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This page lists novels and short story collections by James M. Cain. Omnibus editions that include McCoy novels are also included as are books about James M. Cain.

Cover images, when possible, are for an early edition and a more recent paperback or digital edition.

By James M. Cain
- novels / story collections
- omnibus editions
- non-fiction

About James M. Cain
- biographical / critical

Our Government

James M. Cain

1930

Fictional dialogues on the workings of the several branches of the government.

From the back cover:

"The purpose of this book is to show you what manner of men it is whom you as a taxpayer support. Mr Cain does not discourse upon them, he does not describe them with adjective or the usual pen portrait. His is not the method of Bryce, nor even De Tocqueville, nor any of the professors. He is far more cruel and effective - and amusing - than any of the solemn tomes upon our commonwealth, the science of government, political economy or the other subjects that nobody reads except in a university for marks."

The Postman Always Rings Twice

James M. Cain

1934

"Whatever you may think of this book it has one great quality - you cannot put it down. From the moment the young bum comes to the hot-dog dtand and meets the Greek proprietor's wife and they fall like bricks for each other, the story rushes, plunges ahead - clandestine love affair, first plot to kill the Greek which fails, second plot which succeeds, dissimulation, arrest, trial for murder - but that's only the beginning of the story, not the climax. This book is like a ride on a roller-coaster. Yet for all its thrills, it is not an old-style thriller. It is a hard-boiled realistic narrative about two hard-boiled realistic people, bound together by sex and greed, and it is put before the reader in clipped and biting prose."

Serenade

James M. Cain

1937

"The emphasis is hereby put upon the word story, for that, above everything else, is what this book is. It is an account of the lives of two men and one woman and of their relations with each other, which begins in a moment of tenseness and passion and moves forward with amazing speed, in the clipped and biting prose that Cain has made his own, to still greater heights - to emotion as taut that it must break into violence. The story is set in Mexico, Hollywood, and New York - a simple, primitive scene on one hand, a brilliant sophisticated one on the other. There is tenderness and beauty in the book and also murder and vice. The arts of the film, the opera, and the bullfight are in it, and an incredible understanding of the strange nature of the human animal. But above all, a story is in it - a story full of fury and terror and love, which once begun must be finished and once read will be remembered."

Mildred Pierce

James M. Cain

1941

"Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness and determination. She used those attributes to survive a divorce in 1940s America with two children and to claw her way out of poverty, becoming a successful businesswoman. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men and an unreasoning devotion to her monstrous daughter. Out of these elements, Cain created a novel of acute social observation and devastating emotional violence - and a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable."

Love's Lovely Counterfeit

James M. Cain

1942

"Start this novel: you won't relax until you've finished it. To those who have read Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice or Serenade, nothing more need be said, for he is here again the story-teller supreme, the master of a super-charged style, swift and tense, dealing with raw passions. The story is of a man and two women mixed up in some dirty business in a small American city. You ought to worry about yourself if you don't find it exciting."

Three of a Kind

James M. Cain

1943

Comprises three novellas: Career in C Major; The Embezzler; and Double Indemnity.

"Like his great successes, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Serenade, like almost everything he has written - they deal with violent deeds and violent emotions. Passion and murder are their materials, and they are presented with the amazing skill that makes any Cain story an adventure in suspense. They are indeed three of a kind - and every one of them an ace."

Past All Dishonor

James M. Cain

1946

"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 Southern cause. It's a plush assignment, well out of the line of fire, but Duval hasn't been there long before he comes into mortal danger. On a swim in the Sacramento River, he gets knocked on the head by a paddleboat, and is drowning in the muck when Morina, a quick-witted woman of the night, tosses him a rope. Suffocated by instant, irresistible love, Roger follows Morina to her home turf: Virginia City, Nevada. For the miners, gamblers, and gunfighters who populate this hardscrabble town, her price is negotiable. But for a man in love, she charges a thousand dollars. Roger will sacrifice body, mind, and soul to get that money - but will his sacrifice be enough to make her love him?"

The Butterfly

James M. Cain

1947

"It is the story of a farmer, and of the daughter who came back to him years after he had almost forgotten her, and of the wife who had deserted him, and of the man who had stolen his wife. It is, inevitably, swiftly paced, suffused with passion, knife-like in its descriptive power. Around the astonishing quadrangle of this tale swirl contrasting moods of brutality and tenderness with ever increasing violence right up to the dramatic end."

