A handful of noir + crime novellas

The tradition of "noir" has a deep connection with the short novel. Here's a handful in our Shortish noir list.

Many landmark noir titles are novellas. Some of that has to do with the noir style. Often delivered in a clipped sentences with fast plot reversals, the novella length was ready-built for noir's quick-fire style.

The noir genre also came of age while paperbacks were rising in popularity: the short dark novels, often written for broad appeal, could be priced affordably as short paperbacks.

A few notable noir classics that just happen to be novellas:

• Trouble Is My Business by Raymond Chandler. Featuring Philip Marlowe, in a story where the murder victim isn't so innocent...
• In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. "A classic California noir with a feminist twist," Hughes's novel describes the post-war misogyny faced by a veteran pilot in Los Angeles.
• To Each His Own by Leonard Sciascia. In Sicily, Sciascia crafted his own noir style to deliver "an anatomy of a society founded on secrets, lies, collusion, and violence." He also broke fresh ground with the "metaphysical mystery."  

The Shortish list mixes crime with noir and extends to work published more recently, by both familiar and often overlooked authors.  Check out our list of noir + crime short novels.

The Shortish Project is an evolving database of new and classic short novels from publishers big and small. Find the latest. Discover hidden gems. Search by author, book title or ISBN here.

Or lean in and do a random scroll through the full Shortish database (600 titles or so)!