Presented by the City of Tacoma Historic Preservation Office and produced by Pretty Gritty Tours

"Tacoma Noir" is an interactive historic-fiction murder mystery based on Dashiell Hammett's time in Tacoma in the 1920s. 

Twice a week we will release a new installment of our 4 part audio mystery. Each one will be released on YouTube and Facebook, for FREE. You can tune-in and listen for clues about a fictional murder in 1920s Tacoma. The episodes will each focus on a historic structure in Tacoma that has been preserved through the dedicated efforts of the City of Tacoma's Historic Preservation Office. You can also search through the Tacoma-Pierce County Buildings Index for clues. 

Once you think you know who the murderer is you can submit your answer in the contact box below. The first four people to get the answer correct will win a prize from the City of Tacoma's Historic Preservation Office. 

Our final episode, number 4, will reveal the identity of the killer so make sure you submit your answer before then! Be sure to go back and listen to last year's Tacoma Noir and hour long virtual tour where we explored the history of Dashiell Hammett's time in Tacoma as a Pinkerton Detective recovering from tuberculosis and the events that happened here that inspired his greatest novel, The Maltese Falcon. 

Characters

Meet the crew of Tacoma Noir. 
Check back each week as new characters are added. Click on a photo to see the name.

The photos used for Tacoma Noir are a mixture of actual historic figures and the others were sourced from a creative commons publication of a 1924 yearbook. We have absolute respect for the individuals pictured here and don't want to insinuate in any way that our fictional characters share the same traits as these individuals. If you would like to see the original yearbook from Taylor University you can do so HERE.

Locations

While our story is fictional the locations are real. The scene set in 1920s Tacoma is based on a lot of structures that we have today, thanks to the hard work of the City of Tacoma's Historic Preservation Office. The arrival of the U.S.S Lexington to Tacoma in 1929 is an actual event that took place during one of the worst droughts in Tacoma's history. 

WHO DID IT? WHO IS THE KILLER?