The Moth

James M. Cain

1948

"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 when puberty robs him of his voice and the stock market wipes out his family fortune, Jack is forced to rebuild. Over the next fifteen years, Jack will see it all. From Maryland to California and back again, he will become a football star, a soldier, and a tramp. Through it all, he never loses his eye for beauty, or his hunger for a woman he has known since childhood. To find happiness in the face of the Depression, Jack will have to remember that no matter how the world has changed him, part of his soul remains as pure as the first note he sang."

Sinful Woman

James M. Cain

1948

"When Sylvia Shoreham, vivid movie star, hit the Reno gambling halls for a show-down with Baron Adlerkreutz, her renegade husband, she found herself involved in murder and violence. Only Sheriff Lucas had faith in Sylvia's innocence, but even his faith suffered as the facts began to come out, particularly the facts about her mysterious sister, Hazel, whose extraordinary beauty affected everyone."

Jealous Woman

James M. Cain

1950

"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 or roulette? Jane Delavan is a roulette woman, a stately beauty from back East who’s too classy for the motel where she’s shacked up. She’s come for a divorce, but her husband has other ideas. He wants an annulment, and in exchange offers to take out a $100,000 insurance policy on himself—just in case something happens to him before their paperwork goes through. Jane is cunning enough to make sure that, if she wants something to happen, it will. Ed Horner is the insurance agent sent to settle the agreement, and it doesn’t take long for Jane to settle him. They fall in love over twenty-five-cent roulette, and soon get a bigger score in mind. In the Biggest Little City in the World, a king-size scheme is brewing."

The Root of His Evil

James M. Cain

1951

Also published with the title Shameless.

"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 until she was nineteen, but that was because she was working as a waitress, not because she was slow. And though she’s very cunning, well, she’s no femme fatale. But her beauty . . . oh yes, her beauty is everything you’ve heard. At twenty-one, she takes her savings and moves to New York City, landing a job at a diner called Karb’s, at the bottom rung of the restaurant chain’s tall corporate ladder. Though she makes minimum wage, Carrie is savvy, and it isn’t long before she starts to climb. When her coworkers unionize, they choose her as president, and from there, the sky is the limit. But just as the union gets underway, she meets a mysterious intellectual named Grant—who will either help her rise to the top, or drag her straight down to hell."

Galatea

James M. Cain

1953

"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's farm in exchange for a pittance. But Valenty is about to find out that boxing men never take orders without a scrap. The trouble starts when Webster meets Valenty's wife. A barrel-shaped woman whose extreme weight makes her old before her time, Holly stays fat on Valenty's cooking - meat, potatoes, and endless gravy. Webster puts her on a diet, slimming her down the way he would an over-the-hill pro in search of a comeback. But as her waistline shrinks and her beauty emerges, Valenty gets jealous - putting them on course for a bloody confrontation where only the hungry will survive."

Mignon

James M. Cain

1962

"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 when he lands in the Crescent City, still nursing a leg wound from Chancellorsville, he finds that his friend has vanished and taken their start-up capital with him. Just when despair threatens to overpower him, Mignon Fournet arrives to overwhelm him instead. A Creole widow with rebel sympathies and hopeful eyes, she has come to Cresap in desperate need. The army has arrested her father and she will do whatever it takes to find out where he's detained and what he's charged with. She begs Cresap to use his army connections to find him. Cresap soon discovers that Mignon's father shipped supplies to the Confederate commander; he could pay for treason with his life. Dazzled by the flirtatious Mignon, Cresap agrees to help free him. Although the veteran's army days are behind him, his war is just starting to heat up."

The Magician's Wife

James M. Cain

1965

"Clay Lockwood enters the Portico with corned beef on his mind. He's a top distributing executive with Grant's Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a long line of boardroom coups. He comes for lunch, and eats his fill of his company's beef, but leaves with an entirely different hunger gnawing at his gut -- a volcanic passion that will tear him apart. The hostess's name is Sally Alexis, a magician's wife whose rough-hewn charm mesmerizes this magnate of meat. She rebuffs his first pass, but calls him up later, to explain her situation and plead for tenderness. Although her marriage is miserable, she's won't leave her husband because she wants to secure an inheritance for her little boy. As the lovers get closer, Lockwood becomes an amateur illusionist himself, focusing on one very particular trick -- how to make a magician disappear."

Rainbow's End

James M. Cain

1975

"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 never come to anything -- but finally she goes silent, and that's when Dave becomes afraid. Mom has a way of getting very close that is repellent and appealing all at once, and he's terrified of where it might lead. One Saturday, a noise outside breaks the silence. A hijacker has escaped his stolen plane with a parachute, a hundred thousand dollars in cash, and one very frightened stewardess. The thief thinks he's gotten away with it, but he doesn't know what Dave's mother will do for an easy payday - and a chance to make her son a happy man."

