Best Books, Fiction & Literature, Literature

The Best Noir Books Of All-Time

“What are the best Noir Books and Novels ever written?” We looked at 397 of the top Noir books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

With nearly 400 different noir books, we assembled enough shadowed mysteries books to read one a day for more than a year. Below you will find both fiction as well as non-fiction books about the genera. We ranked the top 27 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Noir” book lists, by how many times they appear. The additional 350+ books, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 27 Noir Books



27 .) Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs, #1) by Richard K. Morgan

Lists It Appears On:

  • Syfy
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

“In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . .”

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26 .) Drive (Drive, #1) by James Sallis

Lists It Appears On:

  • Best Horror Novels
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

“Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap toward him, Driver would wonder whether he had made a terrible mistake. Later still, of course, there’d be no doubt. But for now Driver is, as they say, in the moment. And the moment includes this blood lapping toward him, the pressure of dawn’s late light at windows and door, traffic sounds from the interstate nearby, the sound of someone weeping in the next room . . .

Thus begins Drive , the story of a man who works as a stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night.”

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25 .) Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

In hardboiled crime fiction master Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely, Philip Marlowe’s about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.

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24 .) He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Goodreads 2

“In the three police procedurals that comprise the Factory Series, Derek Raymond has created a narrator who threatens to become a cult figure while preserving his anonymity. A loner and cynic, undervalued and underpaid, our hero is a nameless detective sergeant in the Department of Unexplained Deaths, a catch-all unit that investigates low-life crimes and is shunned by the blokes in the Serious Crimes Division of the Metropolitan Police.

But our narrator, working out of the Factory, named by the villains because it has a bad reputation for doing suspects over in the interrogation rooms, is fired by a real feeling for justice. He believes that an alcoholic, found obscenely battered to death in a seedy, down-and-out part of London, deserves as much official attention as, say, a dead politician. This “nobody” becomes a somebody—a kindred spirit who left behind a strange legacy. Our cop becomes obsessed by the case. But even he could not have imagined how vicious, evil, and perversely attractive his opponent will turn out to be.”

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23 .) L. A. Confidential by James Ellroy

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

L.A. Confidential is epic “noir”, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope written by the bestselling author of The Black Dahlia. A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law. And three lawmen are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that tests loyalty and courage, and offers no mercy, grants no survivors.

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22 .) Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson

Lists It Appears On:

  • The Guardian 2
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

“Nick Corey is a terrible sheriff on purpose. He doesn’t solve problems, enforce rules or arrest criminals. He knows that nobody in tiny Potts County actually wants to follow the law and he is perfectly content lazing about, eating five meals a day, and sleeping with all the eligible women.

Still, Nick has some very complex problems to deal with. Two local pimps have been sassing him, ruining his already tattered reputation. His girlfriend Rose is being terrorized by her husband. And then, there’s his wife and her brother Lenny who won’t stop troubling Nick’s already stressed mind. Are they a little too close for a brother and a sister?

With an election coming up, Nick needs to fix his problems and fast. Because the one thing Nick does know is that he will do anything to stay sheriff. Because, as it turns out, Sheriff Nick Corey is not nearly as dumb as he seems.”

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21 .) Shoot the Piano Player by David Goodis

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

“Once upon a time Eddie played conert piano to reverent audiences at Carnegie Hall. Now he bangs out honky-tonk for drunks in a dive in Philadelphia. But then two people walk into Eddie’s life–the first promising Eddie a future, the other dragging him back into a treacherous past.

Shoot the Piano Player is a bittersweet and nerve-racking exploration of different kinds of loyalty: the kind a man owes his family, no matter how bad that family is; the kind a man owes a woman; and, ultimately, the loyalty he owes himself. The result is a moody thriller that, like the best hard-boiled fiction, carries a moral depth charge.”

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20 .) Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

Lists It Appears On:

  • Men’s Journal
  • Goodreads 2
  • List Challenges

The world of Patricia Highsmith has always been filled with ordinary people, all of whom are capable of very ordinary crimes. This theme was present from the beginning, when her debut, Strangers on a Train, galvanized the reading public. Here we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. “Some people are better off dead,” Bruno remarks, “like your wife and my father, for instance.” As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy is trapped in Highsmith’s perilous world, where, under the right circumstances, anybody is capable of murder.

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19 .) The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy

Lists It Appears On:

  • List Challenges
  • The Guardian
  • Goodreads 2

Los Angeles, 1950 Red crosscurrents: the Commie Scare and a string of brutal mutilation killings. Gangland intrigue and Hollywood sleaze. Three cops caught in a hellish web of ambition, perversion, and deceit. Danny Upshaw is a Sheriff’s deputy stuck with a bunch of snuffs nobody cares about; they’re his chance to make his name as a cop…and to sate his darkest curiosities. Mal Considine is D.A.’s Bureau brass. He’s climbing on the Red Scare bandwagon to advance his career and to gain custody of his adopted son, a child he saved from the horror of postwar Europe. Buzz Meeks-bagman, ex-Narco goon, and pimp for Howard Hughes-is fighting communism for the money. All three men have purchased tickets to a nightmare.

