What Is Noir Fiction? 7 Examples of Noir Fiction Books

Noir fiction is a subset of the broader crime fiction genre. Noir stories typically feature gritty urban settings, morally compromised protagonists, dark mysteries, and a bleak outlook on human nature.

Noir books and films noir frequently take the form of detective fiction (sometimes called hardboiled fiction), where the protagonists often work as private eyes or police detectives. Whether or not they specifically concern detective work, works of noir fiction are fundamentally crime novels, short stories, and films. The central action revolves around crimes that often contribute to the downfall of the protagonist or other sympathetic characters.

The noir genre, as practiced by literary authors and Hollywood screenwriters, often revolves around four key characteristics.

1. 1. Enduring mystery: Nearly all noir novels are mystery stories. Protagonists struggle to track down the perpetrators of crimes, and this struggle often leads to their own personal peril. In many cases, these protagonists are detectives—as in the work of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett—but this is not a requirement of noir.
2. 2. A femme fatale: Classic noir often features a femme fatale, a mysterious and seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to seduce and entrap her enemies.
3. 3. Gritty urban settings: Like many works of mystery fiction, noir fiction slots nicely into the urban landscapes of twentieth-century America. West coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are favorites of noir novelists, as is New York City.
4. 4. Grim assessments of human nature: Although pulpy and driven by action and intrigue, many noir books are works of literary fiction that make statements on the human condition. In a great number of cases, those statements are bleak. From the villains to the protagonists to society itself, the world seems to conspire against good people in noir fiction.

As you begin your exploration of noir fiction, take time to check out these iconic novels.

1. 1. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930): This novel introduced the iconic hardboiled detective Sam Spade, who follows a trail of crimes involving a seemingly priceless statuette of a falcon. The mood is ever bleak and morality plays little role. The book was later adapted into a blockbuster film directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart.
2. 2. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939): Another hardboiled detective classic, The Big Sleep is set in Los Angeles. Chandler's detective Philip Marlowe takes on a blackmail case that nearly leads to his own demise. A World War II-era film adaptation, again starring Humphrey Bogart, led to box office success. Nearly sixty years after the book was published, the story received an amusing twist when it became the rough outline for the Coen Brothers' comedy noir The Big Lebowski.
3. 3. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (1950): Highsmith's debut novel inspired a famous Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. True to its title, it involves two strangers who meet on a train and agree to "trade murders" so that each can be rid of someone in their lives with no suspected motive.
4. 4. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (1934): Cain's noir story, which draws heavily from Emile Zola's 1868 novel Thérèse Raquin, focuses on a drifter named Frank with sociopathic tendencies. It involves a strange form of romance, but also shocking plot points that led to book bannings after its publication.
5. 5. Queenpin by Megan Abbott (2007): A touchstone of contemporary noir fiction, Queenpin is actually a throwback to the golden age of the mafia, where illicit gambling ruled the day. Queenpin focuses on a ruthless mob veteran named Gloria and an unnamed young woman protagonist.
6. 6. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (1987): The Black Dahlia is a contemporary noir novel that looks back in time for its subject matter. Revisiting the 1947 "black dahlia" murder in Los Angeles, protagonist Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert makes the ill-fated decision to join the LAPD and things go downhill from there. The Black Dahlia is the first in Ellroy's "L.A. Quartet," a series of neo-noir books where corruption reigns, human nature fails, and happy endings are in short supply.
7. 7. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy (1935): Horace McCoy's noir novel is a testament to broken Hollywood dreams, infidelity, rejection, and painful quests for glory. While it involves crime, it largely steers clear of police and detectives. It heaps all the misery of a painful noir premise onto its everyman protagonist Robert and his companion Gloria.

As you set out to write your own noir novel, short story, or screenplay, keep the following tips in mind.

1. 1. Consider your take on human despair. The characters in noir stories lead bleak lives. Their needs are rarely fulfilled and they often engage in self-destructive behavior. If you want to write in the noir subgenre, consider how you might interpret common themes of desperation and futility.
2. 2. Create characters with major flaws. Whether by fate or by random circumstance, most noir protagonists end up leading themselves into more danger or disgrace as the story unfolds. Consider how you might create characters with fundamental flaws—addiction, greed, lust, vanity, naiveté—that might propel them into unfortunate situations.
3. 3. Explore unique settings for your noir story. “Noir” is the French word for "black," but not all noir fiction occurs in the dark of night or the shadowy corners of a major city. You can set your noir story wherever you like so long as it embodies that essential grim outlook.

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