Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1 'Black' Markets: the Emergence of the Genre in France -- 2 Profusion and Profundity: Simenon and the Paradox of the Crime Novel -- 3 Framing the Noir: The Individual in Society -- 4 The Aesthetics of Commitment -- 5 The Scene of the Crime -- 6 Shades of Noir: Modern and Contemporary French Crime Fiction -- 7 'Une Nouvelle Nouvelle Classe d'Âge': Youth Culture and the Roman Noir -- 8 Mapping Minds and Figuring Plots: the Novels of Fred Vargas -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.