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Cotton Comes to Harlem

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( 2,469 ratings, 255 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes is a gripping detective novel set in the vibrant streets of Harlem. It follows detectives Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson as they unravel a complex scheme involving a back-to-Africa movement swindling the local community. The story masterfully blends social commentary with suspense and wit, offering a vivid portrayal of Harlem life in the 1960s.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate gripping detective stories set against the vibrant backdrop of 1960s Harlem. With its combination of sharp humour, social commentary, and fast-paced action, it offers a compelling and colourful narrative featuring the dynamic duo detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones as they navigate crime and cultural upheaval.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Scams, heists, and murders abound in a high-energy caper.

A preacher called Deke O'Malley's been selling false hope β€” 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 to the morgue, the con is up. Now Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed, highly unorthodox and gun-happy detectives, 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.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Reviews for Cotton Comes to Harlem highlight Chester Himes as a significant figure in American crime fiction, with comparisons to Raymond Chandler. The novel is praised for its wild, energetic storytelling, and Himes is recognised for his exceptional character development and plot dynamics, asserting him as a master of the genre.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241639221

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 13 July 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 179g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Chester Himes was arrested for armed robbery in 1928, aged 19, and sentenced to 25 years in jail. In jail he began to write short stories, some of which were published in Esquire magazine. Upon release he took a variety of jobs, from working in a California shipyard to journalism to script-writing, while continuing to write fiction. He later moved to Paris where he was commissioned to write the first of his Harlem detective novels, A Rage in Harlem, which won the 1957 Grand Prix du Roman Policier. In 1969 Himes moved to Spain, where he died in 1984.

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