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careydnelson's review against another edition
3.0
Once again Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones deign to make an appearance for their own show. The detectives are cool; they have very large shiny guns! Clearly they care about their work, but you'd be forgiven for thinking of them as tertiary plot devices. I see now how these books are structured, but the glimpses of personal moments with the detectives left me wanting so much more of them.
Himes writes a fever dream like he's been there, and if I weren't so confused I would feel like I had been there too.
Himes writes a fever dream like he's been there, and if I weren't so confused I would feel like I had been there too.
shesnorikkiducornet's review against another edition
4.0
Ah. Here is where Himes hit his stride. The writing is way tighter than the previous two in the series. Curious if the fourth will hold to this change and it’s not just a one-off.
mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
Well last week’s snow left me plenty of time to get ahead on my reading but the general malaise and lethargy engendered by a snowy couple of days certainly put a damper on my writing. The next couple of reviews should mark the tail end of my little project and each (barring this review, and the upcoming Mystical Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death review) should cover a different decade (a late minute addition to the experience). Now, however we’re looking at another crime thriller by the oft-overlooked (though less so in recent years) Chester Himes. I first experienced Himes’ fiction in college while reading A Rage in Harlem (originally titled For Love of Imabelle) and found his work fascinating though, for my tastes at least, less compulsively readable then other authors of the same genre thanks in part to Himes’ tendency towards the surreal and outright absurd.
The Crazy Kill is, I believe, the fourth novel in Himes’ Harlem Detective series featuring the black detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. While it seems the common mode is to accept that series as being identified by Coffin Ed and Grave Digger it should be noted that while the two appear in this novel they are less prominent in the narrative then one might expect. Unlike most hardboiled detective stories, which feature a first person or third-person limited perspective, The Crazy Kill operates more on a third-person objective narrative with Grave Digger and Coffin Ed being only two of the multitude of characters the story follows. Which, in the end, is why I see this book as more of a crime thriller then a detective novel. There is very little detecting that goes on and Himes’ is more focused on the violence, corruptions, and tensions of is setting (and between his characters) then he is on the mystery itself.
Regardless Coffin Ed and Grave Digger are interesting studies in contradiction. They are agents of the law but are more concerned with tracking down violent crime rather then any other sort of offense. They aren’t afraid to use a little breaking and entering to find out some information but they do so with knowledge that anything they find might well get them in trouble rather then help them with the case. In fact there they even have a conversation about it while breaking into an apparent. They punish violence with a dogged sense of justice yet aren’t afraid to use violence themselves to compel people towards assisting them in their goals. They walk a very grey moral path and it is difficult to get a handle on their character in just one book and when they don’t get a lot of time in the limelight.
Himes’ tends to blend his violence with humor. This is evident right from the opening scene where a man watching a burglary from a window leans too far out only to overbalance and fall, landing on a pallet of bread. Indeed, that same character, a Reverend is the focus for much of the novel’s humor though it frequently takes on a grim tone. Again the novel is outright funny but tends towards take humorous elements in order to lighten some situations, such as the interrogation of a witness being preceded by an attack by a chicken, but otherwise remains of secondary consideration to the novel’s somewhat labyrinthine plot.
While it has been a while my vague recollections of A Rage In Harlem seem to outweigh my end opinion of The Crazy Kill. The plot never really gelled for me and the whole thing felt a bit slapdash with literally no hints towards the big reveal at the novel’s end. I’d be more willing to recommend A Rage In Harlem over The Crazy Kill as a better indication of Himes’ abilities. It wasn’t a bad read by any means and if you’re a fan of Himes and the history of crime fiction then this is certainly well worth a look. In the end a fascinating read by an interesting author, but certainly not his best.
The Crazy Kill is, I believe, the fourth novel in Himes’ Harlem Detective series featuring the black detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. While it seems the common mode is to accept that series as being identified by Coffin Ed and Grave Digger it should be noted that while the two appear in this novel they are less prominent in the narrative then one might expect. Unlike most hardboiled detective stories, which feature a first person or third-person limited perspective, The Crazy Kill operates more on a third-person objective narrative with Grave Digger and Coffin Ed being only two of the multitude of characters the story follows. Which, in the end, is why I see this book as more of a crime thriller then a detective novel. There is very little detecting that goes on and Himes’ is more focused on the violence, corruptions, and tensions of is setting (and between his characters) then he is on the mystery itself.
Regardless Coffin Ed and Grave Digger are interesting studies in contradiction. They are agents of the law but are more concerned with tracking down violent crime rather then any other sort of offense. They aren’t afraid to use a little breaking and entering to find out some information but they do so with knowledge that anything they find might well get them in trouble rather then help them with the case. In fact there they even have a conversation about it while breaking into an apparent. They punish violence with a dogged sense of justice yet aren’t afraid to use violence themselves to compel people towards assisting them in their goals. They walk a very grey moral path and it is difficult to get a handle on their character in just one book and when they don’t get a lot of time in the limelight.
Himes’ tends to blend his violence with humor. This is evident right from the opening scene where a man watching a burglary from a window leans too far out only to overbalance and fall, landing on a pallet of bread. Indeed, that same character, a Reverend is the focus for much of the novel’s humor though it frequently takes on a grim tone. Again the novel is outright funny but tends towards take humorous elements in order to lighten some situations, such as the interrogation of a witness being preceded by an attack by a chicken, but otherwise remains of secondary consideration to the novel’s somewhat labyrinthine plot.
While it has been a while my vague recollections of A Rage In Harlem seem to outweigh my end opinion of The Crazy Kill. The plot never really gelled for me and the whole thing felt a bit slapdash with literally no hints towards the big reveal at the novel’s end. I’d be more willing to recommend A Rage In Harlem over The Crazy Kill as a better indication of Himes’ abilities. It wasn’t a bad read by any means and if you’re a fan of Himes and the history of crime fiction then this is certainly well worth a look. In the end a fascinating read by an interesting author, but certainly not his best.
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
Grave Digger and Coffin Ed are getting more and more interesting. Plus I like a book that teaches the rules of a card game I'd never heard of before.
frosteevision's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Really enjoyed this - good mix of characters and story & i want to read more Kimes
trenton_ross's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
efbeckett's review against another edition
3.0
Probably better than 3 stars but I can't really give it 4 because it seemed to be spinning its wheels a lot of the time. The investigation doesn't really nab your attention, but the character stuff is good, though not on par with the first two books. Not exactly a disappointment, but the weakest of the three so far. I'll still move on to the fourth in short order.
delton215's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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