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18 .) The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookglow
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.

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17 .) The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

Lists It Appears On:

  • List Challenges
  • The Guardian
  • Goodreads 2

On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia-driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl’s twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches-into a region of total madness.

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16 .) The Cold Six Thousand (Underworld USA #2) by James Ellroy

Lists It Appears On:

  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

In this savagely audacious novel, James Ellroy plants a pipe bomb under the America in the 1960s, lights the fuse, and watches the shrapnel fly. On November 22, 1963 three men converge in Dallas. Their job: to clean up the JFK hit’s loose ends and inconvenient witnesses. They are Wayne Tedrow, Jr., a Las Vegas cop with family ties to the lunatic right; Ward J. Littell, a defrocked FBI man turned underworld mouthpiece; and Pete Bondurant, a dope-runner and hit-man who serves as the mob’s emissary to the anti-Castro underground.

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15 .) The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

George V. Higgins’s seminal crime novel is a down-and-dirty tale of thieves, mobsters, and cops on the mean streets of Boston. When small-time gunrunner Eddie Coyle is convicted on a felony, he’s looking at three years in the pen–that is, unless he sells out one of his big-fish clients to the DA. But which of the many hoods, gunmen, and executioners whom he calls his friends should he send up the river? Told almost entirely in crackling dialogue by a vivid cast of lowlifes and detectives, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is one of the greatest crime novels ever written.

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14 .) The Getaway by Jim Thompson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

Doc McCoy knows everything there is to know about pulling off the perfect bank job. But there are some things he has forgotten–such as a partner who is not only treacherous but insane and a wife who is still an amateur. Worst of all, McCoy has forgotten that when the crime is big and bloody enough, there is no such thing as a clean getaway.

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13 .) The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

A one-time detective and master of deft understatement, Dashiell Hammett virtually invented the hardboiled crime novel. This classic work of detective fiction combines an airtight plot, authentically venal characters, and writing of telegraphic crispness. Paul Madvig was a cheerfully corrupt ward-heeler who aspired to something better: the daughter of Senator Ralph Bancroft Henry, the heiress to a dynasty of political purebreds. Did he want her badly enough to commit murder? And if Madvig was innocent, which of his dozens of enemies was doing an awfully good job of framing him?

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12 .) The Hunter by Richard Stark

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

“You probably haven’t ever noticed them. But they’ve noticed you. They notice everything. That’s their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers’ work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack.

They’re thieves. Heisters, to be precise. They’re pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If you’re planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is the heister’s heister, the robber’s robber, the heavy’s heavy. You don’t want to cross him, and you don’t want to get in his way, because he’ll stop at nothing to get what he’s after.

Parker, the ruthless antihero of Richard Stark’s eponymous mystery novels, is one of the most unforgettable characters in hardboiled noir. Lauded by critics for his taut realism, unapologetic amorality, and razor-sharp prose-style—and adored by fans who turn each intoxicating page with increasing urgency—Stark is a master of crime writing, his books as influential as any in the genre. The University of Chicago Press has embarked on a project to return the early volumes of this series to print for a new generation of readers to discover—and become addicted to.”

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11 .) The Lady In The Lake by Raymond Chandler

Lists It Appears On:

  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian

In The Lady in the Lake, hardboiled crime fiction master Raymond Chandler brings us the story of a couple of missing wives—one a rich man’s and one a poor man’s—who have become the objects of Philip Marlowe’s investigation. One of them may have gotten a Mexican divorce and married a gigolo and the other may be dead. Marlowe’s not sure he cares about either one, but he’s not paid to care.

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10 .) The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

Lists It Appears On:

  • List Challenges
  • Men’s Journal
  • Goodreads 2

In noir master Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, Philip Marlowe befriends a down on his luck war veteran with the scars to prove it. Then he finds out that Terry Lennox has a very wealthy nymphomaniac wife, whom he divorced and remarried and who ends up dead. And now Lennox is on the lam and the cops and a crazy gangster are after Marlowe.

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9 .) The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

Lists It Appears On:

  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2
  • Bookglow

In Dashiell Hammett’s famous crime novel, we meet one of the detective-story master’s most enchanting creations, Nick and Nora Charles, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a classic murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.

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8 .) Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian 2

Ree Dolly’s father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn’t show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on her, 16-year-old Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive. Living in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, Ree learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. But, as an unsettling revelation lurks, Ree discovers unforeseen depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost.

