Before Himes began writing his detective novels, his French editor suggested that he read those of Dashiell Hammett, the author who along with Raymond Chandler more or less established the conventions of the hard-boiled detective genre. After reading Hammett, Himes recognized that the detective novel, with its emphasis on violence, suspicion, and paranoia, would be an effective vehicle for expressing his own vision of life in black America. In his own novels, he retained Hammett's stress on action rather than plausible motive, as well as Hammett's fast-moving narratives, realistic settings, and use of dialogue to advance the plot. Himes's detectives are also in the Hammett tradition, insofar as they are brave men of vio lent action, with a sure knowledge of the street and the intelligence to see through murky layers of deception.

However, all critics agree that Himes's detective series as a whole works towards...