MISS: Better Living Through Crime

Trust that the French would be the ones to create one of the richest, most riveting accounts of early 20th-century criminal life in New York City to be tackled in graphic novel form. Set in the 1920s and '30s, the story centers around an unlikely pair of murderers-for-hire: Nola, a tough-minded femme fatale whose wit has been sharpened by orphanage life and grim poverty, and the dapper Slim, a Harlem pimp on the run from old debts. The two make good partners. Nola, who is white, lines up clients among the white well-heeled, and Slim provides useful connections, know-how and strength. Their interracial pairing in the conventionally racist 1920s adds the element of surprise to their arsenal. Their victims seem able to see only one color at a time and one of the two almost always remains invisible until called upon for help. The beautifully integrated logic of this kind of fictional history is just one example of the layering of character and context that gives the book a literary depth. Although published in color in France, the highly stylized expressionistic drawings have been rendered in nuanced tones of gray for the U.S. edition; they expertly capture the story's complexities. This is not a typical noir tale of morally high-contrast black and white people, but one of overriding moral ambiguity. As with all good love stories, however, it's force of character that holds the book together. In place of morals, Slim and Nora substitute a fierce devotion to one another. (Mar.)