[1][2] The series recreates, in editorial form and content, the flavor of the paperback crime novels of the 1940s and '50s.

The covers feature original illustrations done in a style that was common for paperbacks of that era, credited to artists such as Robert McGinnis and Glen Orbik.

Nine novels published by Hard Case have been nominated for the Edgar Award: In 2005, Little Girl Lost, by Richard Aleas (a pseudonym for Hard Case Crime co-founder Charles Ardai that is both an anagram of Ardai's name and a play on "alias"), was nominated as Best First Novel by an American Author, and Domenic Stansberry's The Confession won the award for Best Paperback Original; in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2023, and 2024 respectively, Allan Guthrie's Kiss Her Goodbye, Russell Hill's Robbie's Wife, Christa Faust's Money Shot, Stephen King's Joyland, Max Allan Collins's Quarry's Blood, and Scott Von Doviak's Lowdown Road were nominated for Best Paperback Original.

[7][8] Max Phillips' Fade to Blonde won the 2005 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year, and Charles Ardai's pseudonymous "Richard Aleas" novel Songs of Innocence won the same award in 2008.

[11] Two volumes in the series, one reprinting a pair of early Lawrence Block novels, 69 Barrow Street and Strange Embrace, the other a collection of Lawrence Block short stories, Catch and Release, ultimately were published by Subterranean Press.