“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen.”
Raymond Chandler, “Red Wind”
Yes, it’s more than one line. It took him five, but pans in on an L.A. that has stayed in our imagination a long time.
A Few Reasonable Words 