The Institute

James M. Cain

1976

"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 true. Around Washington, the oldest money is found not in the District, but in Delaware, a land of wealth so astonishing that even the Du Ponts are considered nouveau riche. But when the professor goes to Wilmington, he comes away not with old money, but young trouble. Her name is Hortense Garrett. She is his benefactor's wife, a twenty-something beauty trapped in an unhappy marriage, whose good looks conceal the most cunning mind this side of the Potomac. She needs a ride to Washington, and Lloyd offers to give her a lift. They've barely left Delaware before he falls for her. By the time they hit the Beltway, his biography will be in her hands."

The Baby in the Icebox And Other Short Fiction

James M. Cain

1981

A short story collection.

"The short stories, sketches and dialogues, and one novella in this book are filled with people caught in the cold-blooded grip of passion and fate. Every page is written in the crisp, fast-paced, caustically ironic style that made James M. Cain a master of the school of hard-boiled fiction."

Cloud Nine

James M. Cain

1984

"Graham meets Sonya outside of his real estate office. She is sixteen, beautiful, and showing just the right amount of leg. He's ruminating on those legs when she drops the bombshell -- she's there because Graham's brother, Burl, raped her, leaving her frightened, pregnant, and very much alone. She was spending the night with a friend when two boys and a case of beer turned a quiet evening into a hellish orgy. All she wants is the $1,111 it will cost to spend the next few months in a convalescent home, then give the baby up for adoption, but Burl won't give her the money. Sonya's vengeful father, meanwhile, wants far more money from Burl, to pay for harming his daughter. Graham offers Sonya a better choice: He'll marry her so that she can get a legal abortion. This moment of twisted generosity will change his life forever -- but he has no idea that, as he asks for Sonya's hand, he is signing away his soul."

The Enchanted Isle

James M. Cain

1985

"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 lingering hand. By the time she's fifteen, this young spitfire can't take any more of his unwanted groping. With seventy-four bucks in her pocket, she packs her things and buys the bus ticket that will change her life. She meets Rick at the bus stop - a handsome young thug who's a few days removed from his last bath. He's charming and sympathetic, so she buys him a ticket and, on the ride to Baltimore, tells him that she's going to find her real father. But wouldn't it be better, Rick suggests, to greet Daddy in style? Of course, a mink coat would cost a little money, but Rick knows just where to get it. His plan is daring, foolish, and highly dangerous. What teenage runaway could resist?"

Career in C Major and Other Fiction

James M. Cain

Editor: Roy Hoopes

1986

A short story collection.

"James M. Cain shows off a light comedic touch that will surprise readers who are familiar only with his crime novels The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. But Cain had been publishing funny stories, articles, and satire since his early days as a reporter for H.L. Mencken's Baltimore Sun, and was just as comfortable writing about singers as he was about killers. This collection of Cain's lighter work shows that if an author is tough it doesn't mean he can't crack a smile."

The Cocktail Waitress

James M. Cain

2012

A manuscript found among James M. Cain's papers 10 years after his death.

"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 encounters two men who take an interest in her, a handsome young schemer who makes her blood race and a wealthy but unwell older man who rewards her for her attentions with a $50,000 tip and an unconventional offer of marriage."

The Complete Crime Stories

James M. Cain

2015

"Seventeen gripping tales from one of the toughest authors in the history of crime fiction."

• The Baby in the Icebox
• Pay-Off Girl
• Two O’clock Blonde
• The Birthday Party
• Brush Fire
• Coal Black
• Career in C Major
• Death on the Beach
• Dead Man
• The Girl in the Storm
• Joy Ride to Glory
• Pastorale
• Mommy’s a Barfly
• The Taking of Montfaucon
• Cigarette Girl
• The Robbery
• The Money and the Woman (The Embezzler)

Cain X 3

James M. Cain

1969

On omnibus edition that brings together the three novels: The Postman Always Rings Twice; Mildred Pierce; and Double Indemnity.

Jealous Woman / Sinful Woman

James M. Cain

1974

On omnibus edition that brings together the two novels Jealous Woman and Sinful Woman.

Hard Cain

James M. Cain

1980

On omnibus edition that brings together the three novels: Sinful Woman; Jealous Woman; and The Root Of His Evil.

Four Complete Novels

James M. Cain

1982

On omnibus edition that brings together the four novels: The Postman Always Rings Twice; Mildred Pierce; Double Indemnity; and Serenade.

The Five Great Novels Of

James M. Cain

1985

On omnibus edition that brings together the five novels: The Postman Always Rings Twice; The Butterfly; Serenade; Mildred Pierce; and Double Indemnity.

