This collection of Cain novels is a good representation of the "hard-boiled" genre. Cain's writing style includes sentences that feel short and active with unemotionally presented details, even when discussing emotion. Murder of someone who hasn't done anything to particularly inspire murder occurs in The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. Serenade, Postman..., and Double Indemnity all demonstrate that murder has consequences, even if it appears initially that the murderer will not be held accountable.

Women are portrayed oddly in all of these novels. By the end of Mildred Pierce, the characters are essentially in the same place they were in the beginning, except sort of used up at age 38. Education for women consists of high school and is put aside regularly before graduation. Cain's tone when he chooses to mention this seems to be one of disturbance, but it is presented as something that happens as a normal part of life. Cain attempts to present the difficulties of a divorced woman having to support a family, and in this respect acknowledges the challenges of reality, but in many instances throughout these novels he also shows women as temptresses who cause men to behave more negatively than they normally would. Additionally, men are not monogamous in these novels, and although women are annoyed by this they don't seem to see it as a moral issue. Rape is treated in a rather cavalier way that is grating to modern sensibilities. Cain can be credited for apparently attempting to write authentically about homosexuality in Serenade, though the results perhaps do not match what would be expected from a writer now.

It is clear that readers from the 1930's (Postman was published in 1934) may have found these novels shocking. I found them engrossing, even when at times disgusted. Although they present versions of reality that are more extreme than what might be considered the reality of the 1930's, reading these novels does serve to highlight the huge cultural changes in the United States between the 1930's and 2000's. ( )