I loved THE SONG OF ACHILLES. One of the few books I rated 5 stars on Goodreads. I remember liking her follow-up (CIRCE) as well.

This was a rewatch for me because I thought I might have misjudged this lackluster noir when I first saw it on Mubi. I didn’t. But Angel and Smitty rule.

“I got such a yen for you, it hurts like a toothache.” — Kay Medford as Angel in GUILTY BYSTANDER

I’m not a big Dane Clark fan, but I sort of liked him here. More importantly, the supporting characters provide enough local color to encourage you to stick around until the convoluted mystery's solved.

“What do they call this stuff, Kiss of Death?”
—Dane Clark in BLACKOUT

This was more of a standard noir than DEADLINE AT DAWN but it had the same moral underpinning in terms of the character who blacks out.

“You make more sense when you’re drunk.”
—Janis Carter in FRAMED (1947)

This started out on the slow side but when it picked up I was all in. More of a mystery than your typical noir shenanigans. Loved both Susan Hayward and Paul Lukas.

“It’s all right to live in a cocoon like this if you expect to be a butterfly someday.” —Susan Hayward in DEADLINE AT DAWN