Noir-Vember is here and I’ve got the list of the top five you should be reading (but probably haven’t heard of) (friends would be proud of how click-baity this title is).
Kiss Me When I’m Dead by Dominic Piper
Introduced to me by show friend, Steven Hartov, Dominic Piper’s PI Beckett series is classic noir set in Britain. The first book in the series, it is all together sexy, intriquing, and vile in the ways you want Noir to be.
Blood on the Mink by Robert Silverberg
Among the Hard Case Crime imprint, I feel like this book is highly underrated. Counterfiters, FBI agents and a banger of a story. It’s a throwback in a lot of ways, but with enough tension to keep a modern audience on the edge of their seats.
I am unapologetically biased for this book. The first of the Nate Ross novels, this is a PI story set in Hollywood, with a western twist which is all together delicious. When sabatoge is happening on a Western Film set, Nate Ross is on the case. We even have a tasteful cameo from John Wayne himself.
Set against the backdrop of the art world, a family friend dies and the husband is under suspicion. It’s a story where it drags you into the cruel wold of high society with low interests, and challenges you with heartbreak.
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
The only book on this list which is a classic you should have already heard about. The Thin Man is everything a good detective story should be. It has dialogue I aspire to write and characters you can’t help but fall in love with. Adapted successfully to film, I don’t know how it could ever be remade.
The book is a holiday feature, set at Christmas and should be read annually along with A Hercule Proirot Christmas.