Seven top 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:

Jazz – Toni Morrison

Jazz has one of literature’s most memorable openings. After Joe, a fifty something year old salesman, shoots dead his teenage lover, his wife Violet goes to the funeral ready to cut her dead rival’s face. It begins with the aftermath of this crime, but the novel is wide-ranging. From how Joe and Violet came to New York, through his affair and the events that led him to murder, Morrison shows the history of Jazz Age Harlem through these vividly realised characters.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Toni Morrison's Jazz is among Robin Coste Lewis's six favorite books, Mohsin Hamid's most influential book, and Reggie Nadelson's top ten jazz books.

--Marshal Zeringue