The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 9 books · 1957 to 1983 · Set in New York

Chester Himes

Crime and mysteryPolice proceduralNoir and hardboiled

Chester Himes wrote the Harlem Detective novels, violent, absurd and very funny, about two Black police detectives, Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, who keep order in Harlem with fists and long-barrelled revolvers. He wrote most of them while living in France.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip.

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Who appears in which book

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LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Chester Himes books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Harlem Detectives

9 books · Set in New YorkPolice proceduralNoir and hardboiled
  1. 1A Rage in Harlem1957With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Real Cool Killers1959With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Crazy Kill1959With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Big Gold Dream1960With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  5. 5All Shot Up1960With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Cotton Comes to Harlem1965With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  7. 7The Heat's On1966With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  8. 8Blind Man with a Pistol1969With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon
  9. 9Plan B1983With Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger JonesBuy on Amazon

Characters

3 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Harlem