All Shot Up Book

It begins like this: An old woman is run-down in the street by a super-slick car. They see her get up, only to get run over again by some cops. Only they're not really cops, and the old woman is not really a woman, or old. Then, there's another killing across town outside a bar - and no one is talking. It's Gravedigger & Coffin Ed's job to get to the bottom of these seemingly unrelated crimes.

This is my favorite book of the series so far. Takes place 3 years after the first book in the series, "Rage in Harlem," in the winter time. The roads are slick and the investigation takes place in the cold. This environment heightens the excitement of the car chases. The law doesn't stop just because there's a little ice on the road. Harlem takes on a life of it's own.

The narrative focused more on Gravedigger & Coffin Ed than the previous books. This installment is not for the faint of heart though. Himes is getting creative with the way some of his criminals die - and it's not pretty. There's also a lot of humor in it, especially in the detectives' wisecracking.