In the Heat of the Night (novel)
| In the Heat of the Night | |
|---|---|
 1st edition |
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| Author(s) | John Ball |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Virgil Tibbs |
| Genre(s) | Mystery |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Publication date | 1965 |
| Media type | |
| Followed by | The Cool Cottontail |
In the Heat of the Night is a 1965 novel by John Ball set in the community of Wells, South Carolina. The main character is a black police detective named Virgil Tibbs passing through the small town during a time of bigotry and the civil rights movement.
The novel is the basis of the 1967 award-winning film of the same name, directed by Norman Jewison and starring Sidney Poitier. Ball would feature Tibbs in the subsequent novels The Cool Cottontail (1966), Johnny Get Your Gun (1969), Five Pieces of Jade (1972), The Eyes of Buddha (1976), Then Came Violence (1980) and Singapore (1986),
[edit] Plot summary
Virgil Tibbs is an experienced Pasadena homicide investigator passing through Wells, a small town in South Carolina. When local police officer Sam Wood chances upon him waiting for a connecting train, he swiftly takes him into custody where Tibbs is questioned about a murder solely because he is black. This, in the first two chapters of the novel, sets the mood for the story: about the struggle and the prejudice that even the educated Tibbs experiences in the South. Despite these obstacles, Tibbs reluctantly agrees to help the local police force, commanded by Chief Bill Gillespie, in their murder investigation. Tibbs constantly shoots down any murder accusations brought forth by Gillespie and is eventually accepted by Wood and Gillespie as he solves the murder case.
