Boileau-Narcejac
Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud (aka Thomas Narcejac) were French authors who specialized in police stories. They collaborated as "Boileau-Narcejac," with plots from Boileau. Narcejac provided most of the atmosphere and characterisations in each novel.
Each of them were highly successful alone before beginning their work together. The Prix du Roman d'Aventures, one of the most important literary awards in France, is given each year to the author of the best example of detective fiction in the world. Boileau won it in 1938 for
Le Repos de Bacchus
. Narcejac received it for
La Mort est du Voyage
in 1948. They met at the 1948 awards dinner.
While most of their works stand alone, they also wrote the "Sans Atout" series for young readers.
Two of their novels,
Celle qui n'était plus
and
D'entre les morts
, were adapted into films (respectively, Les Diaboliques and Vertigo)
“Quand il mangeait des babas ou des éclairs, il se sentait coupable jusqu'à l'âme, à cause de la guerre, à cause des vendeuses dont les maris ou les amants se trouvaient sans doute quelque part, entre la mer du Nord et les Vosges. Mais il comprenait que Madeleine avait besoin de cette nourriture, justement pour tenir en échec ce vide, ce néant, cette nuit où elle était toujours sur le point de sombrer.”