Thought it might be fun to read some of the 1930s, 40s noir-ish detective novels like Mike Hammer, Agatha Christie, Dashell Hammet etc Anybody know a source for these? I've seen a few Christie novels on the Sony site but that's all I've noticed.

Thanks

Thought it might be fun to read some of the 1930s, 40s noir-ish detective novels like Mike Hammer, Agatha Christie, Dashell Hammet etc Anybody know a source for these? I've seen a few Christie novels on the Sony site but that's all I've noticed.Munseys has batch of Dashiell Hammett short works, including a batch of the Continental Op stories. The longer Hammett work still seems to be encumbered on copyrights.

http://www.munseys.com/detail/mode/author/hammett

Munseys is a good source of noir stuff aside from Hammett -- look in the Pulp Fiction category. Lots of Ed Lacy and others.

http://www.munseys.com/detail/mode/cat/12/Pulp_Fiction

Munseys makes stuff available in eBookwise EB1150, HTML, iSilo, Kindle, Mobipocket, MS Lit, PDF, Plucker, and Rocket ebook formats.

Christie was many things, but "noir" wasn't one of them.
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Dennis

For 'sleazy' detective novels you might want to check out the book uploads on this site for the Norbert Davis novels posted by Dr. Drib and myself.

Yes, Dr Drib posted several "noir" style stories by various authors.
When you checkout the e-book section click on the uploader column and it will sort the books by the uploader. Look for Dr Drib.

Thought it might be fun to read some of the 1930s, 40s noir-ish detective novels like Mike Hammer, Agatha Christie, Dashell Hammet etc Anybody know a source for these? I've seen a few Christie novels on the Sony site but that's all I've noticed.

Thanks

Not sure what you mean by "sleazy" since the three authors you mentioned are very different, but have you tried any novels by Sax Rohmer? I think he is chiefly remembered for his Fu Man-chu books, but he also wrote others sharing the same detective protagonist. They lean more to pulp than noir, but you might enjoy them. They are filled with damsels in danger from decadent oriental gentlemen etc.

You can also try books by or about Nick Carter. I think Nick Carter was a pseudonym used by a number of authors. The stories were written before noir became popular, and are mostly detective stories.

If you want something more in the of classic noir you might try Peter Rabe or Thomas Thursday; both available at munseys.

Have a look at the "Garrett P.I." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.) series by Glen Cook

Garret is a private hard boiled detective ala Phill Marlowe.

Please see the description on Wikipedia from the link above.
quote:
"... The novels are written in a film noir-esque style ..."

Garret is a private hard boiled detective ala Phill Marlowe.


and speaking of whom, if you want noir... no good mystery collection is complete without the works of Raymond Chandler, the creator of archetypal eye Philip Marlowe. From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler) :

Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 - March 26, 1959) was an author of crime stories and novels of immense stylistic influence upon modern crime fiction, especially in the style of the writing and the attitudes now characteristic of the genre. His protagonist, Philip Marlowe, is synonymous with "private detective", along with Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade.

my personal favorite is "The Big Sleep" but they're all brilliant.

The film of The Big Sleep (Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall !!) is also excellent.

I found ebook versions of chandler books here :
http://www.ebookmall.com/alpha-authors/Raymond-Chandler.htm
several formats available, not very expensive

and here :
http://www.ereader.com/product/book/series/1151
in eReader format.

there are more ; do a google search for "Raymond Chandler ebook"

and speaking of whom, if you want noir... no good mystery collection is complete without the works of Raymond Chandler, the creator of archetypal eye Philip Marlowe. From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler) :



my personal favorite is "The Big Sleep" but they're all brilliant.

The film of The Big Sleep (Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall !!) is also excellent.

I found ebook versions of chandler books here :
http://www.ebookmall.com/alpha-authors/Raymond-Chandler.htm
several formats available, not very expensive

and here :
http://www.ereader.com/product/book/series/1151
in eReader format.

there are more ; do a google search for "Raymond Chandler ebook"

Only one recording of Raymond Chandler's speaking voice survives, a BBC interview conducted with Chandler in 1958 by none other than Ian Fleming. You can listen to it by going here (http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/Ian-Fleming-Raymond-Chandler.mp3) .

Only one recording of Raymond Chandler's speaking voice survives, a BBC interview conducted with Chandler in 1958 by none other than Ian Fleming. You can listen to it by going here (http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/Ian-Fleming-Raymond-Chandler.mp3) .

well that's absolutely brilliant. thank you.

