The Postman Always Rings Twice is the first of Cain’s pulp detective novels. A drifter, Frank, pulls into a diner/gas station along the highway and meets Cora, the young, beautiful wife of the Greek immigrant owner. They fall for one another and plan the Greek’s murder. A district attorney asks questions, and the couple turns on one another. But a clever defense attorney won’t be outdone. Will Frank and Cora get away with their crime and live happily ever after? Spicy stuff for the 1930s. Raymond Chandler, screenwriter for the 1946 noir movie, regarded the novel as pornographic – hardly a description by today’s standards.
This is a must-read for film noir enthusiasts. It’s fun to compare the movie versions of 1946 and 1981 with the original novel, and it’s only 100 pages long. Cain died in 1977, but readers might also enjoy the newly discovered 1975 Cain manuscript published in 2012 – The Cocktail Waitress.