I've spent many years looking all over the Web for the best sites devoted to the subject of hardboiled detective fiction. Here they are, organized into several obvious categories.
Authors
John Baker's Fiction Pages
Web site for British writer John Baker, author of the Sam Turner novels. Includes a bibliography, reviews, extracts, news, links, an interview, and more.
The Official Web Site of Lawrence Block
Whether all of Lawrence Block's books are hard-boiled or not may be open to question, but his books are uniformly entertaining, and his Web site is pretty cool, too. Don't skip the intro.
The James Lee Burke Internet Guide
Jan B. Steffensen's site includes links to all kinds of information about the author of the Dave Robicheaux and Billy Bob Holland books, including a biography, bibliography, and links to places where you can buy his books.
The Raymond Chandler Web Site
Robert F. Moss created this site as a resource for scholarship on Raymond Chandler, referred to as "the foremost American hard-boiled detective writer." Includes feature articles, biography, bibliography, and links to other Web resources.
Blackhat Mystery Bookstore Raymond Chandler Pages
A biography, links list, and extensive buying guide from the mystery bookstore specializing in hardboiled and noir.
David's Raymond Chandler Page
David (no last name available), who also has great taste in music, offers a brief biography and list of works on a great-looking site designed by his friend Robert, who apparently also has no last name.
Raymond Chandler
Bill Miller's site includes a listing of most of Chandler's work, with links to individual pages for seven novels. You'll enjoy the "Great Lines."
Raymond Chandler, from Bohemian Ink
Bohemian Ink describes itself as a "literary underground review," but don't let that throw you. This is a nice piece about how real detectives and other writers view the Master. There are some good links, too.
MichaelConnelly.com
Web site for the author of the award-winning novels featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. Don't miss the "Other Words" section, featuring various pieces by Connelly, including assorted essays and two unpublished chapters from the Harry Bosch novels.
Robert Crais
Web site for the author of the excellent Elvis Cole series covers his books, biography, tour information and more.
The Official Earl Emerson Web Site
Here's one of the newer guys, author of the Mac Fontana and Thomas Black detective series and recipient of the Shamus Award. He is also a lieutenant with the Seattle Fire Department, just to prove he's no armchair tough guy.
Sue Grafton's Web Site
A tribute to the creator of Kinsey Milhone, a rare hardboiled female detective.
The Continental Detective Agency
John Traynor's tribute to Dashiell Hammett has everything, including a biography, annotated list of his books and short stories, a special page on Lillian Hellman, and more for fans of the man who started it all.
The Continental Op
Here's everything you ever wanted to know about Dashiell Hammett's groundbreaking private eye, who first appeared in 1923 and gave birth to the genre, including a biography, bibliography, quotes, book covers, and more.
The Maltese Falcon FAQ
Though unofficial, this site is a fantastic repository of information about the book and the most famous version of the film. Created by Eddie Duggan of Suffolk, England, it includes not only frequently-asked questions, but also a discussion of Hammett's early fiction and thumbnail descriptions of the main characters.
The World of Nick Sharman
Okay, I'll admit I've actually never read any of Mark Timlin's Nick Sharman books, or seen the TV show (it's British; I'm not), but after reviewing the site, I'm planning to dig up a copy as soon as possible!
Dashiell Hammett bio from Books and Writers
A brief biography, plus a bibliography of books and screenplays, from the "books and writers" section of a site called pegasos. Also includes links to pages on other mystery writers, including Raymond Chandler.
The Hank Janson Website
Dedicated to the now-forgotten British paperback author of the 40s and 50s whose publishing company was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act.
Dennis Lehane
"Publishers Weekly" called him "The hippest heir of Hammett and Chandler." Elmore Leonard likes him, too. He wrote a five-novel series, then a non-series book called "Mystic River." The site is fun, too, and includes Chapter One of the new book.
Elmore Leonard Links
From the About Detroit Suburbs site, here's a list of links to pages about Detroit-area author Elmore Leonard, including an entertaining, multi-media enhanced official site featuring a 13-chapter biography.
G. Michael Patterson's Private Eye Stories
Patterson writes both "mainstream" and private eye fiction, and if you want to skip the other stuff, just click on the link to your left. He's been a Marine and a private eye, and he's from Texas, so they probably don't come any tougher, right?
Jason Starr
He's been described as "Jim Thompson with a PhD." That's pretty high praise for the Brooklyn-born writer of noir thrillers, first published in 1988. You can read excerpts and reviews, check out his bio, and order books on the site.
