In 1947, Dorothy B. Hughes dexterously turned the noir genre on its head with this thrillingly intense novel. With empathy, elegance, and psychological precision, Hughes tells the story of former fighter pilot Dix Steele who, dissatisfied with postwar life in Los Angeles, seeks the exhilaration and power he felt during the war…and finds it only by homicidal means. After reuniting with an old Air Corps buddy who just happens to be a detective for the LAPD, Dix takes great interest in the murder case his pal is working on. A gorgeous and fiercely independent actress who lives in Dix's building adds to the tangled tension in this tantalizing page-turner (made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame in 1950).

This book is part of our Mysteries Book a Month 2020 package.