Cinnamon Kiss [Paperback]

In this story, Easy and Bonnie face one of those crises that can destroy a relationship. Easy's daughter Feather has a serious disease and seems to be dying. The only hope is to raise $35,000 (in 1960s dollars) for a custom, experimental treatment in Switzerland. Easy has a little money set aside, but nothing like $35,000. He puts out the word that he needs help and Mouse offers a set-up armed robbery where a guard has fixed the deal. But Easy begins to imagine himself in a striped suit and puts Mouse off.

Fortunately, another lead appears for a shadowy detective in San Francisco who seems to be in the story to provide a satire on Charley's Angels. Although there's a promise of big money, that promise soon seems to be broken by betrayal and deceit.

Easy's job is to find Cinnamon Cargill, a young woman who worked for an attorney who seems to have laid his hands on some papers that people will kill to keep private. Not surprisingly, his connections in the African-American community allow him to make contact while others are simply circling in the distance. Danger grows and Easy finds his job isn't so easy, after all.

Will Easy raise the money? How? What will happen with Feather? What will happen to Cinnamon? How will Bonnie cope?

The story leaves you feeling vulnerable in more dimensions at the same time than most detective fiction does. It's no wonder that many of the book's most memorable scenes are nightmares that Easy has during the story.

As literary fiction though, the story transcends that plot and leads each reader to wonder what he or she would do in the same situation. What values must be followed? Which values can be compromised, if any, for a higher good? What promises should be kept and which ones can be broken? The answers will strike many readers as realistic, but less than ideal. As a result, some women may find this book to be sexist. I don't think it is, but the line is a narrow one.

Books like Cinnamon Kiss make me wish I was just discovering Walter Mosley and had 20 more books to go.

In this story, Easy and Bonnie face one of those crises that can destroy a relationship. Easy's daughter Feather has a serious disease and seems to be dying. The only hope is to raise $35,000 (in 1960s dollars) for a custom, experimental treatment in Switzerland. Easy has a little money set aside, but nothing like $35,000. He puts out the word that he needs help and Mouse offers a set-up armed robbery where a guard has fixed the deal. But Easy begins to imagine himself in a striped suit and puts Mouse off.

Fortunately, another lead appears for a shadowy detective in San Francisco who seems to be in the story to provide a satire on Charley's Angels. Although there's a promise of big money, that promise soon seems to be broken by betrayal and deceit.

Easy's job is to find Cinnamon Cargill, a young woman who worked for an attorney who seems to have laid his hands on some papers that people will kill to keep private. Not surprisingly, his connections in the African-American community allow him to make contact while others are simply circling in the distance. Danger grows and Easy finds his job isn't so easy, after all.

Will Easy raise the money? How? What will happen with Feather? What will happen to Cinnamon? How will Bonnie cope?

The story leaves you feeling vulnerable in more dimensions at the same time than most detective fiction does. It's no wonder that many of the book's most memorable scenes are nightmares that Easy has during the story.

As literary fiction though, the story transcends that plot and leads each reader to wonder what he or she would do in the same situation. What values must be followed? Which values can be compromised, if any, for a higher good? What promises should be kept and which ones can be broken? The answers will strike many readers as realistic, but less than ideal. As a result, some women may find this book to be sexist. I don't think it is, but the line is a narrow one.

Books like Cinnamon Kiss make me wish I was just discovering Walter Mosley and had 20 more books to go.