Cotton Comes to Harlem

Rating:
Summary: As gritty as Ellroy and as clever as Parker
Review: ... The book doesn't concern Bible Flowers. It's about the efforts of two black detectives, "Grave Digger" Jones and "Coffin Ed" Johnson, to recover $87,000 in money stolen from a con-man/storefront preacher in 1960s Harlem. Along the way, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed encounter a few murders, a southern colonel, and a 50-pound bale of cotton.

Raymond Chandler wrote that detectives must walk the mean streets, but they must not themselves be mean. Well, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed walk the mean streets just fine, but the "not being mean" part gives them trouble; they doubt the feasibility of solving a case without, say, slapping around a few witnesses or firing a few shots into a crowd. Despite the detectives' unhesitating brutality, this novel compares well to the best of Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker. This is due not only to the spot-on dialogue and the stark, vivid character depictions, but also the detectives' uncompromising determination to bring justice to Harlem. The plot is better, i.e., less predictable, than any of Parker's, and Himes's depiction of 1960s Harlem is so bizarre, yet compelling, that it invites comparison to Carl Hiassen's Florida rather than Chandler's LA. Add to this Himes's unique, excruciatingly honest depiction of race relations in the 1960s, and you have one of the best detective novels I have read in years.

...

Rating:
Summary: As gritty as Ellroy and as clever as Parker
Review: ... The book doesn't concern Bible Flowers. It's about the efforts of two black detectives, "Grave Digger" Jones and "Coffin Ed" Johnson, to recover $87,000 in money stolen from a con-man/storefront preacher in 1960s Harlem. Along the way, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed encounter a few murders, a southern colonel, and a 50-pound bale of cotton.

Raymond Chandler wrote that detectives must walk the mean streets, but they must not themselves be mean. Well, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed walk the mean streets just fine, but the "not being mean" part gives them trouble; they doubt the feasibility of solving a case without, say, slapping around a few witnesses or firing a few shots into a crowd. Despite the detectives' unhesitating brutality, this novel compares well to the best of Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker. This is due not only to the spot-on dialogue and the stark, vivid character depictions, but also the detectives' uncompromising determination to bring justice to Harlem. The plot is better, i.e., less predictable, than any of Parker's, and Himes's depiction of 1960s Harlem is so bizarre, yet compelling, that it invites comparison to Carl Hiassen's Florida rather than Chandler's LA. Add to this Himes's unique, excruciatingly honest depiction of race relations in the 1960s, and you have one of the best detective novels I have read in years.

...

Rating:
Summary: Chester Himes at His Best
Review: As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I genuinely admire the works of Chester Himes. I consider COTTON COMES TO HARLEM his finest work. Deke O'Hara is a recently freed con man, and his con of a lifetime has gone bad. His take has been highjacked, and our tough urban cops Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are on his tail (as well as the tail of everyone else involved in the con and the highjacking of the small fortune). Himes writes terrific dialog, and he captures his setting perfectly. His characters are vivdly drawn, and his plot is a fastmoving steameroller taking many unexpected twists and turns. COTTON COMES TO HARLEM is THE BOOK by Chester Himes that every mystery reader ought to read.

Rating:
Summary: Chester Himes at His Best
Review: As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I genuinely admire the works of Chester Himes. I consider COTTON COMES TO HARLEM his finest work. Deke O'Hara is a recently freed con man, and his con of a lifetime has gone bad. His take has been highjacked, and our tough urban cops Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are on his tail (as well as the tail of everyone else involved in the con and the highjacking of the small fortune). Himes writes terrific dialog, and he captures his setting perfectly. His characters are vivdly drawn, and his plot is a fastmoving steameroller taking many unexpected twists and turns. COTTON COMES TO HARLEM is THE BOOK by Chester Himes that every mystery reader ought to read.

Rating:
Summary: More Hard Boiled than the movie, a ripping read!
Review: Chester B. Himes wrote a series of "Hard Boiled" detective novels set in Harlem during the the 1950's and 60's. His two main protagonists were "Coffin Ed" Johnson and "Grave Digger" Jones, a couple of black police detectives operating in the seedy underworld of Harlem and New York City. Himes himself had served time for armed robbery in Ohio. While in prison he first read the works of Dashiell Hammet("The Maltese Falcon","The Thin Man",etc.)and decided that he could write similar fiction set in Harlem's vibrant African-American culture. He moved to France after his prison release and then began to write (in French!) his own brand of mysteries set in the New York City section that had become world famous for it's culture, nightlife and intellectual renaissance. The first of these mysteries was "A Rage in Harlem"(first published in French as "For Love of Imabelle" in 1959). Coffin Ed and Grave Digger were only minor characters in this first novel, but by the time of the 5th novel "Cotton Comes to Harlem" they were the stars of the series.

