The Mysterious Romance of Murder: Crime, Detection, and the Spirit of Noir by David Lehman is a 2022 Cornell University Press publication.

Well, I’m not sure how I feel about this book. It was not what I was expecting, for starters. Once I settled in to read it, I immediately struggled with the author’s presentation- but I thought it was just an introduction of sorts- and felt it was still on track with my expectations.

But then the book became hyper-focused on noir- not all crime or detection, just the ‘spirit of noir’.

Despite the confusion, I continued because I do like noir. I appreciated the author’s obvious respect for noir, and agree that it is, perhaps unlike many other forms of crime fiction, an actual art form. Poetry noir, though? Um- okay. I'm 'poetry impaired' to begin with, so that's a fusion I’m not fully comprehending.

But, if you are a huge fan of noir films, and are looking for a unique study of noir authors, films, the dialogue and vernacular specific to noir fiction, then this book might be what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, for me, personally, the author’s presentation, organization, and execution didn’t come together for me. I’m sure it’s one of those times when I'm the one at fault, rather than the author or the book. I think I got off on the wrong foot with this book and never fully recovered from it.

Overall, this book is going to work for those who know up front what they are in for, and for those who wish to study noir films from a dialogue/ poetry/ speech angle, and not so much from a psychological point of view, as the title suggests.

2 stars ( )

This was possibly written as a follow up to the author's previous book, "The Perfect Murder: A Study in Detection".

The book is divided into five parts (the romance, the props, the authors & directors, the films, and some profiles). The author's key areas of interest - poetry, speech, writing - form the basis for this narrative.

Despite being a huge fan of noir, espionage and crime, I was not a fan of this. The 40 plus page introduction was overly long and nearly finished it for me then and there. I found my attention wavering and I was wishing the author would hurry up and get to the crux of it all. Even when he did, I was not sufficiently engaged to absorb anything that was written down in front of me - the writing style and overall presentation did not inspire me.

What I also found lacking was an exploration of international noir - both authors and film - which is something I would definitely have been interested in, especially as I have been reading a lot of Frederic Dard (the classic French noir author) and his contemporaries.

Definitely one for the dedicated movie fan of the genre as this book explores specialty subject matter that only those seriously immersed in the genre will appreciate. ( )