Chester Himes: the auteur of Black pulp fiction

My current obsession is finding and procuring Black pulp and crime paperback novels. The covers are often amazingly rendered and can be considered (at least by yours truly) a thumbnail version of what the poster would/could be.  I’m particularly intrigued by the covers of the British versions of Chester Himes’ detective tomes. A lot racier and suggestive than their domestic counterparts, the photographs on these British paperbacks provocatively dare the reader to judge a book by its cover.