A World the Color of Noreen
Noreen Ayres is the creator of the Smokey Brandon series, including "A World the Color of Salt," "Carcass Trade," and "The Juan Doe Murders." She also writes poetry and short stories and answers questions, all of which you can experience on her site
Hard-boiled Maryland
Did you know that Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, William Lindsay Gresham, and George P. Pelecanos all have Maryland connections? Well, they do, and this site has bios on all of them, plus an "electronic exhibit" of their work, complete with cover photos.
E-Zines
Crime Factory
The online edition of the "Australian Crime Fiction Magazine" contains a wealth of information for mystery fans, including reviews of current books in the genre. You can also subscribe to the print edition.
Judas Ezine
An online magazine that publishes stories with hardboiled PI or noir crime settings, plus reviews of published works in the genre and pages for leading hardboiled authors.
Plots With Guns
Just what it says, this is a pulp magazine for the 21st century. They publish new fiction set in contemporary settings, three times a year. A gun is required. (In the story, not in your pocket!)
General Sites
Bleeker Books
Graham Powell's site, updated monthly, is dedicated to hardboiled and noir books and movies and is worth the visit if only for the features, such as the interview with Robert Randisi or the review of James Crumley's newest book.
Cluelass.com & The Mysterious Home Page
Cluelass is a massive collection of reviews, links, and news about mysteries and mystery happenings. Plus the Lass has also taken over Jan B. Steffenson's Mysterious Homepage, itself a major resource for fans. You can also order "The Deadly Directory."
A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection
Michael Grost's extensive overview of pre-1960 era mystery authors and their books is put forth as an "educational site containing reading lists and essays on great mysteries." For the scholar as well as the casual fan who just wants to know where it all began.
The Gumshoe Site
Although it's not strictly a hardboiled site, this one is so full of good links that you should make a point of bookmarking it.
Hard Boiled Pioneers
A concise history of the early days of the hardboiled genre, part of the "Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection" homepage created by Michael Grost (see above).
Hardluck Stories
Dave Zeltserman's site is doubly rare these days: It's a brand new hardboiled site, and it's also interesting. Its mission is "to help hardboiled readers discover future hardboiled classics." Published authors may submit their own work, and visitors can learn why the author wrote the book and get more information about it, and even read a hardboiled short story by him or her.
Mystery Net
An extensive site for mystery fans of all stripes. Offers online mysteries, reviews, news and events, and profiles. Though Agatha and Sherlock are given prominence, there are still plenty of features for those who prefer something a little harder.
MysteryGuide.com Hardboiled Reviews
The parent site includes a database of almost 700 mystery reviews, plus author interviews, games, and more. The reviews are divided into seventeen subgenres, for those who (like me) tend to get picky about what they read. Hasn't been updated since 1999, but what's there is quite readable.
No Night Sweats
A tribute to the art of crime fiction, plus short bits by the author that you'll enjoy.
Old School Books
If you haven't read Chester Himes, Donald Goines, Clarence Cooper, Jr., or Henry Van Dyke, you're in for a treat. This is black hard-boiled fiction, and it doesn't get any harder. Though the site has some broken graphics and links, there's still enough here to make a visit worthwhile.
Thrilling Detective Web Site
Kevin Smith's great-looking site offers new fiction every month, a complete annotated listing of fictional private eyes, plus listings of films, tv shows, radio shows, comics, trivia, you name it. He's even got my Crockett novels listed!
Web of Mystery
A link-based portal site allowing visitors to access the best mystery-related sites on the Web. In other words, kind of like this page of Hardboiled Heaven, only a lot bigger.
Booksellers
Blackhat Mystery Bookstore
A great selection of hardcover and softcover books, e-books, videos, audio books, posters, and other stuff, mostly hard-boiled or noir mystery. Run by G. E. Nordell, the author of the Rick Walker series.
ABE Books
ABE is a source for books from over 9000 used, secondhand, rare, and out-of-print booksellers around the world.
Amazon.com
Yes, I know this is where everybody goes for books and such on the Web, but they really do have a pretty decent selection and good prices. This link will take you to a search for books with "hard-boiled" in the title or keywords, but you can also search by author or specific title.
Miscellaneous
Lurid Paperback Cover of the Week
For those of you who, like me, are attracted to hardboiled fiction partly because of the great cover art from those books of the 40s and 50s, this site will knock your socks off. Click on "Complete Paperback Index" to access everything.
Private Investigator Entertainment Service
P.I.E.S. is basically a great catalog of new and used private eye fiction, listed by year and by author. Buy or sell. You can even purchase copies of MY stuff, if you're so inclined (at least the first one in the series).
Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang
An amazingly complete collection of every slang term you've ever heard or read in a work of hardboiled fiction, from "ameche" to "yegg."
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