Order of Book Series
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Chester Himes Books in Order

23 books are credited to Chester Himes, published between 1945 and 2025; 6 of them appeared after Chester Himes's death in 1984. The first book is If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945) and the newest is Yesterday Will Make You Cry (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
23
Published
1945–2025
Confirmed
1 of 23 titles
Pages on record
4,485 in 20 of 23 books
Reading time
75–112 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,485 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 20 of 23 titles with a page count on record.

See all 23 books in order Printable Chester Himes checklist
Photo of Chester Himes, author of the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series

Chester Himes (July 29, 1909 - November 12, 1984) was an American writer, several of whose works were filmed. If He Hollers Let Him Go appeared in 1945. Himes is best known for the Harlem Detective novels, set in the 1950s and early 1960s, whose leads are two black policemen, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. France awarded Himes the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 1958. The catalogue lists 23 books, including Lonely Crusade (1947), For Love of Imabelle / A Rage in Harlem (1957), The Real Cool Killers (1958) and All Shot Up (1960).

How many Chester Himes books are there?

Chester Himes has 23 books, released between 1945 and 2025. 6 of them were published after Chester Himes's death in 1984. 8 of them belong to the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series.

Chester Himes Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 23 Chester Himes books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes (1945)
  2. Cover of Lonely Crusade by Chester Himes (1947)
  3. Cover of The End of a Primitive by Chester Himes (1956)
  4. Cover of For Love of Imabelle / A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes (1957)
  5. Cover of The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes, book 2 of the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series (1958)
  6. Cover of The Crazy Kill by Chester Himes, book 3 of the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series (1959)
  7. Cover of The Big Gold Dream by Chester Himes, book 4 of the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series (1959)
  8. Cover of All Shot Up by Chester Himes, book 5 of the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series (1960)
  9. Cover of Run Man Run by Chester Himes (1960)
  10. Cover of Pinktoes by Chester Himes (1961)
  11. Cover of A Case Of Rape by Chester Himes (1963)
  12. Cover of Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes, book 6 of the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series (1964)
  13. Cover of The Heat's On / Come Back Charleston Blue by Chester Himes (1966)
  14. Cover of Blind Man with a Pistol / Hot Day, Hot Night by Chester Himes (1969)
  15. Cover of My Life of Absurdity by Chester Himes (1990)
  16. Cover of The Collected Stories of Chester Himes by Chester Himes (1991)
  17. Cover of Plan B by Chester Himes (1993)
  18. Cover of Conversations with Chester Himes by Chester Himes, book 49 of the Literary Conversations series (1995)
  19. Cover of The Quality of Hurt by Chester Himes (1997)
  1. 1
    If He Hollers Let Him Go1945 · 203 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1945203
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Lonely Crusade1947 · 398 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1947398
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Cast the First Stone / Yesterday Will Make You Cry1952 · confirmed 1/4
    1952–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Third Generation1954 · confirmed 1/4
    1954–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The End of a Primitive1956 · 207 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956207
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    For Love of Imabelle / A Rage in HarlemCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #11957 · 159 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1957159
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Real Cool KillersCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #21958 · 159 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1958159
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Crazy KillCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #31959 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1959160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Big Gold DreamCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #41959 · 156 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1959156
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    All Shot UpCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #51960 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Run Man Run1960 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Pinktoes1961 · 219 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1961219
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    A Case Of Rape1963 · 105 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1963105
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Cotton Comes to HarlemCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #61964 · 159 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1964159
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Heat's On / Come Back Charleston BlueCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #71966 · 174 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1966174
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Blind Man with a Pistol / Hot Day, Hot NightCoffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones #81969 · 191 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1969191
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Black On Black1973 · 287 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    My Life of Absurdity1990 · 391 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990391
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Collected Stories of Chester Himes1991 · 429 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1991429
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Plan B1993 · 203 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1993203
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Conversations with Chester HimesLiterary Conversations #491995 · 150 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1995150
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Quality of Hurt1997 · 351 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997351
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Yesterday Will Make You Cry2025 · confirmed 1/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Chester Himes books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones in order

8 books
  1. 1. For Love of Imabelle / A Rage in Harlem
  2. 2. The Real Cool Killers
  3. 3. The Crazy Kill
  4. 4. The Big Gold Dream
  5. 5. All Shot Up
  6. 6. Cotton Comes to Harlem
  7. 7. The Heat's On / Come Back Charleston Blue
  8. 8. Blind Man with a Pistol / Hot Day, Hot Night

Literary Conversations in order

1 book
  1. 49. Conversations with Chester Himes

Standalone books

14 books

14 Chester Himes titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Chester Himes books in order?

You only need to read Chester Himes books in order within the Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones series, which holds 8 of the 23 Chester Himes books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Chester Himes

Start with If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Chester Himes book?

Yesterday Will Make You Cry (2025) is the newest Chester Himes book released so far.

Is there a new Chester Himes book coming?

No next Chester Himes book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Chester Himes has won

Wikidata records 1 award and 2 nominations for Chester Himes. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Grand Prix de Littérature Policière1958Wonfor For Love of Imabelle
  • Edgar Awards1970Shortlistedfor Blind Man with a Pistol
  • Gold Dagger1967Shortlistedfor Run Man Run

Chester Himes at a glance

Died
Chester Himes died in 1984, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Chester Himes are still being published after Chester Himes's death in 1984; the newest appeared in 2025.
Release pace
Chester Himes books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
4,485 pages across the 20 of 23 books with a recorded length, a median of 192 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Chester Himes books, 7 of 23, were published in the 1960s.

What the Chester Himes books are about

21 of the 23 Chester Himes books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: african americans is tagged on 13 of 21. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.