Hard-Boiled Detectives

Hard-boiled thrillers do not excite me; however, the triumvirate (Dashiel Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald) vitalized this sub-genre with genuine mystery plots. Some later authors have carried on the tradition.

• Hammett -- The Maltese Falcon is the best of the novels (of which there are only a handful), mostly because the classic John Huston movie resembles it so closely, a real noir classic. The Dain Curse is also quite entertaining, as are some of the pulp Continental Op stories.
• Chandler -- The Lady in the Lake is a classic mystery in all senses. Many of the other Marlowe books consist of his bashing in doors and in turn getting bashed in the head.
• Macdonald -- Lew Archer is one of the best of the private eyes; the stories are well-plotted, with roots generally going far back into the past. The Underground Man is a good example.
• Bill Pronzini -- The "Nameless Detective" is by far the best of the modern hard-boiled detectives, with ingenious plots. Hoodwink takes place at a Pulp Writers' convention, which is amusing, and Shackles is a harrowing story with Nameless kidnapped and chained up in a remote cabin with no food -- these are just examples.
• Non-fiction -- Pronzini's Gun in Cheek series is a wonderful history of the Black-Mask type genre. Descriptions of the plots of Keeler, Daly, etc. are lovingly detailed, funny, and informative.
• Noir Books -- Another sub-genre, not necessarily involving private eyes, that can be a big turn-on. James Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice) and Jim Thompson (Pop. 1280 and The Killer Inside Me) are prime examples.