Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

Vintage Books / Random House, 1936 (1964)

  

 Perhaps from time to time you meet someone and you get an initial impression. You think that you have a sense of what they might be like or even who they are. When insurance salesman Walter Huff meets Mrs. Nirdlinger, he is just conducting business.

The man of the house is not home, so Huff gives the wife a brief presentation of some insurance renewal options. Herbert and Phyllis Nirdlinger reside there. Insurance is a safeguard against cataclysmic or catastrophic events. Phyllis Nirdlinger tells Huff that Mr. Nirdlinger has been considering the Auto Club instead of renewing. From there. fellow readers, it is on!

There was a song, I believe it was in the 70’s or 80's; part of the lyrics went something like this "...I want to know what love is, I want you to show me."

The essence of Cain’s tale relates to two types of love, the first of the dark noir variety, the second the essence of caring and being protective. One of the main characters was actually once a nurse.

There is every reason to believe that there is a serial killer among Cain’s characters. As for Cain’s partners in crime: they pull it off, until they don't. In the end, the crime goes as initially planned. Yet in the end, the end is imminent.

Perhaps one of the more remarkable characters is the head of the Claims Department, Keyes. Keyes is fascinating because he is the experienced insurance pro, a mastermind who has "seen it all." He is irascible but irreplaceable. He is amazingly prescient while also being fallible. The blend is a well thought out component of the book.

This is a masterful work, a masterpiece. No synopsis can do it justice. James M. Cain did more in one hundred fifteen pages than some authors do in their creative lives. Try it. You'll like it.