The aim of this paper is to discuss the notion of “roman noir”. The study begins with a retrospective look over the origins of this genre, which highlights the importance of the North- American black novel. Then it discusses the main features and elements characteristic of the French authors, which made the type of novels so remarkable. The evolution of the genre will be also approached while studying its evolution towards the “polar” novel, reviewing its main writers, and the latest tendencies of polar fiction since the seventies, namely the “neo-polar”.