I'm on the hunt for novels that can make me feel like I'm walking the gritty streets of 1930s Los Angeles with a fedora tipped low and a cigarette dangling from my lips (minus the lung damage). I've recently devoured everything by Perry Mason, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett, and now I'm in desperate need of more hard-boiled detectives, femme fatales, and enough plot twists to make my head spin faster than a suspect in an interrogation room. Think of those stories where the whiskey is cheap, the dialogue is snappy, and every other character seems to have a dark secret or two up their sleeve. Bonus points if the protagonist has a moral compass that's only slightly more reliable than a broken pocket watch!
So, any suggestions on where to find my next fix? I’m ready to be whisked away to a world where danger lurks in every shadow and the smell of gunpowder and mystery is stronger than my morning coffee. Maybe you know a book with a detective who’s just as cynical, quick-witted, and good with a one-liner as Philip Marlowe, or a plot as intricate as a three-day-old spaghetti dinner. Help me out, or else I’ll have to start writing my own pulp fiction—and trust me, no one wants that!
novels #hardboiled #classic #detective #noir #crime
by Downtown_Lobster620
4 Comments
My personal favourite is Jame M Cain, I think of all the noir writers his female characters are the most interesting.
Jim Thompson would be worth a look.
The Parker novels by Richard Stark (Westlake) is one of my favourite vintage series. But is from the point of view of a career criminal rather than the detective.
Jim Thompson, you can also try back issues of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine for short story/short fixes.
Vintage publishing used to have a whole Vintage Crime collection re-publishing the noir books.
The To y Peters mysteries by Stuart Kaminsky.
A good friend of mine from college wrote a book called “Jackrabbit” which is about John Dillinger and some of his contemporaries. It’s sort of historical fiction. I expected it suck because usually people you know who write books don’t do it very well. But I actually liked it. Author name is Crawford Smith.
It reminded me of Raymond Chandler, stylistically.