Recommended reading - More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts (1998):

More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts

By James Naremore.

First published 1998.
Published by University of California Press.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0520254023
ISBN-13: 978-0520254022

Description:

"Film noir" evokes memories of stylish, cynical, black-and-white movies from the 1940s and '50s―melodramas about private eyes, femmes fatales, criminal gangs, and lovers on the run. James Naremore's prize-winning book discusses these pictures, but also shows that the central term is more complex and paradoxical than we realize. It treats noir as a term in criticism, as an expression of artistic modernism, as a symptom of Hollywood censorship and politics, as a market strategy, as an evolving style, and as an idea that circulates through all the media. This new and expanded edition of More Than Night contains an additional chapter on film noir in the twenty-first century.

Recommended reading - The Far Side of the Dollar (1965):

The Far Side of the Dollar

By Ross Macdonald.

Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

First published 1965.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679768653

ISBN-13: 978-0679768654

Description:

Crime fiction.

“Ross Macdonald must be ranked high amongst American thriller-writers.” – Times Literary Supplement (London).

In The Far Side of the Dollar, Archer is looking for an unstable rich kid who has run away from an exclusive reform school – and into the arms of kidnappers. Why are his desperate parents so loath to give Archer the information he needs to find him? And why do all trails lead to a derelict Hollywood hotel where starlets and sailors once rubbed elbows with two-bit grifters – and where the present clientele includes a brand-new corpse? The result is Macdonald at his most exciting, delivering 1,000-volt shocks to the nervous system while uncovering the venality and depravity at the heart of the case.

“Most mystery writers merely write about crime. Ross Macdonald writes about sin.” – The Atlantic.

Recommended reading - The Dime Detectives (1988):

The Dime Detectives

By Ron Goulart.

Published by Mysterious Press.

Published 1988.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0892961910

ISBN-13: 978-0892961917

Description:

A comprehensive history of the detective fiction pulps.

Traces the history of detective fiction pulp magazines from their origins in the nineteenth-century dime novels to their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, profiling many pulp writers who went on to achieve greater fame.

Recommended reading - Eddie Muller's Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir (2023):

Eddie Muller's Noir Bar:
Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir

By Eddie Muller.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM).

ISBN-10: 0762480629

ISBN-13: 978-0762480623

Published 2023.

Hardcover.

Description:

Eddie Muller – host of TCM's Noir Alley, one of the world's leading authorities on film noir, and cocktail connoisseur – takes film buffs and drinks enthusiasts alike on a spirited tour through the "dark city" of film noir in this stylish book packed with equal parts great cocktail recipes and noir lore.

Eddie Muller's Noir Bar pairs carefully curated classic cocktails and modern noir-inspired libations with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and insights on 50 film noir favorites. Some of the cocktails are drawn directly from the films: If you've seen In a Lonely Place and wondered what’s in a “Horse’s Neck” – now you’ll know. If you’re watching Pickup on South Street you’ll find out what its director, Sam Fuller, actually drank off-screen. Didn’t know that Nightmare Alley’s Joan Blondell inspired a cocktail? It may become a new favorite. Meanwhile, Rita Hayworth is toasted with a "Sailor Beware," an original concoction which, like the film that inspired it (The Lady From Shanghai), is unique, complex, and packs a wallop.

​Featuring dozens of movie stills, poster art, behind-the-scenes imagery, and stunning cocktail photography, Noir Bar is both a stylish and exciting excursion through classic cinema’s most popular genre.

Recommended reading - Murderous Schemes: An Anthology of Classic Detective Stories (1996)

Murderous Schemes: An Anthology of Classic Detective Stories

Edited by Donald E Westlake and J. Madison Davis.

Published by Oxford University Press.

Published in 1996.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0195103211

ISBN-13: 978-0195103212

Description:

Since the inception of the detective short story with Edgar Allan Poe, various plotlines and common elements have become prevalent in the genre. Murderous Schemes: An Anthology of Classic Detective Stories categorizes thirty-two suspenseful tales by formula, a unique and exceptional arrangement that illustrates how the detective story has evolved. Just as the “standards” of jazz become reinterpreted by new performers, basic story structures develop new and alluring twists in the hands of some of the best-known writers of detective fiction. From “I Confess!” to “The Armchair Detective” to “Over the Edge,” each variation on the theme will be fascinating reading for every fan of the genre.

Recommended reading - Pulp Fiction: The Dames (2008):

Pulp Fiction: The Dames

Omnibus.

