Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Added to your cart
Paperback In the Heat of the Night: The Original Virgil Tibbs Novel Book

ISBN: 0143107747

ISBN13: 9780143107743

In the Heat of the Night

(Book #1 in the Virgil Tibbs Series)

Select Format

Select Condition ThriftBooks Help Icon

Recommended

Format: Paperback

Condition: Acceptable

$10.09
Save $5.91!
List Price $16.00
Almost Gone, Only 2 Left!

Book Overview

A 50th-anniversary edition of the pioneering novel featuring African American police detective Virgil Tibbs--with a foreword by John Ridley, creator of the TV series American Crime and Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave "They call me Mr. Tibbs" was the line immortalized by Sidney Poitier in the 1967 Oscar-winning movie adaptation of In the Heat of the Night, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award and was named one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. Now fans of classic crime can rediscover this suspense-filled novel whose hero paved the way for James Patterson's Alex Cross, George Pelecanos's Derek Strange, and other African American detectives. A small southern town in the 1960s. A musician found dead on the highway. It's no surprise when white detectives arrest a black man for the murder. What is a surprise is that the black man--Virgil Tibbs--is not the killer but a skilled homicide detective, passing through racially tense Wells, South Carolina, on his way back to California. Even more surprising, Wells's new police chief recruits Tibbs to help with the investigation. But Tibbs's presence in town rubs some of the locals the wrong way, and it won't be long before the martial arts-trained detective has to fight not just for justice, but also for his own safety. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Customer Reviews

customer rating | review

Rated 4 stars
Character-driven examination of Social Issues Disguised as a Mystery

When Sam Wood, an officer with the Wells police department discovers the body of a famous Italian conductor lying in the road, it spells trouble for the small Carolina town. For the conductor was in town to perform at a musical festival designed to lift the town's sagging economy. The chief of police, Bill Gillespie, is no detective. But salvation inadvertently arrives when Wood arrests a black man with a wallet full of...

0Report

Rated 5 stars
I read this book, it's entertaining, and interesting

I have watched the movie when it came on TBS. Then I decide to read the book. I thought the book was going to be boring, but I couldn't put it down. The book takes place in an Carolinan city call Wells. There's the chief, William Gillespie and the officer, Sam Woods. Suddenly, an African American dectective name Virgil Tibbs, which is from Pasenda, California, was coming through Wells, but the cops caught him. At the station,...

0Report

Rated 5 stars
better on race than its more serious rivals

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery and subsequently made into an Academy Award winning movie and successful TV series, In the Heat of the Night is only a decent mystery, but it's a great book about race. Though the book is different in many respects from the better known film, at its core it is still about the dilemmas faced by a proud black detective who is forced to help with a murder investigation in...

0Report

Rated 5 stars
i read this book by choice!

actually my friend said that she had seen this show before and said that the book would be pretty good. At first i thought that the book was gonna be boring but i found out that i couldn't put it down. my friend didn't like the book and didn't recomnd it to people but then i finished the book and thought it was the best book i ever read and i recomended it to everybody i knew.

0Report

Rated 5 stars
A story that inspires, angers, and educates the soul

In the Heat of the Night by author John Ball is a novel that will be interpreted differently by every person that reads it. For some, it will inspire them. For others, it will be a tool to intensify their anger toward others. Taking place in a Carolinian city called Wells, Chief of Police Bill Gillespie along with Officer Sam Wood must apprehend the murderer of Maestro Mantoli, organizer of a Music Festival that was to put...

0Report

In the Heat of the Night Mentions in Our Blog

In the Heat of the Night in How Many Best Pictures Were Based on a Book?
How Many Best Pictures Were Based on a Book?
Published by Amanda Cleveland • March 21, 2024
With Oppenheimer's recent Oscars win, we had a question: How many Best Picture winners were based on a book? Countless classic films are adaptations, as if a great story tends to start in literature. Let's look at the numbers and the amazing books that have lead to great films.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured