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This page lists novels that feature the Harlem police detectives Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson.

For Love of Imabelle

Chester Himes

1957

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

Subsequently published as A Rage In Harlem.

"Jackson's woman has found him a foolproof way to make money - a technique for turning ten dollar bills into hundreds. But when the scheme somehow fails, Jackson is left broke, wanted by the police and desperately racing to get back both his money and his loving Imabelle. The first of Chester Himes's novels to feature the hardboiled Harlem detectives 'Coffin' Ed Johnson and 'Grave Digger' Jones, A Rage in Harlem has swagger, brutal humour, lurid violence, a hearse loaded with gold and a conman dressed as a Sister of Mercy."

The Real Cool Killers

Chester Himes

1959

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"The night's over for Ulysses Galen. It started going bad for the big Greek when a knife was drawn, then there was an axe, then he was being chased and shot at. Now Galen is lying dead in the middle of a Harlem street. But the night's just beginning for detectives Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. Because they have a smoking gun but it couldn't have killed Galen, and they had a suspect but a gang called the Real Cool Moslems took him. And as patrol cars and search teams descend on the neighbourhood, their case threatens to take a turn for the personal."

The Crazy Kill

Chester Himes

1959

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"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 made: There is another body in the bread basket, and Valentine Haines is dead, really dead. It's up to Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson to find out who murdered Val."

The Big Gold Dream

Chester Himes

1960

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"The Big Gold Dream is the explosive and shocking hardboiled classic that explores the shadowy underbelly of New York as an urban civil war erupts on the side streets of Harlem, pitting murderers and prostitutes against corrupt politicians and racist white detectives. Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson attempt to maintain some kind of order—in the neighborhood they have sworn to protect—in a world gone mad around them."

All Shot Up

Chester Himes

1966

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"A golden Cadillac big enough to cross the ocean has been seen sailing along the streets of Harlem. A hit-and-run victim's been hit so hard she got embedded in the wall of a convent. A shootout with three heistmen dressed as cops has left an important politician in a coma - and a lot of money missing. And Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are the ones who have to piece it all together."

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Chester Himes

1965

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"A preacher called Deke O'Malley's been selling false hope: the promise of a glorious new life in Africa for just $1,000 a family. But when thieves with machine guns steal the proceeds - and send one man's brain matter flying - the con is up. Now Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed mean to bring the good people of Harlem back their $87,000, however many corpses they have to climb over to get it. Cotton Comes to Harlem is a non-stop ride, with violence, sex, double-crosses, and the two baddest detectives ever to wear a badge in Harlem."

The Heat's On

Chester Himes

1966

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"Detectives Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones have lost two criminals. Pinky ran off - but it shouldn't be hard to track down a giant albino in Harlem. Jake the dwarf drug dealer, though, isn't coming back - he died after Grave Digger punched him in the stomach. And the dwarf's death might cost them both their badges. Unless they can track down the cause of all this mayhem - like the African with his throat slit and the dog the size of a lion with an open head wound."

Blind Man with a Pistol

Chester Himes

1969

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel.

"New York is sweltering in the summer heat, and Harlem is dose to the boiling point. To Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, at times it seems as if the whole world has gone mad. Trying, as always, to keep some kind of peace - their legendary nickel-plated Colts very much in evidence - Coffin Ed and Grave Digger find themselves pursuing two completely different cases through a maze of knifings, beatings, and riots that threaten to tear Harlem apart."

Plan B

Chester Himes

1993

A Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones novel. The unfinished manuscript of this novel was edited and originally published in France in 1985.

"Tomsson Black, political visionary, business genius, and underground revolutionary, plots to avenge injustice by instigating racial turmoil. The roots of racism extend far back into his ancestry, and persecution and suffering have affected many generations of his family. Tomsson's own misfortunes are the impetus for him to found a criminal underworld whose ultimate purpose is the overflow of white society. This novel, the history of Tomsson Black and an indictment of racism in America, ends in apocalypse."

The Harlem Cycle Vol 1

Chester Himes

1996

An omnibus edition that combines the three novels: Rage in Harlem; Real Cool Killers; and Crazy Kill.

The Harlem Cycle Vol 2

Chester Himes

1996

An omnibus edition that combines the three novels: The Big Gold Dream; All Shot Up; and The Heat's On.

The Harlem Cycle Vol 3

Chester Himes

1998

An omnibus edition that combines the three novels: Cotton Comes to Harlem; Blind Man with a Pistol; and Plan B.