I've been having a browse back over my best reads selections for the last four years. There's three sub-genres of crime novel that I clearly like more than others: literary, noir, screwball noir, twentieth century history (esp. 1930s-1950s) - fiction that is
dark, humorous and philosophical.
Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke pressed all three buttons, as did
We are the Hanged Man by Douglas Lindsay,
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston, and
Secret Dead Men by Duane Swierczynski. Two of those buttons are pressed by books such as
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin,
Brodeck's Report by Phillipe Claudel,
Field Grey by Philip Kerr,
Mixed Blood by Roger Smith,
The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty,
The Holy Thief by William Ryan,
Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman,
The Ones You Do by Daniel Woodrell,
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan,
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain,
Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon,
The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst,
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada, and I could go on. Now I like lots of other types of crime fiction as well, but these kinds of books are consistently amongst my favourite reads.
What I'm after is suggestions for authors/books that fit the 'literary noir' label; books that make you think about life rather than simply being entertaining.
Recommendations?
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