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7 .) Dark Passage by David Goodis

Lists It Appears On:

  • Huffington Post
  • Men’s Journal
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Goodreads 2

Vince Parry, sentenced to life in San Quentin for the alleged murder of his wife, escapes in an attempt to prove his innocence. A fugitive from justice in the depths of despair, he is sheltered by a woman as he tries to discover who framed him.

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6 .) No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Lists It Appears On:

  • Psycho Noir
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads
  • Goodreads 2

In No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy simultaneously strips down the American crime novel and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines.

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5 .) The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Men’s Journal
  • Goodreads 2

No one knew who she was, where she came from, or why she had entered their lives. All they really knew about her was that she possessed a terrifying beauty and that each time she appeared, a man died in a particularly horrible way. A reissue from one of the masters of the genre noir.

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4 .) The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Men’s Journal
  • Goodreads 2

“Everyone in the small town of Central City, Texas loves Lou Ford. A deputy sheriff, Lou’s known to the small-time criminals, the real-estate entrepreneurs, and all of his coworkers–the low-lifes, the big-timers, and everyone in-between–as the nicest guy around. He may not be the brightest or the most interesting man in town, but nevertheless, he’s the kind of officer you’re happy to have keeping your streets safe. The sort of man you might even wish your daughter would end up with someday.

But behind the platitudes and glad-handing lurks a monster the likes of which few have seen. An urge that has already claimed multiple lives, and cost Lou his brother Mike, a self-sacrificing construction worker fell to his death on the job in what was anything but an accident. A murder that Lou is determined to avenge–and if innocent people have to die in the process, well, that’s perfectly all right with him.”

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3 .) Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookglow
  • Huffington Post
  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Goodreads 2

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.

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2 .) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookglow
  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Men’s Journal
  • Goodreads 2

A treasure worth killing for. Sam Spade, a slightly shopworn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. A perfumed grafter named Joel Cairo, a fat man name Gutman, and Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. These are the ingredients of Dashiel Hammett’s iconic, influential, and beloved The Maltese Falcon.

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1 .) The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

Lists It Appears On:

  • Mystery Fanfare
  • List Challenges
  • Men’s Journal
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Guardian 2

An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution–a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.

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The Additional Best Noir & Private Eye Books



 

