[fluffy bunny]

Can anyone recommend some noir/old style crime/hardboiled mystery novels?

eg
Dashiell Hammett- Maltese Falcon, Red harvest, The Thin Man, Nightmare Town

Raymond Chandler- the big sleep


On the edit- looking at amazon, not only are there masterworks series for science fiction and fantasy in the uk, but there's a crime one now. Will take a look

[Hereford Eye]

The best mystery novels I ever read were by John D. MacDonald, the Travis McGee series, intelligent, well plotted, and terrific stories. I must also confess that I read all the Mike Hammer stories as well.
I also enjoy Hillerman's Navajo series but they do not qualify as old style crime/hardboiled mystery stories.

[AuntiePam]

I like Fredric Brown's noir fiction -- he's probably better known for his SF, and he might be a bit dated, but the noir feel is definitely there.

Leigh Brackett is another good writer of hard-boiled stuff. She also wrote SF, and she might also be dated.

How about Walter Mosley and Max Allan Collins? I've read one Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress, and wasn't blown away but everyone says he improved, and he was pretty good to start with, so that's saying something.

Noir readers rave about Collins too. Didn't he write a book about the Blue Dahlia mystery, and wasn't his mother the actual victim?

[Bear]

If you like Chandler, read Robert B. Parker. His main character, Spenser, is featured in over thirty books, and though all of them aren't spectacular, they're always enjoyable because of Spenser himself. His early work is the best, though. Find the "Godwulf manuscript" and then go from there. And they're best if read in order, if you can manage it. But if you can't, check out "early autumn." It's readable on it's own and gives you a good insight into Spenser's character.

And even though it isn't detective, per say, you did say Hard Boiled mystery, and whenever people bring this topic up I always plug in Harlan Coben. Coben's Myron Bolitar series is a favorite of mine. Good twists, wry prose, witty characters and damn funny. Check out "Deal Breaker."

Dennis Lehane is someone i'm big on at the moment, and his hard boiled detective novels are very kick in the teeth kind of stories. Try "A drink before the war" if you're interested. Oh. And his newest book, which I really enjoyed, fits all of your requests, because it's a detective novel that takes place in the 50's. It isn't the fastest read you'll ever come across, but the ending was awesome. I really reccomend trying it.

And if you're looking for someone a little more classic, Ross Macdonald should fit the bill. Any of his books will do.

[fluffy bunny]

James Ellroy's books are pretty good (LA Confidential etc) if a little complicated in terms of the sheer number of points coming out of the pages that you need to pay attention to

[Bear]

Yeah. I liked Elroy. I've only read L.A. Confidential, but now that you've reminded me, I've been meaning to check out some more of his books.

[Kanin]

Robert Crais and George Pelecanos are two of my favs.

Pelecanos' Right as Rain and Hell to Pay are really good.

[DrBloodmoney1]

Patricia Highsmith. She has a trilogy which contains The Talented Mr. Ripley and the other two which are pretty wonderful.

DrB

[fluffy bunny]

Has anyone read 'Laura' by Vera Caspary?

I've been recommended it after reading Rebecca, but it seems to be out of print, and I was wondering what other people thought before I spent time tracking it down. (Yes it's the one that got turned into a film in the 40s that's in the imdb top 250 somewhere)