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Crime Fiction and Film Noir
(The 50 best stories)

Francois Guérif et Claude Mesplède

Timée Editions • 2006 • 142 pages

Corinne Naidet
Translation: Lynsey Russell-Watts

 

This volume contains fifty stories grouped into five themed sections devised by François Guérif and Claude Mesplède, two French encyclopedists of the crime genre. These fifty texts, which give us the history of crime fiction and film noir, are richly and thoughtfully illustrated. Of course, this little book will not provide a complete history of the crime genre, but that is not its authors' aim. Rather, the intention is to sketch out its essentials for their readership, whether lovers of or specialists in the genre. Some enthusiasts will even find here hitherto unpublished anecdotes. In the course of reading, we find out how Gaboriau wrote ‘The Lerouge Affair' (L'Affaire Lerouge) in 1863, who ‘Ellery Queen' really are, the mystery of Agatha Christie's disappearance, and the beginnings of Michel Audiard's career. At the same time, we encounter the most mythologised characters in the history of crime fiction/film noir, whether they be fictional (Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Philip Marlowe) or real (Al Capone, James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson).

The fact that the two authors have thoroughly enjoyed the process of selecting and writing the articles is more than apparent to the reader, who will surely delight in discovering the many facets of this literary and cinematic genre. As Guérif and Mesplède explain in their preface, they aim ‘to be convincing enough to make readers want to delve deeper into crime fiction, a realm whose riches we have not yet finished uncovering'.