The shocking and explosive hardboiled classic. From murderers to prostitutes, corrupt politicians and racist white detectives, Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, Harlem's toughest detective duo, must carry the day against an absurdist world of racism and class warfare.

",{"_30":24,"_46":180,"_132":133,"_134":55},"Pegasus Books","January 1, 1960","9781933648729","1933648724","#481808",[],[],"https://cdn.blackauthored.com/books/10351i/39311ad7-bf1f-4c13-bc6d-842674d53e28/1789623640.jpg","https://img.blackauthored.com/?preset=poster_thumb&image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.blackauthored.com%2Fbooks%2F10351i%2F39311ad7-bf1f-4c13-bc6d-842674d53e28%2F1789623640.jpg",{"_30":152,"_46":153,"_50":154,"_142":-5,"_143":-5,"_33":28,"_144":256,"_146":63},[147],"c87f682f-748b-4b79-8a16-5849131b1186",10352,4,[],[281],"The Big Gold Dream","051e1777-a837-4875-a3d0-5e4796baf7f0",{"_11":32,"_30":31,"_135":259},1959,"Jan 1959","1959-01-01","11051-the-big-gold-dream","Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, two Black police detectives, investigate when a woman worshiper mysteriously dies at a revival meeting led by Sweet Prophet, a charismatic con man",{"_30":24,"_46":180,"_132":133,"_134":55},"Thunder's Mouth Pr",156,"January 1, 1959","9781560251040","1560251042","#f8a838",[],[],"https://cdn.blackauthored.com/books/10352i/051e1777-a837-4875-a3d0-5e4796baf7f0/1789623640.jpg","https://img.blackauthored.com/?preset=poster_thumb&image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.blackauthored.com%2Fbooks%2F10352i%2F051e1777-a837-4875-a3d0-5e4796baf7f0%2F1789623640.jpg",{"_30":152,"_46":153,"_50":154,"_142":-5,"_143":-5,"_33":28,"_144":282,"_146":63},[147],"ed7e84c8-91b9-4618-8904-d36a24a125a7",10353,[],[300],"The Crazy Kill","3e500769-17a8-439b-88d7-a37270f6aa1a",{"_11":32,"_30":31,"_135":45},"11052-the-crazy-kill","From “one of the most important American writers of the 20th century” (Walter Mosley) comes a classic thriller in the trailblazing Harlem Detectives series, in which love and jealousy erupt into violence.

One early morning, Reverend Short is watching from his bedroom window as the A&P across the street is robbed. As he tries to see the thief get away, the opium-addicted preacher leans too far and falls out--but he is unscathed, thanks to an enormous bread basket outside the bakery downstairs. As the crowd gathers to see what happened, a shocking discovery is There is another body in the bread basket, and Valentine Haines is dead, really dead. It's up to Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson to find out who murdered Val.",{"_30":24,"_46":180,"_132":133,"_134":55},162,"9780679725725","0679725725",[],[],"https://cdn.blackauthored.com/books/10353i/3e500769-17a8-439b-88d7-a37270f6aa1a/1789623641.jpg","https://img.blackauthored.com/?preset=poster_thumb&image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.blackauthored.com%2Fbooks%2F10353i%2F3e500769-17a8-439b-88d7-a37270f6aa1a%2F1789623641.jpg",{"_30":152,"_46":153,"_50":154,"_142":-5,"_143":-5,"_33":28,"_144":301,"_146":63},[147],"3c18f4b0-8cf0-45c2-bfbf-23677b84de27",10354,[],[322],"The Real Cool Killers","e20b1e9c-ecce-43e1-a0fe-eac5bcb0217b",{"_11":32,"_30":31,"_135":130},1958,"Jan 1958","1958-01-01","11053-the-real-cool-killers","When Harlemites set about each other with knives, it's an everyday kind of happening. But when a white man is shot dead in a Harlem street one steamy evening it means trouble, big trouble.
Plenty of people had motives for killing Galen, a big Greek with too much money and too great a liking for young black girls. But there are complications - like Sonny, high on hash, found standing over the body with a gun in his hand that fires only blanks, a street gang called the Moslems, a disappearing suspect, and the fact that Coffin Ed's own daughter is up to her pretty neck in the whole explosive situation...",{"_30":24,"_46":180,"_132":133,"_134":55},"January 1, 1958","9780679720393","0679720391",[],[],"https://cdn.blackauthored.com/books/10354i/e20b1e9c-ecce-43e1-a0fe-eac5bcb0217b/1789623641.jpg","https://img.blackauthored.com/?preset=poster_thumb&image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.blackauthored.com%2Fbooks%2F10354i%2Fe20b1e9c-ecce-43e1-a0fe-eac5bcb0217b%2F1789623641.jpg",{"_30":152,"_46":153,"_50":154,"_142":-5,"_143":-5,"_33":28,"_144":323,"_146":63},[147],"e23769b5-b880-4f40-9585-dd6852b70518",10356,[],[345],"A Rage in Harlem","dbe270c9-e8b2-4651-a162-ddbdfc973116",{"_11":32,"_30":31,"_135":24},1957,"Jan 1957","1957-01-01","11055-a-rage-in-harlem","A Rage in Harlem is a ripping introduction to Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, patrolling New York City’s roughest streets in Chester Himes’s groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series.