Only one recording of Raymond Chandler's speaking voice survives, a BBC interview conducted with Chandler in 1958 by none other than Ian Fleming. You can listen to it by going here (http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/Ian-Fleming-Raymond-Chandler.mp3) .

Madam Broshkina, I can't seem to get it to work on my Windows machine. Is there any way to download the mp3 as a file, rather than a quicktime stream? - RSE

Madam Broshkina, I can't seem to get it to work on my Windows machine. Is there any way to download the mp3 as a file, rather than a quicktime stream? - RSE

it's working fine for me. but since it's a direct link, you should be able to do right click / save as, and play it locally.

Have a look at the "Garrett P.I." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.) series by Glen Cook

Garret is a private hard boiled detective ala Phill Marlowe.

Please see the description on Wikipedia from the link above.
quote:
"... The novels are written in a film noir-esque style ..."

Are there ebooks for sale? I've only found a couple of ebooks from that series, none of them the first one. I would like to start reading this series from the beggining.

Madam Broshkina, I can't seem to get it to work on my Windows machine. Is there any way to download the mp3 as a file, rather than a quicktime stream? - RSE
Quicktime stream? That link downloaded here as an MP3 file, and opened in Windows Media Player.

I run Windows XP Pro SP3, with Firefox 3 as my default browser. If your PC is trying to deal with it as Quicktime, you may need to check your browser settings. Sounds like you lack WMP, or your browser doesn't have the proper plugins loaded, or both.

If you run Firefox, try right-clicking the link in Madam Broshkina's post and selecting Save Link As.
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Dennis

Got it. Thanks, one and all....

Also look at the Philo Vance novels by S. S. Van Dine. They are available on Feedbooks...

Also look at the Philo Vance novels by S. S. Van Dine. They are available on Feedbooks...

those are excellent as well. but i wouldn't really call them noir or sleazy ; they're a lot more "refined" (for lack of a better word) and generally centered in a more upper-class world with frequently upper-class victims and villains. they are great though.

Also look at the Philo Vance novels by S. S. Van Dine. They are available on Feedbooks...
They are also available here on MobileRead, in Mobi, Sony LRF, and IMP formats.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/search.php?searchid=990042

However, they are neither noir nor sleazy.
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Dennis

The Kennel Club Murders is an entertaining short movie based on a Philo Vance book, with William Holden, if you can find a decent transfer (it's PD, from 1932). The best I've found, which still isn't too good is from Kino....

In what possible way is Agatha Christie "Sleazy"? I'm quite shocked that anyone could consider them to be so - they represent the epitome of "genteel English society", generally speaking.

The majority (about 55 out of her 80-odd) novels are published by HarperCollins and are available as very reasonably-priced eBooks from eBook stores such as FictionWise.

In what possible way is Agatha Christie "Sleazy"? I'm quite shocked that anyone could consider them to be so - they represent the epitome of "genteel English society", generally speaking.

The majority (about 55 out of her 80-odd) novels are published by HarperCollins and are available as very reasonably-priced eBooks from eBook stores such as FictionWise.

Sorry, that's my ha-ha expression for most noir-ish mysteries. Truth is they are anything else but sleazy.

I've been enjoying reading the Edgar Wallace mystery novels, available here for free on mobileread. (Thanks to Harry, I think.) They might not fit your idea of noir or sleazy though.

Maybe you meant "cheesy", not "sleazy"? Some of them fit that bill. :)

What about Richard Stark's (a.k.a. Donald Westlake) Parker series? Although he's not a detective, being rather a criminal, he's definitely "sleazy".

Sorry, that's my ha-ha expression for most noir-ish mysteries. Truth is they are anything else but sleazy.
Agreed. But in what manner do Christie's mysteries count as "noir"?

She's about as far from noir as one can get.
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Dennis

However, the original Charlie Chan novels, by Earl Der Biggers were well written. Don't confuse them with the campy "Charlie Chan" movies...I downloaded the Charlle Chan Omnibus from here. Good reads.......

Munseys is a good source of noir stuff aside from Hammett -- look in the Pulp Fiction category. Lots of Ed Lacy and others.

This is a good recommendation. There are many dime novels available at Munseys and Ed Lacy is fairly representative (although I prefer Charles Willeford and Milton Ozaki).

