Noir, Christmas hauntings, and sword & sorcery for December.
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2011. First published in 1935)
I first read this a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Tightly plotted and suspenseful with twists and some sharp prose. A masterpiece of crime fiction. I also highly recommend the 1944 film adaptation, which I wrote about in last month’s post.
Film Noir: A Very Short Introduction by James Naremore (Oxford University Press, 2019)
A well-done and concise overview of film noir. I found the first few chapters more interesting than the last, but overall, this was an enjoyable and informative read.
Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir, Revised and Expanded Edition by Eddie Muller (Running Press, 2021)
In this book author and noir scholar Eddie Muller looks at film noir as if it were a city, with each chapter covering a different theme or aspect. For example, “The Precinct” covers noir films about cops, “Shamus Flats” covers private eyes, and “Knockover Square” covers heists and holdups. It’s written in the style of hard-boiled novels and short stories which I found hit and miss and the text is tiny, but the book is loaded with behind-the-scenes info, photos, and movie posters. Also included are sidebars covering famous noir figures. Entertaining and quite informative.
Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk (British Library Publishing, 2021)
This is another great anthology of Christmas hauntings from the British Library Tales of the Weird series. I’ll post a full review soon.
Soloman Kane: The Lair of the Mari Lwyd (The Heroic Legends Series, Titan Books, 2025)
This Solomon Kane story set during Christmas gives background on the character's Puritan beliefs and mixes sword & sorcery with Welsh folklore really well. What a fun read.
Looking Ahead
I didn’t read or post as much as I had hoped to this year. Here’s to doing more in 2026!