For love of fine, wily Imabelle, hapless Jackson surrenders his life savings to a con man who knows the secret of turning ten-dollar bills into hundreds—and then he steals from his boss, only to lose the stolen money at a craps table. Luckily for him, he can turn to his savvy twin brother, Goldy, who earns a living—disguised as a Sister of Mercy—by selling tickets to Heaven in Harlem. With Goldy on his side, Jackson is ready for payback.",{"_30":24,"_46":180,"_132":133,"_134":55},"Vintage Crime/Black Lizard","January 1, 1957","9780679720409","0679720405",[],[],"https://cdn.blackauthored.com/books/10356i/dbe270c9-e8b2-4651-a162-ddbdfc973116/1789623642.jpg","https://img.blackauthored.com/?preset=poster_thumb&image=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.blackauthored.com%2Fbooks%2F10356i%2Fdbe270c9-e8b2-4651-a162-ddbdfc973116%2F1789623642.jpg",{"_30":152,"_46":153,"_50":154,"_142":-5,"_143":-5,"_33":28,"_144":346,"_146":63},[147],{"_46":153,"_142":-5,"_50":154,"_30":152,"_350":37,"_351":55,"_352":-5,"_353":37,"_354":37,"_33":28,"_355":-5,"_356":55,"_357":358,"_143":-5,"_359":-5,"_360":361,"_40":362},"ogImageUrl","https://img-cdn.blackauthored.com/api/authors?description=Books+In+Order&title=Chester+Himes&token=722aee875b1b86ee7514df2c58789cc5704bbcbb32744e4c773a6e646511c2c1","catalogs_count","verified","account_id","universes_count","followers_count","website_url","indie","user_progress",{"_363":37,"_364":28,"_365":37},"date_of_birth","social_links",{},[],"read","total","percentage","isLoggedIn",["P",367],"result","seo",{"_11":377,"_378":379,"_13":380,"_381":382,"_52":383,"_384":385,"_386":387},"user","themePreference","light","storedTheme","gaId","G-Z1HVZ17GZ3","Blackauthored","titleTemplate","%s","Find your next Black authored read and connect with readers with the similar taste.","handle","@blackauthored","https://blackauthored.com","robots",{"_401":55,"_402":55},"jsonLd",{"_388":389,"_390":391,"_46":377,"_392":393,"_394":395,"_52":383},"@context","https://schema.org","@type","Organization","logo","https://cdn.blackauthored.com/images/og-image.png","sameAs",[396,397,398,399,400],"https://twitter.com/blackauthored","https://facebook.com/blackauthored","https://instagram.com/blackauthored","https://youtube.com/blackauthored","https://tiktok.com/@blackauthored","noIndex","noFollow"]

Chester Himes

Harlem Cycle