In fact, I think that Mobileread hosts many Ed Lacy novels in lrf format for Sony Readers converted by Dr. Drib

This is a good recommendation. There are many dime novels available at Munseys and Ed Lacy is fairly representative (although I prefer Charles Willeford and Milton Ozaki).

In fact, I think that Mobileread hosts many Ed Lacy novels in lrf format for Sony Readers converted by Dr. Drib
Yes. The pulp category is one Munsey's proprietor has a special interest in, and the site carries material in that category you won't see elsewhere.

Munsey's and Manybooks both draw primarily from Project Gutenberg, but Munseys does pulp stuff, and Manybooks looks for Creative Commons works it can offer (and invites CC authors to contribute to Manybooks as a way of getting broader exposure.)

I visit both sites daily.
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Dennis

i love the garrett books (they're all in paperback in my bookshelves), and it's worth mentioning that these are fantasy/detective. i especially love the first few.

if you don't mind hardboiled but more modern detectives, you might wanna try some spenser novels by robert b. parker - some are in ebook format, btw, and mr. parker also wrote the last phillip marlowe novel, although i wasn't in love with it. and maybe the elvis cole novels by robert crais, although the're a little spenser-esque.

also don't forget dorothy l. sayers peter wimsey novels (one is on gutenberg, although not one of my favorites) and for those who love agatha, have you tried ngaio marsh who - alas - is only available on paper.

Have a look at the "Garrett P.I." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.) series by Glen Cook

Garret is a private hard boiled detective ala Phill Marlowe.

Please see the description on Wikipedia from the link above.
quote:
"... The novels are written in a film noir-esque style ..."

For 'sleazy' detective novels you might want to check out the book uploads on this site for the Norbert Davis novels posted by Dr. Drib and myself.

Nah, not sleazy -- just great fun.

What's really remarkable about Norbert Davis's "Oh, Murderer Mine" is how brilliantly, and giddily, it riffs off the essence of the pulp detective fiction of its era.

This is the jazz of American literature: the seamy underbelly of human behaviour exposed through murder and mayhem but not taking anything too seriously.

Davis published this in 1946 -- there are direct references to the then recent demise of Hitler -- yet, 70 years on, the prose is fully alive. That's not too shabby for "pop pulp culture".

"They've got him stuck away ow in a nuthouse somewhere in a room wallpapered with mattresses. The doctors say he'll never get better."

or

"He sold medicines at carnivals and fairs -- Kickapoo Joy Juice and Colonel Ouster's Calibrated Cure-All -- and stuff like that. Heloise was his come-on. She used to dress in spangled diapers and a necklace and juggle knives to attract a crowd so Big Tub could work them over. He was good at it, from all accounts."

What's not to love, with dialog like that?

Charlie Huston has some fun pulp noir books out in ebook format. Caught Stealing trilogy is fun and his Dirk Pitt novels have a vampire detective.

Charlie Huston has some fun pulp noir books out in ebook format. Caught Stealing trilogy is fun and his Dirk Pitt novels have a vampire detective.

Joe Pitt I think, Dirk Pitt is Clive Cussler. :)

OOOPPS Thanks Sparow you are correct. I would still strongly recommend Mr Huston's work I think he is definitely keeping modern noir alive (or dead) in his writing.

Look no further than James Hadley Chase. "No Orchids for Miss Blandish" is as good as it gets. This was available on Munseys - but it (the whole Munseys site) has gone away - hopefully only a temporary situation.

Look no further than James Hadley Chase. "No Orchids for Miss Blandish" is as good as it gets. This was available on Munseys - but it (the whole Munseys site) has gone away - hopefully only a temporary situation.
According to email from the site owner, it's a temporary condition, and ought to be back to normal in a few hours.
______
Dennis

According to email from the site owner, it's a temporary condition, and ought to be back to normal in a few hours.
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Dennis

Phew, I was kind of freaking out there for a bit. Love Munseys.

According to email from the site owner, it's a temporary condition, and ought to be back to normal in a few hours.

Did someone forgot to pay the domain registry fees?

http://whois.domaintools.com/munseys.com


Domain Name: munseys.com
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Protected Domain Services Customer ID: DSR-581989

Expiration Date: 2009-11-27 05:29:13
Creation Date: 2006-11-26 22:33:04

REGISTRANT CONTACT INFO
REGISTRAR STATUS: EXPIRED
Protected Domain Services - Customer ID: DSR-581989
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Munseys is currently back online.