Double Indemnity

‘It is truly an astonishing style, rippling and easy in a nervous sort of way, the people talking as such people would talk, the writing vivid and direct.’ - John K. Hutchens,

The New York Times, 1935 Following 1934 hit The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain struck noir gold again the following year with Double Indemnity, originally published with two companion novellas.

Inspired by a real-life crime case, Cain weaves the murky tale of insurance agent Walter Huff, who finds himself inexorably drawn to Phyllis Nirdlinger, a woman with plans to murder her husband and reap handsomely from his life insurance. Both commit to the scheme, but the deed done, clouds gather, principally in the form of Huff’s claim manager Barton Keyes smelling a rat.

Soon, Huff finds himself in an invidious position, realising the risk of Nirdlinger’s knowledge. The only solution is to kill her too, but Huff is unwittingly little match for fiction’s ultimate femme fatale…