The Best Hardboiled Books of All Time 

Hardboiled books are full of action, detectives, gangs, and a lot of twists. These novels are like a wonderful joy ride. But not all books are the same. That is why we decided to list the best hardboiled books of all time. Keep reading to see which books made our list! 

The heyday of hardboiled books was from the 1930s to the 1950s. But that doesn’t mean authors have stopped writing them. While they may not be as common, you can still find them. The genre was violent and bloody and as you can imagine, not everyone is a fan of that. You can see the full list below. 

The Best Hardboiled Books of All Time 

• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 
• Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett 
• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain 
• The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler 
• Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley 
• Double Indemnity by James M. Cain 
• Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler 
• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain 
• A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane 
• The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett 
• The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake 
• Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr 
• The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald 
• The Heat’s On by Chester Himes 
• The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley 
• The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett 
• The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 
• The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing 
• The Deep Blue Good-by John D. MacDonald 
• The Moving Target Ross Macdonald 
• The Guilty Mother by Diane Jeffrey 
• Like Flies from Afar by Enrique Ferrari 
• A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson 
• L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy 
• The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson 
• A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block 
• The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich 
• Fast One by Peter Ruric 
• The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett 
• The Five Cornered Square by Chester Himes 
• The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins 
• American Tabloid by James Ellroy 
• The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy 
• The Grifters by Jim Thompson 
• In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes 
• Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke 
• The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville 
• The High Window by Raymond Chandler 
• Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain 
• Killing Floor by Lee Child 
• Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith 
• Ride the Pink Horse by Dorothy B. Hughes 

Lots of Classics 

Some of you may have noticed some of the books and authors on the list. Classics such as The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, and The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain are some of the biggest books in the genre.  

These authors have more than one book on the list. Many hardboiled books were originally written for magazines in parts. Chandler combined two or more of his stories written for magazines and added more content when writing the books. That was the norm when hardboiled fiction was thriving in the 1920s. 

Conclussion 

That is all for the best hardboiled books of all time list. What books should have been included on the list? Let us know in the comments below! 

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