mmadigan - Congrats! You are more than correct! lol
The answer that I have is The Conjure Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem, published in 1932, and written by Rudolph Fisher. The Conjure Man Dies: an African king with a degree from Harvard who set himself up as a "conjure-man", a fortune teller, is murdered in 1930s Harlem.
It is interesting to note how Wiki words it re: first novel . . .
From Wiki: "Rudolph Fisher (May 9, 1897 Washington, DC - December 26, 1934) was an African-American physician, radiologist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator. His parents were John Wesley Fisher, a clergyman, and Glendora Williamson. Fisher had three children.
His first published work, "City of Refuge", appeared in the Atlantic Monthly of February 1925. He went on in 1932 to write The Conjure-Man Dies, the first novel with a black detective as well as the first detective novel with only black characters. Fisher was also a physician, dramatist, musician and orator. He was an active participant in the Harlem Renaissance, primarily as a novelist, but also as a musician."
