Young Doctor Hugh Denismore is driving through the California desert to Phoenix to attend a family wedding when he sees a teenage girl on the highway hitchhiking. He doesn’t want to pick her up but is worried she’ll meet with trouble on the deserted road, so he gives her a ride to Blythe, as he’s not about to cross the state line with her.
On the way, she tells him a pack of lies and claims to be broke, so he buys her a bus ticket to Phoenix when he drops her in Blythe and stops at a motel for the night.
To his dismay, when he reaches the Arizona border the next morning, she is waiting for him and asks for a ride to Phoenix. He drops her off at the Phoenix bus station, but later she finds him at his motel and asks him to give her an abortion. He throws her out.
He has a bad feeling about all of this, but why is he so worried? After her body is found murdered in a canal, his fears are confirmed and the reader realizes he’s a Black man. If the police find out he gave her a ride, he’s sure they’ll try to pin it on him. And they do.
Hughes builds up a great deal of suspense in this one, and she also vividly describes 1960s Phoenix. I have liked her way of introducing strong women in the two books I’ve read by her so far. In In a Lonely Place, two women team up to expose a serial killer, and in this novel, Denismore gets vital assistance from Ellen, another wedding guest. I also thought it was a brave and unusual choice at this time to have a Black protagonist. This is a real nail-biter.
whatmeread 
Sounds great. I’ve only read In a Lonely Place too and have put Ride the Pink Horse on my wishlist, but I may swap it for this one. Having a black protagonist at that time and in that situation makes it sound really tense.
I want to read Ride a Pink Horse, too.
I loved this one and I also found the protagonist surprising for the time.
Yes, wasn’t he?