At a recent signing a reader showed me a passage from a Chet and Bernie novel that she liked – about night. I neglected to find out which book, but commenter Izzy Phillips has nailed it: The Sound and the Furry. And here’s the passage:

Night had fallen by the time we left the Dry Gulch patio and walked out to the Porsche, although night never actually falls, in fact rises from the ground up. The sky darkens the very last. Here in the Valley it never goes completely black, just dialing down to dark pink, especially in the direction of the downtown towers. I was sort of thinking about all that, but not hard, when I noticed a shadowy dude standing near our ride.

(Thanks to ML for her careful search – but I gave inaccurate information.)