I was so captivated by Mosley's latest novel ("When the Thrill is Gone"), which I happened upon by accident, that I thought I'd go back to where it all seemed to start for him.
"Devil...." is very different and features a different protagonist and world. Easy Rawlins is an African-American ex-soldier who has just lost his job while living in LA in the late forties. But he owns a home and doesn't want to miss his next repayment so takes on a job to find a missing woman on behalf of a rich man.
Easy is very well-known and he certainly knows everybody in shady circles and is quite prepared to operate on both sides of the law's fine lines. He is though somebody the reader aligns with readily.
I liked the setting and the descriptions of the times. The hunt and story are not complex although I did get thrown by names occasionally. There was enough crime mystery there, with a twist or two, for the novel to sit in this genre, although some may view the book as a social commentary of the times first. It is also not a long book.
The writing style, pace and structure will likely appeal more to readers of Chandler and Hammett than followers of Child or Kernick.
I have really warmed to Mosley as a writer, however, and will be buying up more books for my Kindle, with the bias in favour of his more recent protagonist, Leonid McGill, who appeared in ".....Thrill....".
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