Malamud Short Story Award for “Leviathan.”
He’s contributed short stories to The Obama Inheritance: 15 Stories of Conspiracy Noir (Three Rooms Press) and is the winner of the Anthony Award. The Black Panther: Tales Of Wakanda, The Faking of the President, and Midnight Hour, Witnesses for the Dead with Gar Anthony Haywood–all major award-winning collections and bestsellers. His noir hardboiled mystery Scavenger (2020) won a starred review and profile in Publishers Weekly; the sequel Standalone sees the return of the indestructible homeless addict turned PI Dickie Cornish, patrolling the unforgiving city streets ravaged by COVID, with the third in the trilogy Streetwhys in 2025. His next Marvel contribution is in Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson. Learn more: ChrisChambersNoir.com
About Chris’s latest book, “Street Whys:” We again meet Washington, DC’s notorious detective, former street denizen Dickie Cornish, who faces off with bloodthirsty cops and the justice department. Underground detective Dickie Cornish faces a vindictive murder rap from his past if he doesn’t agree to help prove that the fentanyl ravaging the streets of DC is bankrolled by shadowy donors of a certain former president. Broke and desperate, Cornish soon finds himself on a collision course with shady public defenders and corrupt police officers, forcing him to use his street connections to flip their plan. Or die.
The Dickie Cornish series has met with widespread critical acclaim: Publishers Weekly dubbed the series debut, Scavenger, “[A] no-holds-barred crime novel…a 21st-century twist on traditional hardboiled noir.” The Strand Magazine selected Standalone, the second book in the series, as one of the “Top 25 Mystery Novels of the Year,” adding, “It’s apparent that the modern heir to Chandler, Woolrich, and Cain is Christopher Chambers, enough said.” And renowned crime author George Pelecanos raves that the series “really nails Washington, DC in the current environment.” Click here to buy Chris’s books.
And there’s more: Chris has contributed short stories to “The Obama Inheritance: 15 Stories of Conspiracy Noir” (Three Rooms Press), which won the Anthony Award; “The Black Panther: Tales Of Wakanda,” “The Faking of the President and Midnight Hour,” and “Witnesses for the Dead with Gar Anthony Haywood.” Each book includes stories by award-winning and bestselling authors.
