Queenpin by Megan Abbot

Imagine Cora, the femme fatale, narrating the story of The Postman always rings twice! Telling us how she met Papadakis, what happened with Frank and why she did what she had to do! Don't worry,  this is not the reworking of the The Postman Always Rings Twice from Cora's angle. But the classic noir from the female angle.

Seeing the cover and the opening, I thought the narrator is a young man. Before long I knew, the narrator is a young woman who finds the job as an accountant at a betting centre who when her immediate bosses ask her to cook up the books, has no qualms about it. We are introduced to the powerful and enigmatic  femme fatale Gloria Fenton who takes our girl into her hands and shows her the ropes. Our girl becomes a regular at the Casinos, racing tracks and is a runner for smuggled cigarettes, booze and precious stones.

All's well until she meets the charmer and loser Vic who believes that luck will turn and he has cracked how the system works and it won't be long before the big day. We do know that Vic is going to be the fall of our girl. Here is an interesting role reversal from the classic noir where the man is set to fall because of his fatal attraction to the woman, here our girl knows what Vic is but is unable to stop herself and reason. Vic is in trouble with a gangster because of his debts and needs her help. What are they going to do and how are they going to do it? Has our little girl learned enough to fool Gloria to get away with a substantial amount? Can she beat the Queenpin in her own game?

At about 170 pages, Queenpin is a captivating read with twists and turns and casual double crossings, set in the mid-sixties with a narrative that hooks from the start. I didn't realise almost until the end that our girl has no name. Interesting take on the classic noir. 

The Postman Always rings twice by James M. Cain

After reading Double Indemnity earlier this year, I wanted to read The Postman Always rings twice by James M. Cain published in 1934 considered a Noir Classic. I always wondered what Noir meant. Wikipedia tells me that Noir is the story where the preparator of the crime narrates the story.

The story is narrated by Frank Chambers, a drifter, somebody without any goal or destination. He meets Cora in a run down roadside joint in California. There is instant attraction between them. There are not many descriptions. Frank comes straight to the point without playing with words. He calls her a hellcat. She wants to be free of her Greek husband whom she married because she had no choice. Now she wants to kill him as she has a new choice. They don't mull over to think what is right or wrong. They have no moral rudder. No emotions are involved in their decision, they are quite matter of fact in their approach. They decide to kill Cora's husband Papadakis. They come with an idea and execute their plan. Will Cora and Frank be successful in their attempt?

She wants to stay, he wants to run and the story flows from their character. A real big cat also makes an appearance. The trick the lawyer plays is ingenious. At 116 pages it is an explosive fast read which I read in a couple of hours. The plot of double Idemnity is narrated in a paragraph about insurance in this story.

I am always interested in the why. Why someone did a crime? That's why I like Ruth Rendell's book, they are called the 'whydunits'. When the preprator narrates the story, you would know why, wouldn't you? Or would you? Oh! And it is all so real. Is this how real people go about commiting crime, thoughtless and bumbling!

I read somewhere that The Postman Always Rings Twice inspired Albert Camus to write The Stranger. I didn't know about it until I finished the book, I didn't see the similarities between Mersault and Frank Chambers while reading. Now I do see. They are so matter of fact without any emotions- Existential is the word, isn't it?

I haven't seen the movie, would love to watch it. My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet P.