#BookAuthorLists
(Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each)
28A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro, #1)Dennis LehaneList Challenges
Goodreads 2
29American Tabloid (Underworld USA, #1)James EllroyList Challenges
Goodreads 2
30Arts of Darkness: American Noir and the Quest For RedemptionThomas S. HibbsFil Noir
Fil Noir
31Blood’s a Rover (Underworld USA, #3)James EllroyGoodreads
Goodreads 2
32Brighton RockGraham GreeneDead Good Books
Men’s Journal
33ClandestineJames EllroyBest Horror Novels
Goodreads 2
34Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s & 40sRobert PolitoGoodreads 2
Goodreads 2
35Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1)Walter MosleyList Challenges
Goodreads 2
36Die a LittleMegan AbbottMulholland Books
Goodreads
37Dirty SnowGeorges Simenon.Huffington Post
Mystery Fanfare
38Fade To BlondeMax PhillipsCriminal Element
Goodreads
39Gone, Baby, Gone (Kenzie & Gennaro, #4)Dennis LehaneList Challenges
Goodreads 2
40Good Dog, Bad Dog (A Sam Russo Mystery, #2)Ki LongfellowGoodreads
Goodreads 2
41Hell On Church StreetJake HinksonGoodreads
Criminal Element
42In a Lonely PlaceDorothy B. HughesMen’s Journal
Goodreads 2
43In Cold BloodTruman CapoteList Challenges
Goodreads 2
44London BoulevardKen BruenGoodreads
Goodreads 2
45Mildred PierceJames M. CainList Challenges
Goodreads 2
46Night and the CityGerald Kersh:Mystery Fanfare
Dead Good Books
47Priest (Jack Taylor, #5)Ken BruenPsycho Noir
Goodreads
48QueenpinMegan AbbottGoodreads
Goodreads 2
49Rear WindowCornell WoolrichList Challenges
Goodreads 2
50Red HarvestDashiell HammettList Challenges
Goodreads 2
51Savage NightAllan GuthriePsycho Noir
Goodreads
52Savages (Savages #2)Don WinslowGoodreads
Goodreads 2
53Shadow Roll (A Sam Russo Mystery, #1)Ki LongfellowGoodreads
Goodreads 2
54Sin CityFrank MillerRanker
Goodreads 2
55Small CrimesDave ZeltsermanGoodreads
Criminal Element
56Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir & the American CityNicholas ChristopherFil Noir
Fil Noir
57The Black Echo (Harry Bosch, #1; Harry Bosch Universe, #1)Michael ConnellyList Challenges
Goodreads 2
58The Continental OpDashiell HammettList Challenges
Goodreads 2
59The Dain CurseDashiell HammettList Challenges
Goodreads 2
60The Girl in the Next Room (A Sam Russo Mystery, #3)Ki LongfellowGoodreads
Goodreads 2
61The Girl With the Dragon TattooStieg LarssonBest Horror Novels
Flashlight Worthy
62The GriftersJim ThompsonList Challenges
Goodreads 2
63The High WindowRaymond ChandlerList Challenges
Goodreads 2
64The Little SisterRaymond ChandlerList Challenges
Goodreads 2
65The Meat Market (Jonathan Harkon Adventures #1)James ChalkGoodreads
Goodreads 2
66The Power of the DogDon WinslowGoodreads
Goodreads 2
67The Talented Mr Ripley (Ripley, #1)Patricia HighsmithGoodreads 2
List Challenges
68They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?Horace McCoyGoodreads 2
List Challenges
69Trouble Is My BusinessRaymond ChandlerList Challenges
Goodreads 2
70White Jazz (L.A. Quartet, #4)James EllroyList Challenges
Goodreads 2
(Titles Appear On 1 List Each)
71100 BulletsRanker
72A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir: The Essential Reference GuideJohn GrantFil Noir
73A Dame to Kill ForRanker
74A Darkness More Than Night (Harry Bosch, #7; Terry McCaleb, #2; Harry Bosch Universe, #9)Michael ConnellyGoodreads
75A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir On VideoDavid N. MeyerFil Noir
76A Hell of a WomanJim ThompsonGoodreads 2
77A History of ViolenceRanker
78A Land More Kind Than HomeWiley CashThe Guardian 2
79A Panorama of American Film Noir, 1941-1953Raymond BordeFil Noir
80A Prayer for DawnNathan SingerMulholland Books
81A Rage in Harlem (Harlem Cycle, #1)Chester HimesGoodreads 2
82A Reference Guide to the American Film Noir 1940-1958Robert OttosonFil Noir
83A Swell Looking BabeJim ThompsonHuffington Post
84A Swollen Red SunMatthew McBridePublishers Weekly
85A Touch of Death (Hard Case Crime #17)Charles WilliamsGoodreads 2
86A Very Simple CrimeGrant JerkinsCriminal Element
87Absolute Zero CoolDeclan BurkeGoodreads
88After Dark, My SweetJim ThompsonGoodreads 2
89All That Glitters: A Jake & Laura MysteryMichael MurphyGoodreads
90Always Outnumbered, Always OutgunnedWalter MosleyGoodreads 2
91American SalvageBonnie Jo CampbellThe Guardian 2
92American SkinKen BruenGoodreads
93Any novelRoss MacDonaldThe Guardian
94Apple Tree YardLouise DoughtyWHSmith
95Ask The Parrot (Parker, #23)Richard StarkGoodreads
96At the End of the RoadGrant JerkinsGoodreads
97Baby SharkGoodreads
98Bad Boys: The Actors of Film NoirKaren Burroughs HannsberryFil Noir
99Batman: The Long HalloweenRanker
100Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled 2David CranmerGoodreads
101Beautiful, Naked & DeadJosh StallingsGoodreads
102Before the Devil Knows You’re DeadMichael LedwidgeMystery Fanfare
103Before We MetLucie WhitehouseWHSmith
104Berlin Noir: March Violets / The Pale Criminal / A German RequiemPhilip KerrGoodreads 2
105Black & White & NoirPaula RabinowitzFil Noir
106Black ArtV.T. DavyGoodreads
107Black FlowersSteve MosGoodreads
108Blackout: World War II and the Origins of Film NoirSheri Chinen BiesenFil Noir
109BlackwaterKerstin EkmanFlashlight Worthy
