Leave Her To Hell, a 1958 thriller by Fletcher Flora, an often overlooked US pulp writer. A fine slightly hardboiled PI murder mystery with just a tinge of noir. A woman about to marry a rich man wants to know what became of his previous wife.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/10/fletcher-floras-leave-her-to-hell.html

#hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #noir #noirfiction #crimefiction #FletcherFlora #privateeyes

Lawrence Block’s 1965 crime novel The Girl with the Long Green Heart is about a con and I’m inordinately fond of that crime sub-genre. Block describes the grift in great detail and it’s a delight to read. Very noir and wildly enjoyable.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/10/lawrence-blocks-girl-with-long-green.html

#hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #noir #noirfiction #crimefiction #LawrenceBlock

The Hunter (AKA Point Blank, 1962), the first hardboiled novel featuring his anti-hero Parker written by Donald E. Westlake as Richard Stark. A very hard-edged roller-coaster ride with cold-blooded disturbingly casual violence. A great book.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/09/richard-starks-point-blank-aka-hunter.html

#hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #noir #noirfiction #crimefiction #antiheroes #DonaldEWestlake #RichardStark

Mickey Spillane’s 1964 novel The Snake is a sequel to The Girl Hunters and you absolutely must read The Girl Hunters first. This is a very different Mike Hammer - older, wiser and sadder. Both books are great, but read the earlier books first.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/06/mickey-spillanes-snake.html

#crimenovel #crimenovels #crimefiction #vintagecrime #vintagemysteries #vintagemystery #MickeySpillane #MikeHammer #hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #privateeyes

Sin Pit (1954) is Paul S. Meskil’s only novel. It's seriously hardboiled, most definitely noir and pretty sleazy. This is the seamy underside of 1950s America. A cynical cop gets drawn into a nightmare world of lust. Excellent book.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/06/paul-s-meskils-sin-pit.html

#crimenovel #crimenovels #crimefiction #hardboiledfiction #hardboiled #noir #noirfiction

W.R. Burnett's High Sierra, a great noir novel by a great writer. A bank robber just out of jail gets mixed up in a heist with a bunch of amateurs and a girl. He used to be a big shot. Now he's tired and fatalistic. The book packs a real punch.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/05/wr-burnetts-high-sierra.html

#crimenovels #crimenovel #crimefiction #noir #noirfiction #hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #WRBurnett

Noël Calef’s novel Frantic (original French title Ascenseur pour ’échafaud) was published in 1956. The basis for Louis Malle’s superb 1958 film noir Elevator to the Gallows.

Lots of noirness, fine suspense, a powerful sense of impending doom, some nasty plot twists. Fine stuff.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/04/noel-calefs-frantic-ascenseur-pour.html

#noir #noirfiction #hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #vintagecrime #1950scrime #crimefiction #vintagemystery #vintagemysteries #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #NoelCalef #filmnoir

#FinishedReading #MarchViolets by #PhilipKerr

An excellent thirty year old hard boiled private detective noir series that somehow I completely missed until now. Will definitely read more

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/4d01d436-d5b2-4b62-9db3-e1ff4fa6888d

#BernieGunther #BernieGünther #BernhardGünther #BerlinNoir #noir #HardBoiledFiction #Bookstodon

The Girl With No Place To Hide (1959), a Marvin H. Albert Jake Barrow PI thriller written under the name Nick Quarry. Rescuing a girl leads Jake into the worlds of high fashion and photography and high-stakes gambling.

Good noirish stuff.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/03/nick-quarrys-girl-with-no-place-to-hide.html

#noir #noirfiction #hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #vintagecrime #1950scrime #crimefiction #privateeyes #vintagemystery #vintagemysteries #MarvinHAlbert #NickQuarry #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers