The top ten noir novels for beginners

At The Strand Magazine Bob Rivers tagged ten "top picks for anyone looking to dip their toe into the dark, smoke-filled world of noir." One title on the list:

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

Here’s a story about a drifter who thinks flipping burgers in a roadside diner might be a good gig—until he meets the owner’s wife and ends up with a murder rap. Cain was a master of exposing how easily people slip into sin, no matter how clean their collars look. He understood that beneath the trench coats and hats, most of humanity is one bad idea away from getting kicked out of the zoo for moral hygiene violations.

Frank and Cora decide to kill her husband. Things go south fast. If you think murder is the end of your problems, Cain will teach you it’s usually just the beginning—and the end. Just ask Cora. Just ask Frank. Oh wait—you can’t.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is among Emily Temple's fifty great classic novels under 200 pages, Douglas Kennedy's ten favorite "novels on the agonies and ecstasies of the extramarital adventure," Vincent Zandri's top ten doomed and deadly romances in noir fiction, and Benjamin Black/John Banville's five top works of noir.

--Marshal Zeringue