Biography

Boileau-Narcejac (French: [bwalo naʁsəʒak]) is the pen name used by the French crime-writing duo of Pierre Boileau (28 April 1906 – 16 January 1989) and Pierre Ayraud, also known as Thomas Narcejac (3 July 1908 – 7 June 1998). Their successful collaboration produced 43 novels, 100 short stories and 4 plays. They are credited with having helped to form an authentically French subgenre of crime fiction, emphasising local settings and mounting psychological suspense. They are noted for the ingenuity of their plots and the skilful evocation of the mood of disorientation and fear. Their works were adapted into numerous films, notably Les Diaboliques (1955), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, and Vertigo (1958), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.