Edited by Otto Penzler.

Introduced by Laura Lippman.

Published 2008.

Published by Quercus.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1847242316

ISBN-13: 978-1847242310

Description:

Laura Lippman introduces 23 dames, femmes fatales, avenging angels, broads, molls and dolls from the golden age of pulp fiction and the dawn of modern crime writing.

From Sally the Sleuth to The Girl Who Knew Too Much, these women knew how to steal a guy’s heart – or his gun – and they weren’t afraid to use their fists if their charms couldn’t get them what they wanted. Risking their lives and ending others, these dames are certain to set your heart racing, whether you’re a pulp novice or a hard-boiled fan.

With stories from Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich and Dashiell Hammett, and a strip cartoon from Adolphe Barreau, Pulp Fiction: The Dames shows that some writing has an edge that time just can’t dull.

Contents: Preface, by Otto Penzler; Introduction, by Laura Lippman; Angel Face, by Cornell Woolrich; Chosen to Die, by Leslie T. White; A Pinch of Snuff, by Eric Taylor; Killer in the Rain, by Raymond Chandler; Sally the Sleuth, by Adolphe Barreaux; A Shock for the Countess, by C. S. Montanye; Snowbound, by C. B. Yorke; The Girl Who Knew Too Much, by Randolph Barr; The Corpse in the Crystal, by D. B. McCandless; He Got What He Asked For, by D. B. McCandless; Gangster's Brand, by P. T. Luman; Dance Macabre, by Robert Reeves; The Girl with the Silver Eyes, by Dashiell Hammett; The Jane from Hell's Kitchen, by Perry Paul; The Duchess Pulls a Fast One, by Whitman Chambers; Mansion of Death, by Roger Torrey; Concealed Weapon, by Roger Torrey; The Devil's Bookkeeper, by Carlos Martinez; Black Legion, by Lars Anderson; Three Wise Men of Babylon, by Richard Sale; The Adventure of the Voodoo Moon, by Eugene Thomas; Brother Murder, by T. T. Flynn; Kindly Omit Flowers, by Stewart Sterling.

Recommended reading - Connecting Detectives: The Influence of 19th Century Sleuth Fiction on the Early Hard-Boileds (2014):

Connecting Detectives:
The Influence of 19th Century Sleuth Fiction on the Early Hard-Boileds

By Lewis D. Moore.

Published by McFarland.

Published 2014.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0786477717

ISBN-13: 978-0786477715

Description:

A literary examination of the influence of 19th century sleuths on the early hard-boiled investigators, this book explores the importance of works by Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the development of detective series by Carroll John Daly, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Brett Halliday, Mickey Spillane, Thomas B. Dewey, John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Richard S. Prather and William Campbell Gault. Authors from the transitional (1964-1977) and modern periods (1979 to the present) are also discussed to show the ongoing influence of the 19th century detective writers.

Recommended reading - A Man Called Spade (1944):

A Man Called Spade

By Dashiell Hammett.

Published by Dell.
First Edition.
Paperback.
First published 1944.
ASIN: B000JWUE5A

Description:

Collection of short stories by this master writer of the Sam Spade detective series. Introduction by Ellery Queen. Dell Mapback #90. Sam Spade is featured in five short stories. The original hard-boiled American detective is featured in this vintage mapback edition.

Recommended reading - Pulp (1994):

Pulp

By Charles Bukowski.

Published by Ecco.

Published in 1994.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 9780876859261

ISBN-13: 978-0876859261

Description:

“Poet laureate of the down-and-out.” – LA Times.

Opening with the exotic Lady Death entering the gumshoe-writer's seedy office in pursuit of a writer named Cèline, this novel demonstrates Charles Bukowski's own brand of humor and realism, opening up a landscape of seamy Los Angeles.

Pulp is essential fiction from Buk himself.

Nicky Belane, private detective and career alcoholic, is a troubled man. He is plagued not just by broads, booze, lack of cash and a raging ego, but also by the surreal jobs he’s hired to do. Not only does he have to track down French classical author Cèline – who’s meant to be dead – but he also supposed to find the elusive Red Sparrow – which may or may not be real.

Pulp is Charles Bukowski’s brilliant, fantastical pastiche of a detective story.

Packed with wit, invention and Bukowski’s trademark lowlife adventures, it is the final novel by one of the most enjoyable and influential cult writers of the last century.

Recommended reading - The Chill (1963):

The Chill

By Ross Macdonald.

First published 1963.

