It took me almost seven years to read all three of these James M. Cain classics, reading The Postman Always Rings Twice in 2010, Double Indemnity in 2014 and Mildred Pierce in 2017. All are excellent and each it distinct from the others. If you have seen any of the movie versions of these books, do not think you know the stories.

Summaries:
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a steamy story of obsessive passion.
Double Indemnity is classic noir, a story of greed with a dangerous fem fatale thrown in.
Mildred Pierce is harder to pin down, It tells the story of a strong-willed divorcee who is determined to make it in an unfair world. Her personality makes it easy to think of the book as a noir version of the Scarlett O'Hara story. One can easily hear her vowing to "never go hungry again!"

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
• 5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
• 4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
• 3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
• 2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
• 1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. ( )

Rating for "The Postman Always Rings Twice" not read the other two. ( )

I've only read "The Postman Only Rings Twice"....this is my review:
Frank Chambers was an opportunist, a drifter, and a fearless adventurer who’d seen the inside of a prison cell more than once and frankly, had nothing to lose. I don’t know if Frank came to town looking for trouble, but when he stopped at the greasy spoon “Twin Oaks Tavern” for a bite to eat, and spotted the sexy bombshell Cora working in the kitchen, he was doomed. Cora was married to the Greek tavern owner, Nick Papadakis, twice her age, and boring as sin.

Frank tells this story, in his simple pithy manner relating details of how he took a handyman job at the tavern, fell into a lusty affair with Cora, and plotted with her to murder Nick and make it look like an accident.

James Cain is an amazing storyteller. This short novella is loaded with substance: a dark gloomy atmosphere, memorable characters, a suspenseful plot, non-stop action, and racy sex scenes. Tom Wolfe summed it up perfectly in the Alfred A. Knoph edition Introduction, “Picking up a Cain novel was like climbing into a car with one of those Superstockers who is up to forty by the time your right leg is in the door.”

"The Postman Always Rings Twice" is not your typical murder mystery, because you, the reader, are in on the plot to kill Nick. And there is more suspense after the murder than before the crime is committed. The police suspect the truth and cleverly scheme to get Frank and Cora to turn on each other. Their efforts result in torturous psychological consequences: suspicion, wariness, irritable moods that lead to heavy drinking, arguments and recrimination.....all leading up to an Alfred Hitchcock style surprise ending.

Written in 1934 "The Postman Always Rings Twice" was twice filmed. In 1946 the movie starred Lana Turner and John Garfield. The later 1981 version starred Jessica Lang and Jack Nicholson. And the novel still holds the coveted position as number 98 of Modern Library’s top 100 best American novels of all time. Pure entertainment, quick and easy.
I'm looking forward to reading the other novels in this edition. ( )

Just finished reading The Postman Always Rings Twice. I am truly amazed at what an author can do in 87 pages. The Postman Always Rings Twice has suspense, raw emotion, murder, sex. Cain didn’t have to write 200 pages to get his story told…87 was perfect.

And believe it or not, Lana Turner and John Garfield look exactly like I pictured Cora and Frank to look. Whoever cast the original movie…bravo.

Can’t wait to watch the movie. If you’re a mystery fan or a fan of great writing, read The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Double Indemnity is quite the story. Again, in 80 pages, James M. Cain conveyed all he needed to in order to tell a chilling tale of murder and betrayal. It’s the same old story, murder for insurance, but it’s not the same old story in the way that it’s told. It’s the perfect murder, but it isn’t that perfect.

What I’ve come to realize, however, is that not only does Cain know how to tell a tale, he also knows how to create an ending that the readers won’t figure out. In both The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, I never in a million years would have conceived of his endings. Totally creative, totally fitting, totally satisfying, totally chilling. There is a reason why these novelettes are considered classics.

Now for the movie, which I intend to watch. I know I’ve seen it but don’t remember it. Since I remembered Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck played the leads, I wasn’t really picturing anyone else in the parts. What startled me was the Barbara Stanwyck’s character in the book is Phyllis Nirdlinger and in the movie is Phyllis Dietrichson. Tell me what director thought that Dietrichson was a better name than Nirdlinger. MacMurray’s character is Walter Huff in the book and Walter Neff in the movie. I’m sure there’s a story behind these and several other name changes, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what it would be.

I’m pretty sure I have an old edition of The Postman Always Rings Twice floating around my apartment somewhere. I’ll soon be on the search to find it.

To sum up, if you want to know what a real mystery is like, short, sweet and to the point, I whole-heartedly suggest James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. ( )

A must buy, must read. I love Cain's writing. ( )