110Borkmann’s Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren MysteryHakan NesserFlashlight Worthy
111Borrowed TroubleJ.B. KohlGoodreads
112Bury Me DeepMegan AbbottPsycho Noir
113Butterfly EffectPernille RyggFlashlight Worthy
114Caught Stealing (Hank Thompson, #1)Charlie HustonGoodreads
115Cemetery RoadGar Anthony HaywoodCriminal Element
116Chasm CityAlastair ReynoldsSyfy
117City of ChampionsDaniel StantonGoodreads 2
118Closing TimeJim FusilliMulholland Books
119Cold CallerJason StarrPublishers Weekly
120Colorado NoirJohn Dwaine McKennaGoodreads
121Cornell Woolrich from Pulp Noir to Film NoirThomas C. RenziFil Noir
122Cotton Comes to Harlem (Harlem Cycle, #7)Chester HimesGoodreads 2
123Crime and PunishmentFyodor DostoyevskyGoodreads 2
124Crime Scenes: Movie Poster Art of the Film Noir: The Classic PerioD: 1941-1959Lawrence BassoffFil Noir
125Criminal Vol. 2Ranker
126Criminal, Volume 1Ranker
127Cross (Jack Taylor, #6)Ken BruenGoodreads
128Dames in the Driver’s Seat: Rereading Film NoirJans B. WagerFil Noir
129Damn Near Dead 2: Live Noir or Die TryingBill CriderGoodreads
130Damn Near Dead: An Anthology of Geezer NoirDuane SwierczynskiGoodreads
131Dare MeMegan AbbottGoodreads
132Dark Cinema: American Film NoirJon TuskaFil Noir
133Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film NoirEddie MullerFil Noir
134Dark City: The Film NoirSpencer SelbyFil Noir
135Dark City: The Lost World of Film NoirEddie MullerFil Noir
136Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro, #2)Dennis LehaneGoodreads 2
137Dead Harvest (The Collector, #1)Chris HolmGoodreads
138Dead on the Rocks (Sam Russo, #4)Ki LongfellowGoodreads
139Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film NoirArthur LyonsFil Noir
140DermaphoriaCraig ClevengerBest Horror Novels
141Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-NoirFoster HirschFil Noir
142Directors on the Edge: Outliers in HollywoodJames UrsiniFil Noir
143DisclaimerRenee KnightWHSmith
144DopeSara GranCriminal Element
145Dove Season (A Jimmy Veeder Fiasco, #1)Johnny ShawGoodreads
146Early Film Noir: Greed, Lust and Murder Hollywood StyleWilliam HareFil Noir
147Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty RowFil Noir
148Eight Million Ways to Die (Matthew Scudder, #5)Lawrence BlockGoodreads 2
149Eloise – Loving a SociopathCatherine LockwoodGoodreads 2
150Encyclopedia of Film NoirGeoff MayerFil Noir
151European Film NoirFil Noir
152Expiration DateDuane SwierczynskiGoodreads
153Faceless KillersHenning MankellFlashlight Worthy
154Fake I.D.Jason StarrPsycho Noir
155Femme Noir: Bad Girls of FilmKaren Burroughs HannsberryFil Noir
156Field Gray (Bernard Gunther, #7)Philip KerrGoodreads
157Film NoirAlain SilverFil Noir
158Film NoirAndrew SpicerFil Noir
159Film NoirBruce CrowtherFil Noir
160Film NoirElizabeth M. WardFil Noir
161Film Noir (Virgin Film)Fil Noir
162Film Noir and the Spaces of ModernityEdward DimendbergFil Noir
163Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era 1940-1959Michael F. KeaneyFil Noir
164Film Noir Reader 3: Interviews with Filmmakers of the Classic Noir PeriodAlain SilverFil Noir
165Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and ThemesAlain SilverFil Noir
166Film Noir Reader Alain Silver & James Ursini (Editors)Fil Noir
167Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood (Working in the Americas)Dennis BroeFil Noir
168Film Noir, The Directors Alain Silver and James UrsiniFil Noir
169Film Noir: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Ref…Michael L. StephensFil Noir
170Film Noir: An Encyclopedic ReferenceAlain SilverFil Noir
171Film Noir: Films of Trust and BetrayalPaul DuncanFil Noir
172Film Noir: From Berlin to Sin CityMark BouldFil Noir
173Find VirgilFrank FreudbergGoodreads
174Frank Sinatra in a BlenderMatthew McBrideGoodreads
175Freak Show (The Nightshade Cases #1)Patti LarsenGoodreads
176Freaky DeakyElmore LeonardBest Horror Novels
177French Film NoirRobin BussFil Noir
178Future Noir: The Making of Blade RunnerPaul M. SammonFil Noir
179Get Rich QuickPeter DoyleGoodreads
180Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir: The Complete CareerRobertJ. LentzFil Noir
181GodchildVincent ZandriPsycho Noir
182Gone BadJulie MorriganGoodreads
183Gone GirlGillian FlynnGoodreads 2
184Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester SquareArthur La BernDead Good Books
185Great Spanish Films Since 1950Ronald SchwartzFil Noir
186Grifter’s Game (Hard Case Crime #1)Lawrence BlockGoodreads 2
187Gun, with Occasional MusicJonathan LethemSyfy
188Hangover SquarePatrick HamiltonDead Good Books
189Hard Boiled: Great Lines from Classic NoirsPeggy ThompsonFil Noir
190Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles, #1)Larry CorreiaGoodreads
191Harry Banner in Notice To DieSteve HorsfallGoodreads
192HausfrauJill Alexander EssbaumWHSmith
193Headstone (Jack Taylor, #9)Ken BruenGoodreads
194HeartsickChelsea CainBest Horror Novels
195Hell’s Half AcreWill Christopher BaerGoodreads
196HellblazerSyfy
197Hill CountryR. Thomas BrownGoodreads
198Historical Dictionary of Film NoirAndrew SpicerFil Noir
199Hollywood’s Dark Cinema: The American Film NoirR. Barton PalmerFil Noir
200Houses of Noir: Dark Visions from Thirteen Film StudiosRonald SchwartzFil Noir
