James M. Cain was one of the founders of the hardboiled school of noir fiction (although he detested all such labels). His best known works include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), Double Indemnity (1936 serial, 1943 book), and Mildred Pierce (1941).

“I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write, and I never forget that the average man, from the fields, the streets, the bars, the offices, and even the gutters of his country, has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent, and that if I stick to this heritage, this logos of the American countryside, I shall attain a maximum of effectiveness with very little effort.” 

– James M. Cain