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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 363 875 CS 214 096 AUTHOR Ehrich, William E. TITLE African-American Detective Fiction Writers, Heroes, and Heroines. PUB DATE Nov 93 NOTE 18p.; Paper presented at the Annual Fall Language Arts Conference (Bloomington, IN, November 1993). PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150) Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Authors; *Blacks; Higher Education; Literary Genres; *Novels; Popular Culture; Twentieth Century Literature IDENTIFIERS *African Americans; *Detective Stories; Heroes; Heroines ABSTRACT Noting that the first adult fiction detective novel by an African-American was published in 1932, this bibliography lists and discusses 72 novels either written by African-Americans or featuring African-American detectives. The bibliography is divided into four sections: the first section discusses detective fiction written by African-American men; the second section contains information concerning detective novels published in the early 1990s by three African-American women (the first such published) and a crime novel by an African-American woman; the third section contains novels by three prominent white writers of detective fiction who introduced African-American detectives in some of their work; and the fourth section contains novels by two white writers who added African-American detectives in some of their series that originated with only white male detectives. The bibliography includes biographical information about the novelists. End notes (listing sources of information for each of the 19 novelists) are attached. (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** William E. Ehrich U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Otto e of F duLahonal Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) "CT his document has been reproduced as received I rom the person or organization \*(1 fti rich tn ,,,,,,wing., t-- t ' Minor changes have Peen made to improve QC reproduction quatity Points of view or opinions staled in tilts doCu . ment do nnt necessarily represent official TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES er) ffmoositionwpolicy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." 1:14 14 AFRICAN-AMERICAN DETECTIVE FICTION WRITERS, HEROES, AND HEROINES Compiler's Notes: In 1990, Walter Mosley's first novel about Easy Rawlins, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, was published. It was followed in 1991 by A RED DEATH, and WHITE BUTTERFLY in 1992. These three detective novels placed Mr. Mosley, an African-American writer, among the leaders in this genre. At about the same time, the first detective novels by African-American women were being published. It is time to make the public aware of this rich vein of American literature. When this bibliography was in the initial thinking stage, the words "twentieth century" were to appear at the beginning of the title. That became unnecessary when the author found that the first adult fiction detective novel by an African-American was published in 1932. As late as 1988, Maureen Reddy could write in her book, SISTERS IN CRIME: FEMINISM AND THE CRIME NOVEL, that there were no African- American women writing detective fiction for the adult market. This bibliography will discuss the works of four African-Americ women whose novels began appearing in bookstores in 1992. Before these works appeared with 2 7. African-American women detectives, the only detective fiction with a minority woman detective was in bookG by Marcia Muller, who wrote about a Chicano woman detective in THE TREE OF DEATH (1983), LEGEND OF THE SLAIN SOLDIERS (1985), AND BEYOND THE GRAVE (1986), the last with Bill Pronzini. WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA (1993) offers this definition for Detective Fiction: "...novel or short story in which a mystery is solved mainly by the action of a professional or amateur detective." This definition has been used as a benchmark in tracking down the authors and novels that appear in this bibliography. Unless noted, all books discussed herein will be novels designed for an adult audience. This paper will be divided into four sections. In the first section, detective fiction written by African-American men will be discussed. These novels include the earliest example of a detective novel by an African-American. The writers will be listed in chronological order, based on the publication of their books that are Germain to this paper. The second section will contain information concerning detective novels recently published by three African- American women. A novel by a writer named Yolanda Joe will also be discussed. Her work doesn't fall clearly into the detective fiction genre, but it is a crime novel. The third section will contain novels by three prominent white writers of detective fiction who introduced 3 African-American detectives in some of their work. Note will be made of a