Mystery - Hardboiled - Christchurch City Libraries
Crime fiction that is gritty, depressing and violent, set to a cynical and seedy back-drop in the style made famous by the likes of Dalshiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. The Hardboiled novel is a mystery sub-genre classic, where the location is usually a larger than life character in itself. More than likely there will be a cynical private eye, and there will be a client - usually telling half-truths - but the case will be taken on regardless, as rent is due and liqour ain't free. Back-stabbings and double crosses abound, as our grizzled characters smoke cigarettes, neck down cheap whiskey to hold headaches at bay and get into fights with clever one-liners. Think of movies like The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Big Sleep (1946), or the fantastic and more modern Sin City (2005) and you'll get the idea . A Christchurch City Libraries list.
Detective Inspector Sean Duffy has moved his family from the chaos and danger of Ireland, 1992, to Scotland, going part time and only occasionally returning to Ireland. Trying to live a quiet life doesn't go to plan however when he has to take the…
Considered one of the modern masters of hard boiled crime, Ellroy is back at it again in The Big Nowhere. Set in Los Angeles in the 1950's, three men are plunged into a grimy underground of Communist witch hunts and violence. Ellroy's novels are…
Pelecanos writes about the Washington you don't see on TV - the multi-racial working man's city. His characters are street smart inhabitants of the inner city. An ensemble of believable characters and heroes inhabit his books, keeping them fresh. He…
Hard edged private eye Sharon McCone is one of the most popular modern female detectives in the Hardboiled sub-genre. Appearing first in 1977, she is considered to be the prototype for a whole spate of books featuring professional female detectives.…
Master detective story writer Walter Mosley's series about the complex and shrewd African-American detective Easy Rawlins, are classic hard-boiled detective stories, set in black Los Angeles from the 40s to the 60s. He is sometimes compared to…
Tough girl Kinsey Millhone is one of the original female PIs. An updated version of the classic noir detective, she is smart mouthed and strongly feminist. The books are set in Santa Barbara, California, and have a strong sense of place. The series…
This highly regarded author writes several different series. His long running series about hard boiled and recovering alcoholic detective Matthew Scudder is known for it's sharp insight, as well as masterful storytelling. This is the final Scudder…
A short and sharp book, chronicling a double cross in the life of a stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for hire. While a stunt driver is an unusual pick for the hardboiled genre when compared to detectives or private eyes, this still…
'The Big Sleep' kicks off the Philip Marlowe mysteries, a classic hardboiled noir detective series. Though this has a complex and intricate plot with lots of action, it's really all about the multi-layered characters and the atmosphere - you'll be…
'The Silence of the Lambs' is an American mystery of the 1980s, and forms one part of a four book series by Thomas Harris. This is a disturbing, plot-driven thriller heavy with psychological suspense. FBI Behavioural Scientist Clarice Starling must…
Jack Taylor awakens from a coma into a pandemic-stricken world, only to face a brutal new case: someone is attacking nuns with a hammer. Battling personal demons and official indifference, Jack investigates alone. This gritty Irish neo-noir explores…
In Loren D. Estleman’s City Walls, Detroit PI Amos Walker investigates the sniper-style murder of a millionaire’s stepson, possibly tied to insider trading and a self-driving car scandal. As bodies pile up, Walker navigates corporate corruption and…
