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The Essential Harlem Detectives
A one-volume selection of four novels in a legendary detective series—blistering, groundbreaking capers set in Harlem's criminal underworld—by master crime writer Chester Himes
A friend and contemporary of Richard Wright and James Baldwin—and every bit their equal—Chester Himes is the acclaimed author of literary novels, stories, and essays, as well as the classic crime fiction series for which he is best known, featuring detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones.
Himes authored nine novels in the Harlem Detectives series, and in these four popular, accomplished installments, his cold, wisecracking sleuths are thrown into a brutal, murderous world, full of conniving con men, gun-toting gangsters, and opium-smoking preachers. Himes's vision of Harlem's criminal underground is both riotous entertainment, enriched by his deftly plotted mysteries and scintillating dialogue, and a penetrating look into the fraught tensions of race in postwar America.
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket. Contemporary Classics include an introduction, a select bibliography, and a chronology of the author's life and times.
A friend and contemporary of Richard Wright and James Baldwin—and every bit their equal—Chester Himes is the acclaimed author of literary novels, stories, and essays, as well as the classic crime fiction series for which he is best known, featuring detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones.
Himes authored nine novels in the Harlem Detectives series, and in these four popular, accomplished installments, his cold, wisecracking sleuths are thrown into a brutal, murderous world, full of conniving con men, gun-toting gangsters, and opium-smoking preachers. Himes's vision of Harlem's criminal underground is both riotous entertainment, enriched by his deftly plotted mysteries and scintillating dialogue, and a penetrating look into the fraught tensions of race in postwar America.
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket. Contemporary Classics include an introduction, a select bibliography, and a chronology of the author's life and times.
712 pages, Hardcover
Published January 4, 2024
55 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Chester Himes
123 books488 followersChester Bomar Himes began writing in the early 1930s while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery. From there, he produced short stories for periodicals such as Esquire and Abbott's Monthly. When released, he focussed on semi-autobiographical protest novels.
In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire, which had published works from the likes of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson. Himes would be the first black author included in the series. The resulting Harlem Cycle gained him celebrity when he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for La Reine des Pommes (now known in English as A Rage in Harlem) in 1958. Three of these novels have been adapted into movies: Cotton Comes to Harlem, directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; Come Back, Charleston Blue (based on The Heat's On) in 1972; and A Rage in Harlem, starring Gregory Hines and Danny Glover in 1991.
In 1968, Himes moved to Spain where he made his home until his death.
In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire, which had published works from the likes of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson. Himes would be the first black author included in the series. The resulting Harlem Cycle gained him celebrity when he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for La Reine des Pommes (now known in English as A Rage in Harlem) in 1958. Three of these novels have been adapted into movies: Cotton Comes to Harlem, directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; Come Back, Charleston Blue (based on The Heat's On) in 1972; and A Rage in Harlem, starring Gregory Hines and Danny Glover in 1991.
In 1968, Himes moved to Spain where he made his home until his death.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 11, 2025
The first two books in this collection are 5 star reads!
“The Crazy Kill” - Chapter One is hilarious with the little man falling from a third story apartment window into the bread! But then, when he gets back upstairs and looks down at where he landed, he sees another body there - with a knife sticking in him. Not so hilarious. The rest of the book is about finding out who killed that man, name of Val, and who’s knife was sticking in him. This one doesn’t have the action that the first two books had, and Grave Digger and Coffin Ed are basically secondary characters, which is a shame ‘cause I do love their style - shoot first and ask questions later! “When you get to mixing sex and religion it will make anybody crazy.”
“Cotton Comes to Harlem” - Great first chapter! $87,000 is stolen from a group promising to send Black people ‘BACK TO AFRICA’ in a crazy, daring action packed scene! BAM! “A mob of white bandits and cotton - in Harlem. Figure that one out.” “Man, trust white folks and go from Cadillacs to cotton sacks.” This one has it all - crazy Southern crackers, a crooked reverend, an old blind man, and two nickel plated .38s! Plus, two detectives that are known to rough a criminal (or witness!) from time to time! Just as fun to read as the first two books!