recent article in ARMCHAIR DETECTIVE (Fall, 1993) that was critical of the handling of African- American heroes by two of these writers. This section will also contain information about a white writer who wrote a trilogy during the 1960's with a gay black police detective as the hero. The fourth section will contain novels by two white writers of detective fiction who have added African-American detectives in some of their recent series that originated with only white male detectives. One of these additional detectives is a woman who works with a white male detective and is his lover. Each novelist's relevant detective fiction will be listed, with the year published and the publishing house that originally printed the work. In the case of one writer, some note will be made of his French publisher, since he did most of his writing in Paris. The first novels featuring a minority detective written and published in this country were by Earl Derr Biggers and featured the famous Charlie Chan. The initial Charlie Chan novel, THE HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY, was published in 1925. Seven years later, the first African-American detective novel was published. The initial section of this bibliography will begin with that work. African-American Detective Fiction Writers (Male): 4 1. Rudolph Fisher was born in 1897 in Washington, D.C., educated at Brown University, and spent most of his adult life in Harlem. He died in 1934 of a chronic intestinal ailment. He wrote one short story using the same detective after the publication of his only detective novel, THE CONJURE-MAN DIES. In tAis novel he introduced an amateur detective, Dr. John Archer. THE CONJURE-MAN DIES involved the death of a native African king who settled in Harlem and became a fortune teller, a "conjure man." Dr. Archer solved the crime and brought the killer to justice. In 1926, Walter Adolphe Roberts published a detective novel titled THE HAUNTING HAND. Roberts was born and raised in Jamaica. He came to this country in his late teens and worked as a newspaper reporter for many years. THE HAUNTING HAND, along with a few other of his works, could be considered detective fiction, but seemed to be aimed at younger readers. THE CONJURE-MAN DIES, New York: Covici, Friede, 1932. 2. Chester Himes was born in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1909. The son of school teachers, he attended The Ohio State University for two years. At the age of nineteen, he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to prison for seven and a half years. He started to write while in prison. Himes didn't begin to write detective novels until he was almost fifty. At that point in his life, he was living in Paris. In his detective novels, placed in Harlem, he introduced two police detectives, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. When films of two of Himes' works were brought to the screen ("Cotton Comes to Harlem," United Artists, 1970, and "Come Back, Charlestown Blue," Warner Brothers, 1972), Sidney Poitier and Godfrey Cambridge played these characters. Himes died in Moraira, Spain in 1984 of Parkinson's Disease. In his book, TWO GUNS FROM HARLEM: THE DETECTIVE FICTION OF CHESTER HIMES (1989), Robert E. Skinner wrote: "Hines was an unusual and talented man. He was also angry and embittered, but these emotions tended to enhance his talent rather than reduce it. His entry in the field of crime writing was an auspicious one and from an historical point of view an important one. He infused a tired genre with new life and undoubtedly provided the impetus for many future writers to approach the hard-boiled story from a fresh and bold perspective." Himes wrote the first one hundred and fifty pages of a book titled PLAN B. It was not finished in his lifetime. In it, his two famous fictional detectives die. Perhaps Himes could not bring himself to complete this novel. It was recently completed and edited. The citation appears below. 5 In 1987, a Ghanian journalist living in Paris, Njami Simon, wrote a book titled COFFIN & CO. It is about the two detectives in Himes' novels and tells abouta foiled plot to kill them. The book was translated into English by Marlene Raderman. It was published in this country by Black Lizard Books. A RAGE IN HARLEM, New York: Avon, 1965 (first publishedas LA R-LINE DES POMMES, Paris: Gallimard, 1958). THE REAL COOL KILLERS, New York: Avon, 1965 (first published as IL PLEUT DES COUPS DURS, Paris: Gallimard, 1958). THE CRAZY KILL, New York: Avon, 1959. ALL SHOT UP, New York: Avon, 1960. THE BIG GOLD DREAM, New York: Avon, 1960. COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, New York: Putnam, 1965 (first published as RETOUR EN AFRIQUE, Paris: Plon, 1964). THE HEAT'S ON, New York: Putnam, 1966 (publishedas COME BACK, CHARLESTOWN BLUE, New York: Berkley, 1970) BLIND MAN WITH A PISTOL, New York: Morrow, 1969(published as HOT DAY, HOT NIGHT, New York: Dell, 1970).

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