The Dead Beat (1960)

If PSYCHO chilled your blood, this one will freeze it solid . . .

Anyone might have done what Walter and Elinor Harris did. They found an unconscious, good-looking young man in the back of their car with blood on his face. They put him to bed in their guest room and invited him to stay until he was better.

Larry had had a lot of practice fooling people, he had been doing it as long as he could remember. LaVerne, the night club singer, could have told the Harrises plenty—but Larry knew too much about her that she didn’t want found out.

It was Jim Whittaker who first suspected him, perhaps because Jim’s teenage daughter liked Larry too much. But if any of them could have had even a glimpse into Larry’s character, they would have been as scared as the reader, who can’t do a thing to prevent the violence he sees coming . . .