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Review
"'A first novel of astonishing virtuosity, upending Chandler's LA to show a dark side of a different kind' Sunday Times 'From a writer who has the legacy of Chester Himes and more to live up to, Walter Mosley makes a distinctly confident start to his career' Time Out 'His Easy Rawlins novels are a series of perfectly balanced concoctions of lust, violence, politics and race. You crack a new one open knowing exactly what sort of pleasure is in store' Sunday Times"
The Times
‘An original, beguiling creation. One of the most impressive first crime novels’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Out 'Chandler's' the Master,
By
This review is from: Devil in a Blue Dress: A Novel (Easy Rawlins Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Although the author may tire of such comparisons between himself and the great Raymond Chandler, there is no better way of describing the street-wise, hard-boiled, and downright sexy way his character Easy Rawlins swaggers through a story. To describe him though as a black Philip Marlowe would demean his very essence, in that he is unquestionably his own man.Set in LA in the 50's this is as far from Happy Days as can be. Our anti-hero is a veteran of WWII, who makes occasional reference to his experiences during the conflict, and how they have moulded him. He enjoys hard liquor and harder company, but above all he loves women. They of course land him in more trouble than he can handle, as he sets out to earn a wage as a Private Eye. It is the truly remarkable skill as a writer that Moseley can take such a seemingly stereo-typical character, and make me as a reader believe in him. His greatest triumph being that by the end of the book I actually cared as to what happened to him as a person, rather than just the story itself. This book stands out amoungst the Easy Rawlins saga as a whole due to its singular characters, and plot-line. Saying that though, I challange anyone to read it and not be at least tempted to read one other (for which you will be pleasantly rewarded).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm really becoming a Mosley fan,
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This review is from: Devil in a Blue Dress (Paperback)
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....".
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent start to series,
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This review is from: Devil in a Blue Dress (Serpent's Tail Classics) (Paperback)
This is the first of the Easy Rawlins series and it is very well done. Of particular note is the striking feel for black Los Angeles in late 40's and early 50's that Mosley conveys effortlessly. The mystery is a bit convoluted but convinces on the level of the messiness of reality if nothing else. The dialog has been smoothed out somewhat to strike a balance between street talk and mainstream English, and occasionally it jars, but it's a minor point and does not detract from the flow of the story. Because we are 60 years down the road from the time of the events, the cops look a bit stereotypically nasty and corrupt, but they accurately reflect how things were then. Recommended.
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