Seven great crime novels set in Harlem

Louise Hare is the London-based author of Harlem After Midnight and Miss Aldridge Regrets. Her debut novel, This Lovely City, was published in the UK to wide acclaim, and was a Between the Covers Book Club Pick on BBC Two.

She has an MA in creative writing from the University of London.

At CrimeReads Hare tagged seven of her favorite "books that capture the essence of Harlem and combine it with compelling stories and vivid characters that will stay with you long after you close the cover," including:

Harlem Shuffle – Colson Whitehead

Ray Carney is a family man and, as far as most people know, a hard-working furniture salesman. If he occasionally strays into petty criminality, it’s only to relieve the pressure of keeping his family in the style they’re accustomed to. His disapproving in-laws, who make it clear he will never be good enough for their daughter, don’t help matters. Harlem Shuffle, set in the 1960s, and its recent sequel Crook Manifesto, set in the early 1970s, follow Ray’s struggle to keep the two parts of his life separate, stay alive and out of jail, and maintain the lifestyle that his wife deserves.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue