James M. Cain

Author Information
James M. Cain's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    26 Books
  • First Book:
    January 1934
  • Latest Book:
    October 2021
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Book List in Order: 26 titles

  • The Postman Always Rings Twice

    An amoral young tramp.  A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband.  A problem that has only one grisly solution--a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.

    First published in 1934 and banned in Bos...

  • Mildred Pierce

    In Mildred Pierce, noir master James M. Cain creates a novel of acute social observation and devasting emotional violence, with a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable. Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a ...

  • Moth

    A sweeping tale of love, loss, and the pursuit of beauty during the Great Depression From birth, Jack Dillon is a golden child. Blessed with blond locks, glittering eyes, and a perfect voice, he is the most popular child singer in Baltimore. But w...

  • Serenade

  • Love's Lovely Counterfeit

    Ben Grace, a member of the organized crime gang that controls Lake City, leaks evidence implicating the leader in murder and tax evasion, leading to a violent struggle to maintain control of the city in face of a reforming mayoral candidate...

  • Hard Cain

  • The Baby in the Icebox: And Other Short Fiction

    A collection of stories, both early and late, that show how Mystery Writers of America Grand Master James M. Cain made his name There is a hungry tiger loose in the house, and that is not good news for anyone. A jealous husband let the animal out of ...

  • Cloud Nine

    When a pregnant sixteen-year-old blonde tells Graham Kirby that his brother is the father, Kirby finds himself caught up not only in the girl's problem, but also in a murder committed and in one about to happen...

  • The Magician's Wife

    In The Magician’s Wife, Cain returns to his classic themes of lust and greed. Clay Lockwood, a business executive, falls in love with the irresistible Sally Alexis, wife of a professional magician. Their story is one of the inexorable process of â€...



  • Enchanted Isle

    While searching for her father, a runaway stumbles into a deadly mess At thirteen, Mandy was too old for spanking when her stepfather first took her over his knee. She’s didn’t mind the pain, but hated the look in his eye and his lingerin...

  • The Butterfly

  • Double Indemnity

    ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME â€¢  James M. Cain, virtuoso of the roman noir, gives us a tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful story in Double Indemnity, an X-ray view of...

  • Packed and Loaded

    In these never-before-published interviews, the author of Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Mildred Pierce discusses his first notions to be a writer, his newspaper days, his Hollywood years, and Marilyn Monroe with brutal honesty...

  • The Cocktail Waitress

    Following her husband's death in a suspicious car accident, beautiful young widow Joan Medford is forced to take a job serving drinks in a cocktail lounge to make ends meet and to have a chance of regaining custody of her young son. At the job she en...

  • Galatea

    Out of jail and back at work, a boxing trainer finds a woman worth fighting for It took some doing, but Duke Webster is out of prison. Val Valenty arranged the parole, and now the onetime boxing coach is his puppet, breaking his back on Valenty’...

  • The Institute

    An academic looking for money finds a woman and trouble instead Professor Lloyd Palmer loves a good biography. His fantasy is to start an institute to teach young scholars the biographical arts, and it will take old money to make his dreams come t...

  • Jealous Woman

    A salesman, a would-be divorce, and an insurance policy turn toxic in Reno Vegas is a city of lovers, but in Reno, the business is divorce. Six weeks in Reno can erase the darkest marriages, and the only question is how to pass the time -- craps ...

  • Mignon

    A Union army invalid meets a comely Louisiana rebel and never looks back The Union has captured New Orleans, and Bill Cresap has come to reap the profits. A school friend has a line on some easy money, and Cresap is eager to turn carpetbagger. But...

  • Past All Dishonor

    A Confederate spy risks his life to win the heart of a fallen woman Early in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento, to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory towards the Southe...



  • Rainbow's End

    A hijacker and his hostage escape to a very strange, very dangerous farm Since his father died, every Saturday night has been the same for Dave and his mother. She starts by talking -- aimless, weird fantasies about get-rich-quick schemes that nev...

  • The Root of His Evil

    While slinging hash in a diner, a would-be Cinderella meets her Prince Charming Carrie Selden is not at all like the woman you've read about in the papers. Though she was raised in an orphanage, she isn't an orphan. She didn't finish high school ...

  • Sinful Woman

    A starlet comes to Reno to start a new life -- and end her old one forever Sylvia Shoreham's Hollywood dreams came true long ago. Critically beloved for her beauty, talent, and style, she was on her way to international stardom when a bad contrac...

  • Career in C Major

    From a famous tough-guy writer, a collection of shockingly funny stories Ever since she got married, Doris has regretted giving up her singing career. After years of domestic drudgery, she decides to take one last crack at becoming an opera singer...

  • A Bad Woman

    A Bad Woman (originally titled Sinful Woman) is James M. Cain's little gem of a hard-boiled novel, set in the post-War 1940s of Reno, Nevada. Film star Sylvia Shoreham is wowing the dusty gambling town and is hell-bent on divorcing her conniving use...

  • The Complete Crime Stories

    Seventeen gripping tales from one of the toughest authors in the history of crime fiction They call him Lucky -- but he has never had a lucky day in his life. A nineteen-year-old hobo just starting to ride the rails, he is hiding in the coal car ...

  • Dead Man

    In this powerful tale of guilt, a short story from James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories, a desperate man is driven to the edge of madness after he accidentally kills a railroad ...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

James M. Cain has published 26 books.

James M. Cain does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Dead Man, was published in October 2021.

The first book by James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice, was published in January 1934.

No. James M. Cain does not write books in series.
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