Queenpin by Megan Abbott

 

     A bit of a switch in the genre. Has all of the elements of a traditional pulp novel of the 1950's except the protagonists are women and it is written by a female.  Our feminine lead, whose name I cannot remember, is a young woman, who, like all noir characters, gets mixed up with the wrong crowd at an early age.  She likes the taste of danger and the allure of a fast buck.  But she puts her trust in the wrong people and it all goes downhill from there.  The ending has a nice twist.  Worth reading.