Published by Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679768076

ISBN-13: 978-0679768074

Description:

In The Chill a distraught young man hires Archer to track down his runaway bride. But no sooner has he found Dolly Kincaid than Archer finds himself entangled in two murders, one twenty years old, the other so recent that the blood is still wet. What ensues is a detective novel of nerve-racking suspense, desperately believable characters, and one of the most intricate plots ever spun by an American crime writer.

"The American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brought to its zenith by MacDonald."

– The New York Times Book Review.

"The finest series of detective novels ever written by an American."

– The New York Times.

Recommended reading - Great Tales of Crime and Detection (1995):

Great Tales of Crime and Detection

Edited by Charles Ardai.

Published by Bbs Pub Corp.

Published in 1995.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0883657716

ISBN-13: 978-0883657713

Description:

A collection of mysteries from a host of best-selling mystery writers features tales by Dick Francis, Graham Greene, Lawrence Bloch, Sarah Paretsky, Loren D. Estleman, John Lutz, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, and others.

Contents:

Introduction, by Robert Bloch; Foreword, by John Lutz; Out the window, by Lawrence Block; Major crimes, by Loren D. Estleman; Silent warning, by William J. Carroll, Jr.; The Third Man, by Graham Greene; The Cross of Lorraine, by Isaac Asimov; Nameless Enemy, by Miriam Allen DeFord; Tragedy of a Handkerchief, by Michael Innes; UNC Foils Show Foe, by John Jakes; Dangerows Widows, by Mignon G. Eberhardt; Ride the Lightning, by John Lutz; Till Tuesday, by Jeremiah Healy; The Day of the Losers, by Dick Francis; The Case of the Pietro Andromache, by Sara Paretsky; Susu and the 8:30 Ghost, by Lillian Jackson Braun; The Investigation of Things, by Charles Aardai; The Trailor Murder Mystery, by Abraham Lincoln; The Importance of Trifles, by Avram Davidson; The Double-Barrelled Detective Story, by Mark Twain; The Adventure of the Oval Window, by John H. Ddirckx; Your Appointment is Cancelled, by Antonia Fraser; Le Chateau de L'Arsenic, by Georges Simenon; The Nine Mile Walk, by Harry Kemelman; Crime in Rhyme, by Robert Bloch; The Purloined Letter, by Edgar Allan Poe; The Man with the Twisted Lip, by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Recommended reading - L.A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels (2008):

L.A. Noir:
Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels

By William Hare.

Published by McFarland & Company.

Published in 2008.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0786437405

ISBN-13: 978-0786437405

Description:

Los Angeles is an ideal city for film noir for both economic and aesthetic reasons. The largest metropolitan area in the country, home to an ever-changing population of the disillusioned and in close proximity to city, mountains, ocean, and desert, the City of Angels became a center of American film noir.

This detailed discussion of nine films explores such topics as why certain settings are appropriate for film noir, why L.A. has been a favorite of authors such as Raymond Chandler, and relevant political developments in the area. The films are also examined in terms of story content as well as how they developed in the project stage. Utilizing a number of quotes from interviews, the work examines actors, directors, and others involved with the films, touching on their careers and details of their time in L.A. The major films covered are The Big Sleep, Criss Cross, D.O.A., In A Lonely Place, The Blue Gardenia, Kiss Me Deadly, The Killing, Chinatown, and L.A. Confidential.

Recommended reading - Jealous Woman (1950):

Jealous Woman

By James M. Cain.

First published in 1950.

Published by Black Lizard Books.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0887390889

ISBN-13: 978-0887390883

Description:

An ambitious Reno salesman. A wealthy would-be divorcée. An insurance policy. It’s a toxic combination in this noir thriller by an MWA Grand Master . . .

Jane Delvan had dark, red hair and plenty of shape of a nice, refined kind. To Ed Horner she was only a little fancy flirtation under the Nevada moon, but he found some peculiar circumstances developing when Jane’s husband, Tom Delavan, himself came to town, followed very shortly afterwards by his first wife, the beautiful but jealous Lady Sperry.

Ed wondered what kind of game Jane Delavan was playing with him, leading him on as she was? And why should Lady Sperry take a heated interest in him of a sudden? What were the cause of secret midnight callers roaming at will through hotel bedrooms? Suddenly Ed Horner found himself slowly being ringed about by a group of hard-hating, highly emotional people who all had motives that involved them in a case of murder and the Jealous Woman.

