Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 "Where Their Best Interest Lies": Hammett's The Maltese Falcon -- 2 Being Boss: Chandler's The Big Sleep -- 3 Beating the Boss: Cain's Double Indemnity -- 4 Who's the Boss?: W. R. Burnett's High Sierra -- 5 Deadline at Midnight: Cornell Woolrich's Night Has a Thousand Eyes -- 6 A Puzzle of Character -- 7 Hard-Boiled Fiction and Film Noir -- 8 Hard-Boiled Fiction and Film Noir, Continued -- Afterword -- Notes -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.