About the Author

CHESTER HIMES began his writing career while serving in the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery from 1929 to 1936. From his first novel, If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945), Himes dealt with the social and psychological repercussions of being black in a white-dominated society. Beginning in 1953, Himes moved to Europe, where he met and was strongly influenced by Richard Wright. It was in France that he began his best-known series of crime novels—including Cotton Comes to Harlem (1965)—featuring two Harlem policemen. As with Himes's earlier work, the series is characterized by violence and grisly, sardonic humor. He died in Spain in 1984.

Reviews

“[Himes] put a spin on crime fiction—emphasizing urban atmosphere, street smarts and uptown carryings-on—unlike anything the genre had previously seen.”
    —The Boston Globe

“One of the most important American writers of the 20th century. . . . A quirky American genius.”
    —Walter Mosley

“A perverse blend of sordid realism and macabre fantasy-humor.”
    —The New York Times

“For sheer toughness it’s hard to beat the black detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. Himes never received the recognition he deserved for his books—they combine elements of George V. Higgins, Elmore Leonard, and Richard Stark, with a bleak vision all their own.”
    —The Washington Post