Recommended reading - Meet Me at the Morgue, by Ross Macdonald (1953):

Meet Me at the Morgue

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

First published 1953.

ISBN-10: 0307740773

ISBN-13: 9780307740779

Description:

“My favorite . . . [Macdonald] is first among those novelists who raised the genre from its roots in pulp fiction to serious literature.” – P.D. James, from Talking About Detective Fiction.

“[The] American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brought to its zenith by Macdonald.” – New York Times Book Review.

“Macdonald should not be limited in audience to connoisseurs of mystery fiction.  He is one of a handful of writers in the genre whose worth and quality surpass the limitations of the form.” – Los Angeles Times.

“Most mystery writers merely write about crime.  Ross Macdonald writes about sin.” – The Atlantic.

“Without in the least abating my admiration for Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, I should like to venture the heretical suggestion that Ross Macdonald is a better novelist than either of them.” – Anthony Boucher.

“[Macdonald] carried form and style about as far as they would go, writing classic family tragedies in the guise of private detective mysteries.” – The Guardian (London).

“[Ross Macdonald] gives to the detective story that accent of class that the late Raymond Chandler did.” – Chicago Tribune.

Somebody in Pacific Point is guilty of a kidnapping, but what probation officer Howard Cross wants to find most is innocence: in an ex-war hero who has taken a tough manslaughter rap, in a wealthy woman with a heart full of secrets, and in a blue-eyed beauty who has lost her way. The trouble is that the abduction has already turned to murder, and the more Cross pries into the case the further he slips into a pool of violence and evil. Somewhere in the California desert the whole scheme may come down on the wrong man. Somewhere Cross is going to find the last piece of a bloody puzzle – a mystery of blackmail, passion, and hidden identities that might be better left unsolved.

On this day in movie history - Cry of the Hunted (1953):

Cry of the Hunted

directed by Joseph H. Lewis,

written by Jack Leonard,

based on a story by Marion Wolfe,

was released in the United States on May 8, 1953.
Music by Rudolph G. Kopp.

Cast:

Vittorio Gassman, Barry Sullivan, Polly Bergen, William Conrad, Mary Zavian, Robert Burton, Harry Shannon, Jonathan Cott, Frank Arnold, Sonia Charsky, Harry Cheshire, Jay Lawrence, Nolan Leary, Eugene Mazzola, Inez Palange, Fred Santley, George Selk, Bill Walker, Helen Winston.

Born on this day – Phillip Borsos:

Phillip Borsos

Director

Producer

Writer

May 5, 1953 – February 2, 1995

Credits:

Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990); Cooperage (1976); Do It with Joy (1977); Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995); Highway Heartbreaker (1992); Hollywood North (2003); Inventing Grace, Touching Glory (2003); Nails (1979); One Magic Christmas (1985); Spartree (1978); The Cider House Rules (1999); The Grey Fox (1982); The Mean Season (1985); The Night Before the Morning After (1980); The Shadow (1994); Tootsie (1982); Weird Science (1985); We're Talkin' Serious Money (1992).

On this day in movie history - The Wages of Fear (1953 movie & novel):

The Wages of Fear

French title: Le Salaire de la peur,

directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot,

written by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jérome Geronimi,

based on the novel by Georges Arnaud,

was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on April 15, 1953.
Music by Georges Auric.

Cast:

Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli, Peter van Eyck, Véra Clouzot, William Tubbs, Darío Moreno, Jo Dest, Antonio Centa, Luis De Lima, Grégoire Gromoff, Josep Palau i Fabre, Faustini, Seguna, Darling Légitimus, René Baranger, Pat Hurst, Evelio Larenagas, Jeronimo Mitchell, Ricardo, François Valorbe, Rico Zermano.

Recommended reading:

The Wages of Fear

Original title: Le Salaire de la peur.

By Georges Arnaud.

Originally published in 1950.

This English language translation edition was published in 1968.

Paperback.

Avon edition.

ASIN: B000VDT4KS

Description:

Las Piedras, beaching port. There are hundreds of them, coming from who knows where, to forget the impasse of their existence in the tropics. For a handful of dollars, these low-rankers are ready to do anything. Ready to face kilometers of impassable track, behind the wheel of a dilapidated truck, to transport nitroglycerin. At the slightest deviation, at the slightest shock, it is death. An epic of pure anguish...

On this day in movie history - One Girl’s Confession (1953):

One Girl’s Confession

directed and written by Hugo Haas,

was released in the United States on April 6, 1953.
Music by Václav Divina.

Cast:

Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, Glenn Langan, Helene Stanton, Anthony Jochim, Burt Mustin, Leonid Snegoff, James Nusser, Russ Conway, Mara Lea, Gayne Whitman, Leo Mostovoy, Martha Wentworth, Roy Engel, Jan Englund, Joseph Mell, Frank Mills.

On this day in movie history - The Blue Gardenia (1953):

The Blue Gardenia

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Charles Hoffman,

based on the novella The Gardenia by Vera Caspary,

was released in the United States on March 28, 1953.
Music by Raoul Kraushaar.

Cast:

Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, Jeff Donnell, Richard Erdman, George Reeves, Ruth Storey, Ray Walker, Nat King Cole, Dolores Fuller.