A lot of the things listed in here seem way too much like adult reads. Give me my junk food fun reads please.
Dashiel hammett
Raymond chandler
The Glass Key by Hammett is fantastic. Maybe his best.
The Long Goodbye is probably my favorite by Chandler. Also his collection of short stories, The Simple Art of Murder, which includes a weird one called Pearls Are a Nuisance.
If you like Chandler, you might like his literary descendant Robert B. Parker. He wrote a series of books about a private detective named Spenser, which that old 1980s tv series Spenser For Hire is kind of based on. He started in the 1970s and basically wrote a new one every year until he died. They get questionable by the 2000s, but the first dozen or so are great in a junk food way.
Also in the great junk food category is the Modesty Blaise series by Peter O'Donnell. 11 novels, 2 short story collections, all fucking fantastic. About a female international crime boss who made a fortune then retired to England still in her 20s. Crazy spy/thief-type action, but very solid characters.
