LibGuides: Mystery Reads: Hard-boiled and Noir

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Web Sites of Interest

Hardboiled Slang Dictionary
"This is a shake-down, Doll, not a badger-game!"
What? Consult this handy Hardboiled slang dictionary to translate.
Film Noir Mystery Movies: Mystery Net
The premiere Mystery fansite provides a list with ratings.

Multi-media

The Maltese Falcon
Call Number: DVD Movie Maltese
ISBN: 0790748401
You don't get more hard boiled than this, doll.
Double Indemnity
Call Number: DVD Movie Double
ISBN: 1417072512
Classic film noir that's not to be missed.
Blood Simple
Call Number: DVD Movie Blood
ISBN: 9780783261133
This early Cohen Brothers film is a Texas-flavored noir tale of murder of hire.

Welcome to Hard-boiled and Noir Mysteries

The difference between Hard-boiled and Noir Mysteries is subtle: both feature violence, sex and have a rough and gritty tone. Hard-boiled mysteries usually focus on a Private Eye or a loner, ex-cop, while Noir Mysteries focus on the criminal or the victim.

Genre Giants

Lawrence Block
James Lee Burke
Raymond Chandler
Max Allan Collins
Michael Connelly
Robert Crais
Dashiell Hammett
Faye Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman
Denis Lehane
Elmore Leonard
Ed McBain
Robert B. Parker
Ridley Pearson
Bill Pronzini
Mickey Spillane
Minette Walters

Hard-Boiled and Noir Picks

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith; J. K. Rowling
Call Number: MYSTERY GALBRAITH
ISBN: 9780316206846
Cormoran Strike is barely getting by, besides the fact that he lost his leg when stepping on a landmine while in Afghanistan, he private investigator business is failing, his girlfriend broke up with him and kicked him out. Until John Bristow walks through his door with a problem.
A Century of Noir by editors Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
Call Number: Mystery Century
ISBN: 0451205960
You can trust the editors of this anthology - they are two of the biggest names in Hard-boiled and Noir Mystery writing.
Light of the World by James Lee Burke
Call Number: Mystery Burke
ISBN: 9781476710761
Get on the holds list for the newest Dave Robicheaux mystery!
Devil's Garden by Ace Atkins
Call Number: Mystery Atkins
ISBN: 9780399155369
Atkins uses the classic Noir novelist, Dashiel Hammett, as the sleuth in his own Noir Mysteries set in 1920's San Francisco.
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Call Number: Mystery Locke
ISBN: 9780061735868
Set in 1980's Houston, this mystery centers around a struggling lawyer and the dark case he accidentally gets tangled in. Fans of James Ellroy may enjoy this new mystery author.
Missing You by Harlan Coben
Call Number: Fiction Coben
ISBN: 9780525953494
The newest thriller from Coben will take you back to the past of NYPD Detective Kat Donovan and the people she has loved.
Still River by Harry Hunsicker
Call Number: Mystery Hunsicker
ISBN: 0312337876
Explore Texas Noir with this Mystery based in Dallas.
The Mike Hammer collection. Vol. 1 by Mickey Spillane
Call Number: Mystery Spillane
ISBN: 0451203526
Enjoy all the best of Spillane's Mike Hammer tales in one volume. Oh wait, there's a second volume too! Enjoy.