Enter the dark world of hard-boiled crime fiction.

Sharing common characteristics with crime and noir fiction, hard-boiled mysteries have a tough and gritty tone. There’s no room for sentimentality in these books, as they often employ graphic descriptions of sex and violence. Written with a dark realism, these reads are typically set in urban areas and tend to have fast-paced, sordid plots.

The protagonists—or antiheroes—of these books tend to be hardened detectives. Many novels see these detectives going up against organized crime, or otherwise struggling through a legal system that is deeply corrupt. As vivid and gripping as they are cynical, these books are not for the faint of heart.

Want to dive deeper? Here are some fantastic places to start: 

Peruse the stories below for even more hard-boiled mysteries.

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