100 Must-Read Works of Noir
It’s Noirvember, which is typically celebrated by watching film noir (something I enjoy a great deal!), but I thought I’d mix it up a little by making a list of must-read noir. I’ve used a fairly broad definition of noir, including anything with the right atmosphere, whether or not it would typically be shelved in noir; there are books that are more likely to be found in thriller, mystery, crime, horror, and even space opera. If it’s got noir elements, and is otherwise must-read, it might be on here.
Books that are the first in a series are noted with a * and I’ve included only the first title, but I have listed multiple books by some authors (I tried to keep it within reason). I’ve also included a few non-fiction titles, noted with a ^ after the title.
Listed alphabetically by title.
Alias by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos (illustrator)
All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe, Alfred Birnbaum (translator)
Already Dead* by Charlie Huston
Baghdad Central by Elliott Colla
Beast In View by Margaret Millar
The Big Sleep* by Raymond Chandler
The Black Dahlia* by James Ellroy
Black Noir: Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction by African-American Writers, ed. Otto Penzler
Blacksad* by Juan Diaz Canales, Juanjo Guarnido (illustrator), Anthya Flores (translator), Patricia Rivera (translator)
The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith
A Century of Noir: 32 Classic Crime Stories, ed. Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins
Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
City of Refuge by Kenzo Kitakata, Y.T. Horgan (translator)
Cliff Diver* by Carmen Amato
The Concrete Maze by Steven Torres
Crime Partners by Donald Goines writing as Al C. Clark
The Damsel* by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark
Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma (also released as Fade Out)
Dark Passage by David Goodis
The Dark Tunnel (aka I Die Slowly) by Ross MacDonald writing as Kenneth Millar
Dead Things* by Stephen Blackmore
Dead Time* by Eleanor Taylor Bland
Dead To Me by Mary McCoy
Death of a Red Heroine* by Qiu Xiaolong (裘小龙)
Devil In A Blue Dress* by Walter Mosley
Die A Little by Megan Abbott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick
Dope by Sara Gran
Double Indemnity by James M Cain
Dragonfish by Vu Tran
Drive* by James Sallis
An Easy Thing by Paco Ignacio Taibo II
The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes
The Fade-Out* by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (illustrator), Elizabeth Breitweiser (colorist)
Fatale* by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (illustrator)
Film Noir Reader^ ed. Alain Silver, James Ursini
Fools’ Gold by Dolores Hitchens
Generation Loss* by Elizabeth Hand
Ghost Month* by Ed Lin
The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo* by Stieg Larsson
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, Rebecca Copeland (translator)
The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura, Allison Markin Powell (translator)
The Hidden Light of Mexico City by Carmen Amato
Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, ed. Sarah Cortez, Liz Martinez
The Horizontal Man by Helen Eustis
The Hunter* by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark
In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
In Praise of Lies by Patricia Melo
In The Heat Of The Night* by John Ball
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
The Kept Girl by Kim Cooper
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
Lady Killer* by Joelle Jones, Jamie S. Rich
A Land Without Jasmine by Wajdi Al-Ahdal, William Hutchins (translator)
Last Winter We Parted by Fuminori Nakamura, Allison Markin Powell (translator)
Laura by Vera Caspary
Los Angeles Noir ed. Denise Hamilton
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
The Man In My Basement by Walter Mosley
Mexico City Noir, ed. Paco Ignacio Taibo II
Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong
Money Shot by Christa Faust
Moroccan Noir: Police, Crime, and Politics in Popular Culture^ by Jonathan Smolin
The Moving Target* by Ross MacDonald
My Dark Places^ by James Ellroy
New York Noir: Crime Photos from the Daily News Archive^, ed. William Hannigan
Noir: A Novel by Robert Coover
No Good From A Corpse by Leigh Brackett
Out by Natsuo Kirino
Outside the Bones by Lyn di Iorio
Pasadena by Sherri L. Smith
Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Queenpin by Megan Abbott
Radiance by Catherynne Valente
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
Rendezvous in Black by Cornell Woolrich
Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter* by Darwyn Cooke
Roachkiller and Other Stories by Richie Narvaez
Sandman Slim* by Richard Kadrey
San Juan Noir ed. Mayra Santos-Febres
Savage Membrane* by Steve Niles, Ashley Wood (artist)
Silent City* by Alex Segura
Sin City* by Frank Miller
Sins of the City: the Real Los Angeles Noir^ ed. Jim Heimann
Southland by Nina Revoyr
Strangers On A Train by Patricia Highsmith
Stray Dogs by John Ridley
Sunset City by Melissa Ginsburg
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? By Horace McCoy
Trouble Follows Me (aka Night Train) by Ross MacDonald writing as Kenneth Millar
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense ed. Sarah Weinman
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
So, tell me: what is on your must-read noir list?
