The Cocktail Waitress

James M. Cain worked on his final novel, The Cocktail Waitress, up until his death in 1977 but it was never published. The manuscript disappeared for decades only to be rediscovered in 2011 after a long and concerted effort by the writers Charles Ardai and Max Allan Collins to locate it. The novel was finally published in 2012 and, amongst fans of the genre, it is considered the ‘holy grail’ of crime fiction. 

Following her husband's death in a suspicious car accident, beautiful young widow Joan Medford is forced to take a job serving drinks in a cocktail lounge to make ends meet and to have a chance of regaining custody of her young son. At the job she encounters two men who take an interest in her, a handsome young schemer who makes her blood race and a wealthy but unwell older man who rewards her for her attentions with a $50,000 tip and an unconventional offer of marriage...

Title: The Cocktail Waitress
Published: 2012
Genre: Novels

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