201How to Be a Good WifeEmma ChapmanWHSmith
202I Married a Dead ManCornell WoolrichGoodreads 2
203I Was Dora SuarezDerek RaymondDead Good Books
204I, the Jury (Mike Hammer, #1)Mickey SpillaneGoodreads 2
205Ice MoonJan Costin WagnerFlashlight Worthy
206In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, MasculinityFrank KrutnikFil Noir
207In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the CityImogen Sara SmithFil Noir
208In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (Dave Robicheaux, #6)James Lee BurkeGoodreads 2
209Into the Darkest CornerElizabeth HaynesWHSmith
210Its A Bitter Little World: The Smartest Toughest Nastiest Quotes from Film NoirFil Noir
211Jack’s Return HomeTed LewisDead Good Books
212Jar City: A Reykjavik ThrillerArnaldur IndridasonFlashlight Worthy
213JoeLarry BrownThe Guardian 2
214Joe Pitt seriesCharlie HustonSyfy
215KillerDave ZeltsermanPsycho Noir
216Killing Suki FloodRob LeiningerPublishers Weekly
217Kiss Her GoodbyeGoodreads
218Kiss Me, DeadlyMickey SpillaneGoodreads 2
219Kiss Me, JudasWill Christopher BaerBest Horror Novels
220Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: On Classic Film NoirRobert MiklistchFil Noir
221L. A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of AngelsWilliam HareFil Noir
222L.A. Noir: The City as CharacterAlain SilverFil Noir
223Lady KillerDavid KraeGoodreads
224LaidlawWilliam McIlvanneyDead Good Books
225Late RainLynn KostoffGoodreads
226Latin American Films, 1932-1994: A Critical FilmographyRonald SchwartzFil Noir
227LIFE Film Noir: 75 Years of the GreatestFil Noir
228Magnolias in ParadiseLeonard SeetGoodreads
229Matchstick MenEric GarciaMystery Fanfare
230Miami BluesCharles WillefordGoodreads 2
231More Than Night: Film Noir and Its ContextsPaul ArthurFil Noir
232More than Night: Film Noir in Its ContextsJames NaremoreFil Noir
233Neo-Noir: The New Film Noir Style from Psycho to CollateralRonald SchwartzFil Noir
234Neon Noir: Contemporary American Crime FictionWoody HautFil Noir
235Night Has a Thousand EyesCornell WoolrichMystery Fanfare
236Nightmare AlleyWilliam Lindsay GreshamGoodreads 2
237Nightmare TownDashiell HammettGoodreads 2
238Noir AnxietyKelly OliverFil Noir
239Noir Is My BeatLara FisherFil Noir
240Noir Movies Facts, Figures & FunJohn GrantFil Noir
241Noir, Now and Then: Film Noir Originals and Remakes (1944-1999)Ronald SchwartzFil Noir
242Once Were CopsKen BruenGoodreads
243One Too Many Blows To The HeadJ.B. KohlGoodreads
244Out of the Past: Adventures in Film NoirBarry GiffordFil Noir
245Out There BadJosh StallingsGoodreads
246PariahDave ZeltsermanGoodreads
247PaybackRussell JamesMystery Fanfare
248Penny DreadfulWill Christopher BaerGoodreads
249Phantom LadyCornell WoolrichGoodreads 2
250Pick-UpCharles WillefordGoodreads 2
251Prayers for Rain (Kenzie & Gennaro, #5)Dennis LehaneGoodreads 2
252PsychosomaticAnthony Neil SmithPsycho Noir
253Red CatPeter SpiegelmanMulholland Books
254Rendezvous in BlackCornell WoolrichGoodreads 2
255ReverbJ. CafesinGoodreads
256Richard Stark’s Parker: The HunterRanker
257Right as Rain (Derek Strange and Terry Quinn #1)George PelecanosGoodreads 2
258Road to PerditionRanker
259Robert Siodmak: A Biography, With Critical AnalysesDeborah Lazaroff AlpiFil Noir
260RoseannaPer WahlooFlashlight Worthy
261San Francisco NoirNathaniel RichFil Noir
262SanctuaryWilliam FaulknerMen’s Journal
263SandmanSyfy
264Santa Barbara Noir (California Journeys)Barbara TannenbaumFil Noir
265ScalpedRanker
266Screwball Comedy and Film Noir: An Analysis of Their Imagery and Character KinshipThomas C. RenziFil Noir
267Season to Taste (or How to Eat your Husband)Natalie YoungWHSmith
268Second LifeS. J. WatsonWHSmith
269Shades of Noir: A ReaderFil Noir
270Shadow Man: A Biography of Lewis Miles ArcherGabriel BlackwellGoodreads
271Sharp ObjectsGillian FlynnGoodreads 2
272ShoedogGeorge PelecanosMystery Fanfare
273Sing a Song of HomicideJames R. LanghamPublishers Weekly
274SlammerAllan GuthriePsycho Noir
275Sleeper, Season 1Ranker
276Solomon’s VineyardJonathan LatimerThe Guardian
277Spring WaterJohn FitzgeraldGoodreads
278Stagger BayPearce HansenGoodreads
279Staring Into the AbyssRichard ThomasBest Horror Novels
280Stray DogBookglow
281Street with No Name: A History of the Classic Film NoirAndrew DickosFil Noir
282SurrogatesSyfy
283Swann’s Lake of Despair (Henry Swann #3)Charles SalzbergGoodreads
284Swann’s Way Out (Henry Swann #4)Charles SalzbergGoodreads
285Table 21T. Rafael CiminoGoodreads
286Tech-Noir: The Fusion of Science Fiction and Film NoirPaul MeehanFil Noir
287The AdjustmentScott PhillipsGoodreads
288The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film NoirEddie MullerFil Noir
289The Automatic DetectiveA. Lee MartinezSyfy
290The Bastard HandHeath LowranceGoodreads
291The Beloved Bs.(Mediocre or B Motion Pictures)Dan GeorgakasFil Noir
292The Big Book of NoirFil Noir
293The Big ClockKenneth FearingGoodreads 2
294The Blonde on the Street CornerRalph CreelHuffington Post
295The Book of Film NoirFil Noir
296The Book of YouClaire KendalWHSmith
297The CartelDon WinslowGoodreads
298The Caves of SteelIsaac AsimovSyfy
299The Chaos We Know: StoriesKeith RawsonGoodreads
300The ChillRoss MacdonaldGoodreads 2
301The City and the CityChina MievilleSyfy
