Need a good hard-boiled book to warm my cockles during the coming cold months

[Dr. Drib]

PLEASE: No paranormal romance or romantic paranormal suggestions. No urban fantasies or robot investigators. No cutesy 'baking investigator' mysteries. PLEASE!

Give me worn gumshoes and a world-weary attitude, and a man (or woman) who constantly needs a shave. I want noir attitude! Pulp novels are OK. First person narratives are, of course, mandatory.

NOTE: I've already read almost all the classics. (Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Horace McCoy, David Goodis, Frederick Nebel, Gil Brewster, Jonathan Craig, Charles Willeford, Frank Kane, Orrie Hitt, Day Keene, Ross MacDonald, Brett Halliday, Stephen Marlowe, Dashiell Hammett, Otto Penzler collections [Ed.], Cornell Woolrich [William Irish], and et al.)

Your suggestions will be 'investigated' and the winning ebook will be announced right here (along with a mandatory post on cooking, which seems to be the currently preferred method for engaging in OT subjects).

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE: Any noir or 50s pulp paperback or hard-boiled suggestion is 'A-OK', as you can infer from the list above.

Epub or AZW3 is fine.

No PDF - please! (I'm not a masochist.)


Your help is appreciated.

[issybird]

You haven't mentioned James Hadley Chase and while I'm sure you've read him, too, I'll note that there are a bunch of cheap Kindle editions of his books available.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p...rnid=618072011

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by issybird

You haven't mentioned James Hadley Chase and while I'm sure you've read him, too, I'll note that there are a bunch of cheap Kindle editions of his books available.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p...rnid=618072011

I've read one James Hadley Chase. (I'll have to check calibre to see which one it was. I'll post later when I find it.)

Thanks.

[Lady Stardust]

Not one book, but a whole edition of Hard Case Crime, in case you missed any?
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/

[JSWolf]

If your pot is big enough, I think Finnegan's Wake should boil nicely. It's a lot better than trying to read it.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I've read one James Hadley Chase. (I'll have to check calibre to see which one it was. I'll post later when I find it.)

Thanks.

I'll guess it's the classic No Orchids for Miss Blandish (which is a must-read if you haven't).

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'll guess it's the classic No Orchids for Miss Blandish (which is a must-read if you haven't).

I'm familiar with the title, but I have yet to read it.

The one Chase book I have read is "12 Chinks and a Woman" (apparently renamed, after WWII, as "Twelve Chinamen and a Woman"). I read this about 2-3 years ago, but I can't seem to recall anything about it.

By the way, for anyone else who may be interested in Chase, there's a whole series of his books available from Amazon for .99 cents each.

https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Chinks...a+woman+kindle

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If your pot is big enough, I think Finnegan's Wake should boil nicely. It's a lot better than trying to read it.

I read portions of this when I was taking a seminar course on the Experimental Novel.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Lady Stardust

Not one book, but a whole edition of Hard Case Crime, in case you missed any?
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/

I have well over a 100 titles in this great series.

Highly recommended, if one enjoys hard-boiled fiction!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

By the way, for anyone else who may be interested in Chase, there's a whole series of his books available from Amazon for .99 cents each.

Didn't I just say that?

Psst! It's 99¢ or 99 cents or $0.99. At .99 cent, they'd be very cheap indeed.

[Witty Username]

Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth series?

http://www.malcolmpryce.com/


ETA Malcolm Pryce page on Goodreads

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

PLEASE: No paranormal romance or romantic paranormal suggestions. No urban fantasies or robot investigators. No cutesy 'baking investigator' mysteries. PLEASE!

Give me worn gumshoes and a world-weary attitude, and a man (or woman) who constantly needs a shave. I want noir attitude! Pulp novels are OK. First person narratives are, of course, mandatory.

NOTE: I've already read almost all the classics. (Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Horace McCoy, David Goodis, Frederick Nebel, Gil Brewster, Jonathan Craig, Charles Willeford, Frank Kane, Orrie Hitt, Day Keene, Ross MacDonald, Brett Halliday, Stephen Marlowe, Dashiell Hammett, Otto Penzler collections [Ed.], Cornell Woolrich [William Irish], and et al.)

Your suggestions will be 'investigated' and the winning ebook will be announced right here (along with a mandatory post on cooking, which seems to be the currently preferred method for engaging in OT subjects).

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE: Any noir or 50s pulp paperback or hard-boiled suggestion is 'A-OK', as you can infer from the list above.

Epub or AZW3 is fine.

No PDF - please! (I'm not a masochist.)


Your help is appreciated.

I recommend the Garrett, P.I. series.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.

Garrett, P.I.
1. Sweet Silver Blues (1987)
2. Bitter Gold Hearts (1988)
3. Cold Copper Tears (1988)
4. Old Tin Sorrows (1989)
5. Dread Brass Shadows (1990)
6. Red Iron Nights (1991)
7. Deadly Quicksilver Lies (1994)
8. Petty Pewter Gods (1995)
9. Faded Steel Heat (1999)
10. Angry Lead Skies (2002)
11. Whispering Nickel Idols (2005)
12. Cruel Zinc Melodies (2008)
13. Gilded Latten Bones (2010)
14. Wicked Bronze Ambition (2013)

Except for being Fantasy this series meets all of your requirements and has humor, although it is not comedy. Give it a try.
Apache

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by issybird

Didn't I just say that?

Psst! It's 99¢ or 99 cents or $0.99. At .99 cent, they'd be very cheap indeed.

You sure did! I missed reading the link.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Apache

I recommend the Garrett, P.I. series.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.

Garrett, P.I.
1. Sweet Silver Blues (1987)
2. Bitter Gold Hearts (1988)
3. Cold Copper Tears (1988)
4. Old Tin Sorrows (1989)
5. Dread Brass Shadows (1990)
6. Red Iron Nights (1991)
7. Deadly Quicksilver Lies (1994)
8. Petty Pewter Gods (1995)
9. Faded Steel Heat (1999)
10. Angry Lead Skies (2002)
11. Whispering Nickel Idols (2005)
12. Cruel Zinc Melodies (2008)
13. Gilded Latten Bones (2010)
14. Wicked Bronze Ambition (2013)

Except for being Fantasy this series meets all of your requirements and has humor, although it is not comedy. Give it a try.
Apache

I appreciate your suggestions, but I'll pass on any fantasy.

[GlenBarrington]

"Clea's Moon" by Edward Wright Update: Wright seems to have stopped selling ebooks!
"Cocaine and Blue Eyes" by Fred Zackle

The above are rather traditional "Noir" type novels

"Bangkok Burn" and "Bangkok Wet" by Simon Royle

Wonderful "noir" style books from the perspective of the criminals.

I think I learned about all of these through the various forums on mobileread.com

And for something a little different "The Last PI" series by Richard Bowker

Dover Beach
The Distance Beacons
Where All the Ladders Start


A wonderful set of novels set in a post apocalyptic Boston, MA. The hero, is addicted to hard boiled detective novels and sets up a Detective Agency, and in spite the crumbling world around him, he learns that human nature including Greed, Lust, Fear, and Hate seems to always be with us. This isn't a spoof or a comedy, it is done in a serious mystery novel manner.