The Simple Art of Murder

This is a collection of early short stories and an essay which gave the
book its name. The latter is fairly short and its main idea is an
argument for the virtues of a noir mystery as opposed to a traditional
British one. Considering the fact that this comes from a guy who became a
classic of the former even before his death and that he picked up some
below the average examples of the latter, I agree.
The stories
themselves left me out cold for the most part. I can actually describe
the plot in practically all of them at once. A trouble starts involving a
damsel in distress. A tough guy emerges (usually a PI or a good cop)
who gets involved, gets knocked out, and shot at. It turns out the
damsel in distress is a minor culprit which makes her a femme fatale.
Everybody and their brother meet at the main villain place, a big
shootout is insured. Everybody dies except for the tough guy with a
heard of gold and the femme fatale who emerge unscratched; the latter
escapes. The end.