The Crazy Kill by Chester Himes (1959)

On the sidewalk outside a wake, a man is found murdered.

Mystery Review: The Crazy Kill is the third book in the Harlem Detectives series, and here Chester Himes belatedly hit the sophomore slump. The eponymous and disturbingly aggressive Harlem detectives (they're called "Wild West gunmen" by the locals), Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, barely make an appearance, disappointing after their expanded role in the second book, The Real Cool Killers. There's no detective work in The Crazy Kill and most of the focus is on other characters. Though I call this book a slump, it still resonates with the murky atmosphere, dramatic realism, and lively events of the previous novels, and can be happily enjoyed on that basis alone. Quirky characters and Himes' graveyard humor and satire are always worth the price of admission.  Also, as Gravedigger would say, Chester Himes can write like a "mother-raper." He's minutely aware of the racial subtext of everything that happens. The letdown here is the plot, which is minimal and unconnected though Himes seems to be trying to look at the role of men's jealousy in Harlem violence. Mostly we have a series of events randomly winding their way to a predictable and underwhelming conclusion. Maybe I missed something, and if you choose to read The Crazy Kill to see if I did, you'll still be amply entertained.  [3★]