In the Heat of the Night
John Ball
 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.