“The Crazy Kill” - Chapter One is hilarious with the little man falling from a third story apartment window into the bread! But then, when he gets back upstairs and looks down at where he landed, he sees another body there - with a knife sticking in him. Not so hilarious. The rest of the book is about finding out who killed that man, name of Val, and who’s knife was sticking in him. This one doesn’t have the action that the first two books had, and Grave Digger and Coffin Ed are basically secondary characters, which is a shame ‘cause I do love their style - shoot first and ask questions later! “When you get to mixing sex and religion it will make anybody crazy.”
“Cotton Comes to Harlem” - Great first chapter! $87,000 is stolen from a group promising to send Black people ‘BACK TO AFRICA’ in a crazy, daring action packed scene! BAM! “A mob of white bandits and cotton - in Harlem. Figure that one out.” “Man, trust white folks and go from Cadillacs to cotton sacks.” This one has it all - crazy Southern crackers, a crooked reverend, an old blind man, and two nickel plated .38s! Plus, two detectives that are known to rough a criminal (or witness!) from time to time! Just as fun to read as the first two books!
February 5, 2025
This review is for the four novel collection "The Essential Harlem Detectives:..." and for the last novel in the collection "Cotton Comes to Harlem".
The collection contains a healthy amount of reading material. All novels are of the same length. Total page count is 665 pages in this format. Since this contains Himes first four novels, it is a good book to own to get started on the series. In general, I would call these efforts average efforts. I liked Himes' novel "If he Hollers Let Him Go" far better. HImes is good at describing the sordid living conditions in Harlem; his character descriptions are very detailed. For example, early in the series, Coffin Ed Johnson gets doused in the face with acid which defaces him permanently. He in fact is lucky to have lived through the experience. After this incident, he has a tendency of hiding in the shadows but when his face is visible, Himes describes his face as twitching in some ugly manner. I can only attribute this to some muscles in the face having been destroyed so all emotions are grotesque in some manner. Himes stories are full of action. The action is quick so pay attention when the bullets start flying. Besides the two detectives which are constant in the series, the rest of the characters are new in every story. There is an average to an above average amount of new characters which depending on how you read the story (slowly or straight through), you may not retain who all of them are but in the end, everything is described in detail. In other words, like most detective stories, everything is revealed in the end. I wouldn't attempt to compare Himes with any other detective writers; Himes delivery and genre is unique.
"Cotton Comes to Harlem" is true to form. I actually believe Himes has added some humor here. There are two con men in this one. Each milking the Harlemites for cash. One promising acreage of five acres of land in Africa and transportation for one thousand dollars and another con man promising transportation to the deep south. How stupid can people be? A bale of cotton arrives unannounced and one character after another moves and sells the bale until we find in the end what was hidden in the bale of cotton. As is usual, both Coffin Ed and Gravedigger get in hot water with their bosses but they deliver. They are described by management as the best detectives on the police force.
I will definitely read more Himes stories.
The collection contains a healthy amount of reading material. All novels are of the same length. Total page count is 665 pages in this format. Since this contains Himes first four novels, it is a good book to own to get started on the series. In general, I would call these efforts average efforts. I liked Himes' novel "If he Hollers Let Him Go" far better. HImes is good at describing the sordid living conditions in Harlem; his character descriptions are very detailed. For example, early in the series, Coffin Ed Johnson gets doused in the face with acid which defaces him permanently. He in fact is lucky to have lived through the experience. After this incident, he has a tendency of hiding in the shadows but when his face is visible, Himes describes his face as twitching in some ugly manner. I can only attribute this to some muscles in the face having been destroyed so all emotions are grotesque in some manner. Himes stories are full of action. The action is quick so pay attention when the bullets start flying. Besides the two detectives which are constant in the series, the rest of the characters are new in every story. There is an average to an above average amount of new characters which depending on how you read the story (slowly or straight through), you may not retain who all of them are but in the end, everything is described in detail. In other words, like most detective stories, everything is revealed in the end. I wouldn't attempt to compare Himes with any other detective writers; Himes delivery and genre is unique.