The Postman Always Rings Twice / Double Indemnity

James M. Cain

1974

On omnibus edition that brings together the two novels The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity.

Three By Cain

James M. Cain

1989

On omnibus edition that brings together the three novels: The Postman Always Rings Twice; Serenade; Love's Lovely Counterfeit, and The Butterfly.

Three Complete Novels

James M. Cain

1994

On omnibus edition that brings together the three novels: The Postman Always Rings Twice; Mildred Pierce; and Double Indemnity.

The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories

James M. Cain

2003

On omnibus edition that brings together the three novels The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce; plus five short stories; Pastorale, The Baby in the Icebox, Dead Man, Brush Fire, and The Girl in the Storm.

"These three classics from the master of the noir novel, along with five otherwise unavailable short stories, are electric with the taut narrative voice, the suspense, and the explosive violence and eroticism that were James M. Cain's indelible hallmarks

Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s

2014

"Evolving out of the terse and violent hardboiled style of the pulp magazines, noir fiction expanded over the decades into a varied and innovative body of writing. Tapping deep roots in the American literary imagination, the novels in this volume explore themes of crime, guilt, deception, obsessive passion, murder, and the disintegrating psyche. With visionary and often subversive force they create a dark and violent mythology out of the most commonplace elements of modern life. The raw power of their vernacular style has profoundly influenced contemporary American culture and writing. Far from formulaic, they are ambitious works which bend the rules of genre fiction to their often experimental purposes."

• The Postman Always Rings Twice (James M. Cain)
• They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Horace McCoy)
• Thieves Like Us (Edward Anderson)
• The Big Clock (Kenneth Fearing)
• Nightmare Alley (William Lindsay Gresham)
• I Married A Dead Man (Cornell Woolrich)

60 Years of Journalism

James M. Cain

Editor: Roy Hoopes

1985

James M. Cain

David Madden

Twayne Publishers

1970

Cain's Craft

David Madden

1985

"The author looks at the master of the hard-boiled novel, James M. Cain, through six perspectives: the tough and proletarian writers; popular fiction writing as a career; writing for the movies and the adaptation of novels to film; the pure novel; the influence of American fiction on European fiction; and the aesthetics of popular culture."

James M. Cain

David Madden

1987

James M. Cain

Paul Skenazy

1989

James M. Cain and the American Authors' Authority

Richard Fine

1992

"The 1940s offered ever-increasing outlets for writers in book publishing, magazines, radio, film, and the nascent television industry, but the standard rights arrangements often prevented writers from collecting a fair share of the profits made from their work. To remedy this situation, novelist and screenwriter James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce) proposed that all professional writers, including novelists, playwrights, poets, and screenwriters, should organize into a single cartel that would secure a fairer return on their work from publishers and producers. This organization, conceived and rejected within one turbulent year (1946), was the American Authors' Authority (AAA). In this groundbreaking work, Richard Fine traces the history of the AAA within the cultural context of the 1940s."

The Paris Review Interviews, Vol 1

David Madden and Kristopher Mecholsky

2006

Includes an interview with James M. Cain from 1978.

James M. Cain: Hard-Boiled Mythmaker

David Madden and Kristopher Mecholsky

2011

"James M. Cain: Hard-Boiled Mythmaker is a critical overview of the author's life, work, and legacy. An updated and expanded edition of two of David Madden's scholarly works on Cain, this new book improves upon the previous works by collecting the most essential writing on Cain by Madden into one volume. In addition to melding existing material, this work contains updated and new material, including fresh commentaries on later books, such as Rainbow's End, Cloud Nine, and The Enchanted Isle, as well as later film adaptations, including Butterfly. It also responds to 40 years' worth of criticism on Cain and reevaluates his influence. Providing an overview of all of Cain's fiction, including an analysis of the major themes of his entire literary career, the book also describes Cain's impact on and importance in 20th-century culture, film in particular. In addition to a biographical summary and thematic outline of Cain's nearly 50-year career, Madden and Mecholsky examine how Cain's works explore the nightmare consequences of the persistent American dream. Finally, Madden and Mecholsky consider Cain's technical innovations of the novel and survey the major film adaptations of Cain's novels."

Characters and Plots in the Fiction of James M. Cain

Robert L. Gale

2015

"This reference guide to Cain’s oeuvre offers a chronology detailing his life as reporter, Hollywood scenarist and best-selling author. Entries for his fiction follow, with plot synopses, identification of more than 900 characters, and critical commentaries, many citing works for further reading. An introduction to Cain's fiction and a resource for scholars and aficionados, this compendium provides the most thorough exploration to date of this major American writer."