302The Cleaner (Jonathan Quinn, #1)Brett BattlesGoodreads
303The CleanupSean DoolittleCriminal Element
304The Cold KissJohn RectorCriminal Element
305The Color PurpleAlice WalkerThe Guardian 2
306The Complete StoriesFlannery O’ConnorThe Guardian 2
307The Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)Robert GalbraithGoodreads
308The Dark Mirror: Psychiatry and Film NoirMarlisa SantosFil Noir
309The Dark Side of the Screen: Film NoirFoster HirschFil Noir
310The Dave Robicheaux SeriesJames Lee BurkeThe Guardian 2
311The Day of the LocustNathanael WestThe Guardian
312The DeputyVictor GischlerGoodreads
313The Devil All the TimeDonald Ray PollockGoodreads
314The Devil She Knows (Maureen Coughlin, #1)Bill LoehfelmGoodreads
315The Dresden FilesJim ButcherSyfy
316The Drowning PoolRoss MacdonaldGoodreads 2
317The Elephant TreeR.D. RonaldGoodreads
318The Eye of the BeholderMarc BehmThe Guardian
319The Fatal Woman: Sources of Male Anxiety in.Film Noir 1941-1991James F. MaxfieldFil Noir
320The Felix Castor seriesMike CareySyfy
321The Fever KillTom PiccirilliPublishers Weekly
322The Film Noir Bible: When White People Had The BluesFil Noir
323The Film Noir Encyclopedia (new edition)Alain Silver; Elizabeth Ward; James Ursini; Robert PorfirioFil Noir
324The Films of Samuel Fuller: If You Die, I’ll Kill You!Lisa DombrowskiFil Noir
325The Galton CaseRoss MacdonaldGoodreads 2
326The Gangster Film ReaderAlain SilverFil Noir
327The Getaway ManAndrew VachssPsycho Noir
328The Gilt KidJames CurtisDead Good Books
329The Girl on the TrainPaula HawkinsWHSmith
330The Graving DockGabriel CohenMulholland Books
331The Guards (Jack Taylor, #1)Ken BruenGoodreads 2
332The Ice HarvestScott PhillipsCriminal Element
333The Ice Princess (Patrik Hedström, #1)Camilla LäckbergGoodreads
334The Kept GirlKim CooperGoodreads
335The Kind Worth KillingPeter SwansonWHSmith
336The Kinsey Milhone booksSue GraftonThe Guardian
337The Last Good DayPeter BlaunerMulholland Books
338The Last Good Kiss (C.W. Sughrue, #1)James CrumleyGoodreads 2
339The Liar’s ChairRebecca WhitneyWHSmith
340The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir fom the 40s and 50sPeg ThompsonFil Noir
341The Long Fall (Leonid McGill, #1)Walter MosleyGoodreads
342The LowlifeAlexander BaronDead Good Books
343The Lucky StiffCraig RicePublishers Weekly
344The Maltese Touch of Evil: Film Noir and Potential CriticismShannon Scott CluteFil Noir
345The Man With The Getaway Face (Parker, #2)Richard StarkGoodreads 2
346The Midnight RoadTom PiccirilliBest Horror Novels
347The Movie Book of Film NoirFil Noir
348The Moving TargetRoss MacdonaldGoodreads 2
349The Narrows (Harry Bosch, #10; Harry Bosch Universe, #12)Michael ConnellyGoodreads 2
350The Nightside SeriesSimon GreenSyfy
351The Ninth StepGrant JerkinsGoodreads
352The Noir StyleAlain SilverFil Noir
353The Office of Lost and FoundVincent Holland-KeenGoodreads
354The One from the Other (Bernard Gunther, #4)Philip KerrGoodreads
355The Outfit (Parker, #3)Richard StarkGoodreads 2
356The Perfect CrimeLes EdgertonGoodreads
357The Philosophy of Neo-Noir (Philosophy and Popular Culture)Fil Noir
358The Poet (Jack McEvoy, #1; Harry Bosch Universe, #5)Michael ConnellyGoodreads 2
359The Poison TreeErin KellyWHSmith
360The Princess of BurundiKjell ErikssonFlashlight Worthy
361The Punisher Vol. 5Ranker
362The Resnick novelsJohn HarveyThe Guardian
363The Rough Guide to Film Noir A great introduction that covers the genre from early German expressionism to the latest neo-noirs, and highlights the movies to look out for.Fil Noir
364The Salome EffectJames SajoGoodreads
365The Sandman Slim seriesRichard KadreySyfy
366The Second Bat Guano WarJ.M. PorupGoodreads
367The Shanghai MoonSJ RozanMulholland Books
368The Shark-Infested CustardCharles WillefordPublishers Weekly
369The Silent WifeA. S. A. HarrisonWHSmith
370The Song is YouMegan AbbottGoodreads
371The Terror of LivingUrban WaiteGoodreads
372The Torch Singer (An Overnight Sensation #1)Robert WestbrookGoodreads
373The Transylvania Detective Squad (Transylvania #1)M.L. DunnGoodreads
374The WheelmanDuane SwierczynskiBest Horror Novels
375The WhispererDonato CarrisiPublishers Weekly
376The White TigerAravind AdigaGoodreads
377The Winter of Frankie MachineDon WinslowGoodreads
378The World Made StraightRon RashThe Guardian 2
379The Yankee ClubMichael MurphyGoodreads
380The Yiddish Policemen’s UnionMichael ChabonSyfy
381The Zebra-Striped HearseRoss MacdonaldGoodreads 2
382The Zombie RoomR.D. RonaldGoodreads
383Three to KillJean-Patrick ManchetteGoodreads 2
384Tobacco-Stained Mountain GoatAndrez BergenGoodreads
385Trunk Music (Harry Bosch, #5; Harry Bosch Universe, #6)Michael ConnellyGoodreads 2
386TV Noir: The twentieth centuryRay StarmanFil Noir
387Twisted CityJason StarrCriminal Element
388Two-Way SplitAllan GuthrieGoodreads
389Unless the Threat of Death Is Behind Them: …John T. IrwinFil Noir
390Voices in the Dark: THE NARRATIVE PATTERNS OF FILM NOIRFil Noir
391Weekend in WeightonTerry MurphyGoodreads
392What is Film Noir?William ParkFil Noir
393When Gravity FailsGeorge Alec EffingerSyfy
394Who Censored Roger RabbitGary WolfSyfy
395Wide Boys Never WorkRobert WesterbyDead Good Books
396Women in Film NoirFil Noir
397Yellow Medicine (Billy Lafitte, #1)Anthony Neil SmithGoodreads