If Las Vegas is a city of lovers, in Reno, the business is divorce. Six weeks in Reno can erase the darkest marriages, and the only question is how to pass the time – craps or roulette? Jane Delavan is a roulette woman, a stately beauty from back East who is too classy for the motel where she’s shacked up. She’s come for a divorce, but her husband has other ideas. He wants an annulment, and in exchange offers to take out a $100,000 insurance policy on himself – just in case something happens to him before their paperwork goes through. Jane is cunning enough to make sure that if she wants something to happen, it will. Ed Horner is the insurance agent sent to settle the agreement, and it doesn’t take long for Jane to settle him. They fall in love over twenty-five-cent roulette and soon have a bigger score in mind. In the Biggest Little City in the World, a king-size scheme is brewing . . .

“Cleverly plotted.” – The New York Times.

“Swift and absorbing.” – The Wall Street Journal.

Recommended reading - Sleuths of the Century (2000):

Sleuths of the Century

Edited by Ed Gorman and John L. Breen.

Published in 2000.

Published by Carroll & Graf.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0786707097

ISBN-13: 978-0786707096

Description:

Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, Lord Peter Wimsey and Hercule Poirot, Matt Scudder and Easy Rawlins, Spenser and Dalgliesh - they stand among the most popular of twentieth-century heroes. And now the award-winning mystery novelist Ed Gorman and novelist-critic Jon L. Breen present a full century of the world's favorite sleuths in tales by such classic writers as G. K. Chesterton, Ellery Queen, Dorothy Sayers, and Agatha Christie as well as contemporary giants like Sharyn McCrumb, Walter Mosley, Ed McBain, Lawrence Block, P. D. James, and Ruth Rendell. A hefty, handsome volume, Sleuths of the Century also offers serious suspense from Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Highsmith, Tony Hillerman, Rex Stout, Donald E. Westlake, and John D. MacDonald. Crossing the decades with a gallery of sleuths impeccably styled for every generation, this collection provides exciting, literate tales of detection and danger that will keep the reader on tenterhooks well into the next century.

Recommended reading - The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962):

The Zebra-Striped Hearse

By Ross Macdonald.

First published in 1962.

Published by Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0375701451

ISBN-13: 978-0375701450

“Ross Macdonald gives to the detective story that accent of class that the late Raymond Chandler did.” – Chicago Tribune.

Strictly speaking, Lew Archer is only supposed to dig up the dirt on a rich man's suspicious soon-to-be son-in-law. But in no time at all Ross Macdonald’s private eye is following a trail of corpses from the citrus belt to Mazatlán. And then there is the zebra-striped hearse and its crew of beautiful, sunburned surfers, whose path seems to keep crossing the son-in-law's – and Archer's – in a powerful, fast-paced novel of murder on the California coast.

“A model of his excellence…. [The Zebra-Striped Hearse] has character, statement, and style.” – The New Yorker.

Recommended reading - The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction (2004):

The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction

By Deane Mansfield-Kelley and Lois A. Marchino.

Paperback.

Published by Pearson.

Published in 2004.

ISBN 13: 9780321195012

ISBN 10: 0321195019

Description:

A detective fiction anthology filled with award winning short stories, information on the authors who wrote them, discussion about the history and evolution of the genre, and important literary criticism.

Recommended reading - The Wycherly Woman (1961):

The Wycherly Woman

By Ross Macdonald.

Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Paperback.

First published in 1961.

ISBN-10: 0375701443

ISBN-13: 978-0375701443

Description:

“A fine yarn…. The pace is fast, the plot well-knit, with plenty of suspense and surprise as extra dividends.”

– Chicago Tribune.

Phoebe Wycherly was missing two months before her wealthy father hired Archer to find her. That was plenty of time for a young girl who wanted to disappear to do so thoroughly – or for someone to make her disappear. And before he can locate the Wycherly girl, Archer had to reckon with the Wycherly woman, Phoebe's mother, an eerily unmaternal blonde who keeps too many residences, had too many secrets, and left too many corpses in her wake.

“Macdonald is one of a handful of writers in the [mystery] genre whose worth and quality surpass the limitations of the form.” – Los Angeles Times.

Recommended reading - Fifty Best Mysteries (2004):

Fifty Best Mysteries

Edited by Eleanor Sullivan.

Published by Da Capo Press.

