"Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish."
Raymond Chandler - The Simple Art of Murder

As much as Film Noir has been inspired by works of fiction, it has also been an inspiration for writers over the years. So, where do you start when compiling a list of fiction related to Film Noir?

As someone whose interest in Film Noir movies was an off-shoot of a love of crime fiction – I must be a rarity in having read the Maltese Falcon before watching the movie – I would be tempted to start with the great writers whose work inspired Film Noir.

Or, start with a list of Film Noir movies that were originally works of fiction.

The first list would include many writers whose work had never actually been made to film and the second would exclude many fine writers and works just because Hollywood had never knocked.

So..... we'll start with 2 lists, the easy one first – The Books that were turned into movies, now recognised as Film Noir.  Film Noir Fiction List

The second list deals with the writers and works that are now considered Noir Fiction - Noir Fiction List