My thesis is a study of the subgenre of domestic noir focusing on genre conventions, literary heritage and audience responses. It examines why domestic noir has been read widely in the last decade and how it fits alongside current women’s movements, outpourings of anger, and protests against gendered violence in recent years. Specifically, I look at how domestic noir can be understood and defined as a subgenre in relation to the current political and cultural postfeminist and neoliberal climate. Here, I move away from critics’ and publishers’ definitions and place readers of the subgenre at the centre of my examination and their discussions around the revenge plot, unreliable and unlikable characters and the literary value of domestic noir. While this thesis explores, similarly to other genre research, the characteristics, tropes, and structure of the subgenre through textual analysis, I apply a dual approach, examining not only the textual clues but also readers’ engagement, response, and understanding of the subgenre. This is primarily done through six all women book groups that were held in libraries around Brighton and Hove over three months, which lead this study of domestic noir, its portrayal of women’s perspectives, fears, and rage. Throughout this thesis I especially focus on domestic noir’s relationship with the female Gothic, which has largely been left unexplored. I argue that domestic noir is part of the longstanding tradition of female Gothic writing and that it not only takes on a didactic purpose for readers through realistic elements in plot and narration, but also brings pleasure through the revenge plot and Gothic excess. This combination of realism and escapism within the books enabled the groups to process, share and discuss private and public experiences of sexism, misogyny, and instances of abuse as well as to build community with each other, connecting individual experiences in the books to personal and wider societal concerns.