The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald — Probably the one literary detective who influenced NIGHT MOVES the most was Lew Archer. Those who’ve never read Macdonald might grab this 1949 book since it introduces the character to the world. Archer is hired by a distraught wife to see if her husband is cheating. (Archer explains that he works the divorce racket to make a living — this is one aspect of the character dropped in the later novels, where Archer is a pretty much a detective-for-hire with a great reputation. ) But as soon as he starts to investigate, the case take a turn into a kidnapping scheme with Archer in the middle of it all, trying to not only figure out who the kidnappers are, but where the missing husband is.