"Cotton Comes to Harlem" is true to form. I actually believe Himes has added some humor here. There are two con men in this one. Each milking the Harlemites for cash. One promising acreage of five acres of land in Africa and transportation for one thousand dollars and another con man promising transportation to the deep south. How stupid can people be? A bale of cotton arrives unannounced and one character after another moves and sells the bale until we find in the end what was hidden in the bale of cotton. As is usual, both Coffin Ed and Gravedigger get in hot water with their bosses but they deliver. They are described by management as the best detectives on the police force.
I will definitely read more Himes stories.
May 3, 2024
Picked this collection up from Uncle Edgar based on S.A. Corey's article for the NYT Book Review. Our detectives are Grave Digger (aka Digger Jones, the cool one) and Coffin Ed (the temperamental one). These guys are smart, improbably good shots with their custom revolvers, and they mete out what justice they can for the Black folks of Harlem.
The stories are a melange of sex, violence, and wit ("The Crazy Kill" could either describe the kill or be its own sentence). On the way, Himes surveys race relations and Harlem culture, with a gimlet view of those in power, whether they're white cops or Black preachers. The language is unusually salty for crime fiction of its time, with Himes somehow substituting the more offensive epithets "mother-r****" or "sister-r****" for the more jejune "motherf*****." Depending on your point of view, the Detectives also do admirable or detestable work subverting search and seizure laws---like many cops, they know *exactly* where the line is and what they can get away with.
Of the four novels, Cotton is the best (five stars on its own) and Rage is next (five or nearly). Real Cool Killers has a funky juvenile vibe, and The Crazy Kill gets a little too complicated for its own good (four stars or thereabouts for both). Even with the body count, this crime writing is gritty but not grim. Recommended for all crime fiction fans and anyone who likes their pulps better than fly.
The stories are a melange of sex, violence, and wit ("The Crazy Kill" could either describe the kill or be its own sentence). On the way, Himes surveys race relations and Harlem culture, with a gimlet view of those in power, whether they're white cops or Black preachers. The language is unusually salty for crime fiction of its time, with Himes somehow substituting the more offensive epithets "mother-r****" or "sister-r****" for the more jejune "motherf*****." Depending on your point of view, the Detectives also do admirable or detestable work subverting search and seizure laws---like many cops, they know *exactly* where the line is and what they can get away with.
Of the four novels, Cotton is the best (five stars on its own) and Rage is next (five or nearly). Real Cool Killers has a funky juvenile vibe, and The Crazy Kill gets a little too complicated for its own good (four stars or thereabouts for both). Even with the body count, this crime writing is gritty but not grim. Recommended for all crime fiction fans and anyone who likes their pulps better than fly.
April 22, 2024
This is the real thing!
Well written stories of black detectives and life in Harlem.
Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson seem real, brutal yet sympathetic detectives who approach their work in the best way they know how to.
Read three of the four stories, will come back to the fourth
Well written stories of black detectives and life in Harlem.
Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson seem real, brutal yet sympathetic detectives who approach their work in the best way they know how to.
Read three of the four stories, will come back to the fourth
March 1, 2025
There are 4 whole books in this volume; I only read the first, A RAGE IN HARLEM. Super violent, which was ok by me, and a very convoluted and page-turning series of events and characters. Crime everywhere in every possible form, from the safety of my couch.
March 10, 2024
Interesting especially if you have ever lived in NYC. This is definitely another era and great to compare policing then and now.
August 8, 2025
There were great books and moderate books in this volume, however, I found the entirety of it solid but not great. May just be my patience, but it was often boring, though well written.
August 10, 2025
Wonderful! Hilarious, but with a biting wit. Time has not dimmed these classics of Black literary detective novels.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews