Aside from the fine writing and sense of noir in these four stories, it's always fun to get lost in a sense of time as well as place. Tires that get patched and blow out constantly, no cell phones, cars with no windscreens, screeching speeds over forty and coal furnaces. (I actually remember living in a house that had a coal furnace.) Geesh.

My favorite, I think was "You'll Never See Me Again," where a couple of newlyweds get into a squabble after six months of marriage, she walks out and disappears. The fact that he's an architect and tires were patched results in a satisfactory ending. (And that's not a spoiler.)

Read these four. The places and time may have changed but not human motivations. ( )

Cornell Woolrich is often referred to as the "Father of Noir" with good reason. Best known perhaps, for Rear Window and The Bride Wore Black, he effortlessly creates wonderful tense suspense-filled situations where every day people find themselves in more trouble than they could ever imagine.

Four Novellas of Fear features four of his specialties:

Eyes That Watch You- Vera Miller plots to murder her husband with her mute, paralyzed mother in law watching her every move.

The Night I Died- Ben Cook, at the behest of his common-law wife, who was trying to kill him, fakes his death in order to obtain the large life insurance policy she has on him.

You'll Never See Me Again- Ed Bliss's new bride takes off after a rude remark about her biscuits. When days pass and he can't find her, he becomes suspect #1 in her disappearance.

Murder Always Gather Momentum- Dick Paine, for his wife's sake, approaches his former employer about his back wages, and things go horribly wrong. ( )