Authors > Cornell Woolrich

Cornell Woolrich, writer of suspense and noir fiction, is often remembered for the films based on his stories: Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock being the most famous. But his large body of work from his pulp fiction days writing for Dime Detective and other pulps to his large catalog of novellas and novels defined the Noir Fiction era of the 1940s.

Pen names included William Irish and George Hopley.

Featured Titles:

Phantom Lady

A man is first accused, and then convicted, of murdering his wife. As his execution date approaches, his friends and a sympathetic detective frantically search for his alibi, a woman with whom he’d gone to a Broadway show the night of the murder. None of the people who saw them together recall the woman.

Year: 1942 Genre: Noir Fiction

Black Angel

In this classic crime novel, a panic-stricken young wife races against time to prove that her convicted husband did not murder his mistress. Writing in first person from the wife s viewpoint, Woolrich evokes her love and anguish and, finally, desperation as she becomes an avenging angel in her attempt to rescue her husband from execution.

Year: 1943 Genre: Noir Fiction

Deadline at Dawn

“Bricky” and Quinn discover that they both come from the same town and the two quickly bond. They make a pact to leave together on the dawn bus after they have returned the money Quinn stole from the safe of a former client. However, on re-entering the man’s home, they discover he has been murdered. They have until dawn to track down the killer before the police are called and Quinn will be blamed for the crime.

Year: 1944 Genre: Noir Fiction, Suspense

Dec 04, 1903 -- Sep 25, 1968
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