Crime fiction featuring a tough, cynical protagonist who navigates violence and corruption with grit, wisecracks, and a battered moral code.
Hardboiled fiction emerged in the 1920s pulp magazines as a grittier alternative to the genteel British mystery. The detective is tough, often a private eye, navigating a violent world with sardonic humor and street smarts. The prose is lean and punchy, the dialogue crackles, and the world is full of corruption. Unlike noir's fatalism, hardboiled stories usually feature a protagonist who maintains some moral code, however battered.
Hardboiled fiction created the template for the modern crime protagonist and influenced prose style across genres. Its commitment to lean, muscular writing is a corrective for anyone whose prose tends toward the ornate. If you want to learn dialogue that cuts and prose that moves, read hardboiled.
Philip Marlowe's first case, with dialogue so sharp it practically draws blood.
The Continental Op cleaning up a corrupt town by turning its factions against each other.
Lew Archer investigating a family's buried secrets, pushing hardboiled toward psychological depth.
Write a dialogue-only scene between a detective and a suspect. No dialogue tags, no action beats, just the words. Each character should be trying to get information from the other while giving as little as possible. The power dynamic should shift at least twice. Make every line count.