20 Best Noir Novel Sources/Lists



SourceArticle
Best Horror Novels Popular Neo-Noir Horror Books
Bookglow 5 1940s Film Noir Classics And The Books Behind Them
Criminal Element 10 of the Best Noir Novels of the 21st Century
Dead Good Books Top 10 British Noir Titles of Yesteryear
Fil Noir Film Noir Books
Flashlight Worthy Nordic Noir
Goodreads Best Noir of the 21st Century
Goodreads 2 Best Hardboiled PI & Noir
Huffington Post Dark Journeys: The Best of Noir Fiction
List Challenges Pulp Fiction – The Best Noir Novels
Men’s Journal The Best Old-School Noir Novels
Mulholland Books The Amazing Noir Books You Have To Read
Mystery Fanfare 20 Essential Works of Noir Fiction
Psycho Noir 10 Best Noirs of the Last 10 Years (or so)
Publishers Weekly 10 Best Noir Novels
Ranker The Best Crime Comics to Ever Hit the Shelves
Syfy 12 SCI-FI/FANTASY BOOKS THAT CHANNEL THE BLOOD OF HARDBOILED NOIR INTO THEIR BLACK, BLACK HEARTS
The Guardian Jonathan Kellerman’s top 10 LA noir novels
The Guardian 2 Top 10 rural noir novels
WHSmith Domestic Noir Books Every ‘Gone Girl’ Fan Should Read