Death is a Lovely Dame is a collection of all the best lines from the Golden Era of hardboiled crime fiction. It includes quotes from such great authors as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Jim Thompson, Gil, Brewer, Charles Willeford, Ross Macdonald, John D. MacDonald, Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Jonathan Latimer, Mickey Spillane, Brett Halliday, Ellery Queen, W. R. Burnett, Paul Cain and Cornell Woolrich. Features over 180 excerpts and 50 paperback covers from the era.

Introduction A Note on the Quotes and Covers Pumping Lead Ugly Words Like Blackmail and Murder Femmes Fatales Existential Angst Drinking, Smoking & Other Vices I Like Women Warm to the Touch A Ticket to the Gas Chamber Down These Mean Streets Never Trust a Man Who Doesn't Drink Tough Guys with Ugly Mugs Dirty Money Just Pull the Trigger Better Off Dead Her Eyes Had Pain in Them Out of the Sewer Black Coffee Hot as Hell She's Old Enough to Be Your Wife A Sound of Distant Drums Acknowledgements About the Editor