In "Cotton..." a ex con named Deke O'Hara scams $87,000 from a group of families who want to go to Africa to start a new life free from segregation and prejudice. Before O'Hara can abscond with the money a group of white gunmen steal it in the middle of the "Back to Africa" rally O'Hara is hosting and then escape. All this takes place in the first few pages, and the action only steps up the pace from that point on. Cotton Ed and Grave Digger are assigned to the case, and their brand of brutal, violent police work may not be always legal, but they have their own code of honor, which demands that they do all in their power to see to it that the families get their money back, as in most of the cases it amounts to their life savings. Through a maze of deceit and treachery filled with white supremacists, voluptuous women, scam artists, underworld informants, and real to life street people the two cops thread their way with both violence and guile. I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say that Himes delivers.

The book was made into a movie in 1970 which played up the humorous aspects of the book. While there is much mordant and cynical humor in Himes' writing, the book is much more than that, and deserves a place in the "Hard Boiled Detective" Hall of Fame. If you like this one I would recommend Himes' other works, especially "The Real Cool Killers".

A definite 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: More Hard Boiled than the movie, a ripping read!
Review: Chester B. Himes wrote a series of "Hard Boiled" detective novels set in Harlem during the the 1950's and 60's. His two main protagonists were "Coffin Ed" Johnson and "Grave Digger" Jones, a couple of black police detectives operating in the seedy underworld of Harlem and New York City. Himes himself had served time for armed robbery in Ohio. While in prison he first read the works of Dashiell Hammet("The Maltese Falcon","The Thin Man",etc.)and decided that he could write similar fiction set in Harlem's vibrant African-American culture. He moved to France after his prison release and then began to write (in French!) his own brand of mysteries set in the New York City section that had become world famous for it's culture, nightlife and intellectual renaissance. The first of these mysteries was "A Rage in Harlem"(first published in French as "For Love of Imabelle" in 1959). Coffin Ed and Grave Digger were only minor characters in this first novel, but by the time of the 5th novel "Cotton Comes to Harlem" they were the stars of the series.

In "Cotton..." a ex con named Deke O'Hara scams $87,000 from a group of families who want to go to Africa to start a new life free from segregation and prejudice. Before O'Hara can abscond with the money a group of white gunmen steal it in the middle of the "Back to Africa" rally O'Hara is hosting and then escape. All this takes place in the first few pages, and the action only steps up the pace from that point on. Cotton Ed and Grave Digger are assigned to the case, and their brand of brutal, violent police work may not be always legal, but they have their own code of honor, which demands that they do all in their power to see to it that the families get their money back, as in most of the cases it amounts to their life savings. Through a maze of deceit and treachery filled with white supremacists, voluptuous women, scam artists, underworld informants, and real to life street people the two cops thread their way with both violence and guile. I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say that Himes delivers.

The book was made into a movie in 1970 which played up the humorous aspects of the book. While there is much mordant and cynical humor in Himes' writing, the book is much more than that, and deserves a place in the "Hard Boiled Detective" Hall of Fame. If you like this one I would recommend Himes' other works, especially "The Real Cool Killers".

A definite 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Very Best By Chester Himes.
Review: Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are New York City police detectives assigned to Harlem. Both are highly valued by their boss for their unique skills and much respected by law-abiding Harlem residents who delight in describing their real and imagined exploits. Grave Digger and Coffin Ed make good use of a wide network of stool pigeons personally developed by them. There is very little waste in this book. The dialogue and descriptions are convincing. The writing is loaded with humor. I found it hard to put down from the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: It's thems, the nasty 'licemens!
Review: The dialogue, the action, the characters, it's Harlem world and it's all here! What else do you want?

Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: This book blew me away. If you like Harlem this book is for you. Read them all. I'm on my 5th book by Mr.Himes.

Rating:
Summary: Twisty mystery features two hard boiled cops.
Review: This is an excellent book, well written with a great plot line. The two cops seek justice and they get it any way they can. The book is extremely witty, funny and gruesome by turns. It's well worth reading and you'll learn some things too.