Part of the reason that Cain’s story is able to move so quickly is that his protagonist, Walter, is not a complete innocent at the start of the story. But it’s not just a matter of the page count – this book reads quickly because Cain writes so tightly, drawing us in to a plot that moves quickly and features several significant twists and revelations. It was a novella, published in parts in Liberty Magazine, and it can easily be finished in a couple of hours. One of the first things that struck me about Double Indemnity was how short it is. They find however that the insurance company is suspicious of the death and that they are suddenly under investigation… He quickly points out some of the defects in her scheme and the pair come up with a clever plan to contrive a train accident to claim the money. Walter’s suspicion that Phyllis intends to murder her husband are soon proved correct and, unable to resist his attraction to her, he agrees to help. This question surprises Walter as it is a type of insurance usually sold as an add-on during a transaction rather than one picked out by customers though he notes that it is unusual as being the only type of insurance that can be taken out on a third party’s life without their knowledge. It turns out that he isn’t home but his wife Phyllis is and they speak for a while about the plan before she asks whether he sells accident insurance. Nirdlinger’s home to try to persuade him to renew their automobile insurance. The story is told from the perspective of Walter Huff, an insurance salesman who calls at Mr.

I have previously read and enjoyed The Cocktail Waitress and The Postman Rings Twice and I am pretty sure that I have seen at least part of the film adaptation though I didn’t remember much more than the basic premise and certainly not well enough to discuss the changes made.

While I may not have reviewed any Cain works here before, Double Indemnity is not my first encounter with his work. I only realized this omission when I recently compiled my Five to Try list of inverted crime novels and determined that I would try to rectify it as soon as possible.

He is after all one of the towering figures of American crime fiction and, in particular, of the sort of inverted crime stories that I enjoy so much. I cannot really explain how it is that I have not previously written about the works of James M. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger.

Double indemnity james cain