The Harlem of sweet prophets, con men, churchgoers, pimps, prostitutes, numbers games, bagmen, stool pigeons and hard cops. A dollar and a dream – or in this case that Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson try to untangle, it is thirty thousand dollars that that everyone is trying to get their hands on. The plot twists multiply, the writing is sharp and astute, the social observation is trenchant. The Harlem twist on the hardboiled thriller is Chester Himes’ enduring legacy.