Published 2004.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 078671347X

ISBN-13: 978-0786713479

Description:

Fifty Best Mysteries is a Who’s Who of mystery from the pages of the leading magazine in the field. Showcasing the best short fiction published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine over a range of fifty years, this book is a treasure trove for mystery lovers everywhere. As editor Eleanor Sullivan writes, “I took the task by decades and decided to go after solid and entertaining stories by regular and significant contributors, stories that reflected the time in which they were written and the best work being produced in that decade.” To this end, Sullivan has collected an astounding array of talent, from early works by John Dickson Carr, Margery Allingham, Anthony Boucher, and Ngaio Marsh in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, to later selections by Patricia Highsmith, Robert Bloch, Ruth Rendell, Donald E. Westlake, and Simon Brett that appeared over the next two decades.

Contents: The clue of the red wig / John Dickson Carr — Lost star / C. Daly King — The Bloomsbury wonder / Thomas Burke — Dressing-up / W. R. Burnett — Malice domestic / Philip MacDonald — I can find my way out / Ngaio Marsh — The fourth degree / Hugh Pentecost — Midnight adventure / Michael Arlen — A study in white / Nicholas Blake — The phantom guest / Frederick Irving Anderson — As simple as ABC / Ellery Queen — Money to burn / Margery Allingham — The gentlest of brothers / David Alexander — One-way street / Anthony Armstrong — Murder at the dog show / Mignon G. Eberhart — Always trust a cop / Octavus Roy Cohen — The withered heart / Jean Potts — The girl who married a monster / Anthony Boucher — Between eight and eight / C. S. Forester — Knowing what I know now / Barry Perowne — Change of climate / Ursula Curtiss — Life in our time / Robert Bloch — The special gift / Celia Fremlin — A neat and tidy job / George Harmon Coxe — Run—if you can / Charlotte Armstrong — Line of communication / Andrew Garve — Danger at Deerfawn / Dorothy B. Hughes — The man who understood women / A. H. Z. Carr — Revolver / Avram Davidson — The eternal chase / Anthony Gilbert — Reasons unknown / Stanley Ellin — Three ways to rob a bank / Harold R. Daniels — The perfect servant / Helen Nielsen — The marked man / David Ely — Flowers that bloom in the spring / Julian Symons — A nice place to stay / Nedra Tyre — Paul Broderick’s man / Thomas Walsh — When nothing matters / Florence V. Mayberry — This is death / Donald E. Westlake — Woodrow Wilson’s necktie / Patricia Highsmith — The jackal and the tiger / Michael Gilbert — The fix / Robert Twohy — One moment of madness / Edward D. Hoch — Loopy / Ruth Rendell — The plateau / Clark Howard — The butchers / Peter Lovesey — Burning bridges / James Powell — A good turn / Robert Barnard — Clap hands, there goes Charlie / George Baxt — Big boy, little boy / Simon Brett.

Recommended reading - Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 (2010):

Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959

By Michael F. Keaney.

Published in 2010.

Published by McFarland & Company.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 078646366X

ISBN-13: 978-0786463664

Description:

More than 700 films from the classic period of film noir (1940 to 1959) are presented in this exhaustive reference book – such films as The Accused, Among the Living, The Asphalt Jungle, Baby Face Nelson, Bait, The Beat Generation, Crossfire, Dark Passage, I Walk Alone, The Las Vegas Story, The Naked City, Strangers on a Train, White Heat, and The Window. For each film, the following information is provided: the title, release date, main performers, screenwriter(s), director(s), type of noir, thematic content, a rating based on the five-star system, and a plot synopsis that does not reveal the ending.

Recommended reading - Sinful Woman (1948):

Sinful Woman

By James M. Cain.

Published in 1948.

ISBN 13: 9780887390890

ISBN 10: 0887390897

Description:

“Cleverly plotted.” – The New York Times.

“Swift and absorbing.” – The Wall Street Journal.

A starlet comes to Reno to start a new life – and end her old one forever. Sylvia Shoreham’s Hollywood dreams came true long ago. Critically beloved for her beauty, talent, and style, she was on her way to international stardom when a bad contract committed her to seven years of trashy comedies and half-baked melodramas. Her marriage to her producer husband has become a rotten, loveless sham, so Sylvia’s silver screen life verges on a nightmare. To escape her celluloid hell, she has only one option: Forget Hollywood. It’s time for a Reno vacation. She comes to Nevada hoping for a divorce from her husband, Vicki, and an end to her contract, but the ugly side of the business follows her. To protect herself from Vicki, she enlists Nevada’s biggest Sylvia Shoreham fan. He’s six feet tall, strong as a mule, and just happens to be Reno’s sheriff. When her divorce turns into a war, this Hollywood icon will be glad to have him on her side.