As I've said before, I don't ordinarily like noir, but I read this on recommendation from my daughter. Enjoyed it immensely. In large part because of the absolutely stunning prose, which hit this reader almost immediately. Benjamin Black (the mysterious pseudonym of Irish novelist John Banville) does have a way with words. Here are a few, chosen almost at random:

I recently re-read Dashiell Hammett’s noir thriller, Red Harvest, published in 1929. I wanted to go back to the beginning, get a grip on the type of book literary agents and publishers are saying the market currently favors. I was thinking I might even incorporate a few dark elements into my own mystery. But, although I enjoyed re-reading Hammett--he is after all from my town--in the end, I don't believe I'm cut out for noir (though noir goes well with my hair, I'm told). Anyway, as you might recall, Red Harvest describes the bloody clean-up of corruption in Personville, Montana