A Rage in Harlem

After publishing five novels in the '40s and '50s (and spending eight years in prison in the '30s), Himes finally found a wide audience after he moved to Paris and started writing hard-boiled crime tales beginning with this one. They've become known for the rough-justice Harlem detectives, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Jones, they feature, but in their first appearance the duo is almost overshadowed by a whole host of characters: con men and suckers, gangsters and sweethearts, and preachers and undertakers as wise to a buck as any of them. It's a blood-spattered and delightfully cynical tale, but somewhere in its noir heart you almost believe in its original title, For Love of Imabelle, a tribute to the savviest operator of them all.