- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; Open Market Ed edition (2 Jun 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753819201
- ISBN-13: 978-0753819203
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,371,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Little Scarlet takes Walter Mosley's bitter African American investigator Easy Rawlins into the era of the Watts riots--these novels are fine stand-alone novels of investigation and jeopardy that also function as an informal history of America's post-war racial history. Easy finds himself working for the Man, for a change, though with his own agenda--rumour has it that the riots started because of the murder of a local woman by her white lover, and the Los Angeles police want a lid on the case. Easy, predisposed to look for guilty white men, finds himself having to tell people things that they do not want to hear, and in the process uncovering police failures going back years. Like all of Mosley's books, this is an angry indictment, but also a novel filled with moments of casual kindness and regret - the Easy Rawlins of the later novels is less of an avenging angel, more a man made more gentle by fatherhood. Like all of Mosley's thrillers, this is more or less an instant classic. ---Roz Kaveney
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'It's a suitably explosive piece of writing - to the background of the Vietnam war, Mosley manages to capture brilliantly a moment of change set above a powder keg. The darkness of the case and its setting may evoke James Ellroy's 'The Black Dahlia', while the relationship between the two investigators almost resembles the marriage of convenience of the two policeman in that same author's 'LA Confidential.' (Omer Ali TIME OUT (16-23 February) )
'Walter Mosley's excellent new Easy Rawlins novel is set in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles, in which more than 30 people died.' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES (20/2/05) )
'Little Scarlet is the ninth of Easy's adventures, and admirers of Walter Mosley's spare prose and understated observation will be pleased to hear that it is among the sharpest and richest.' (Duncan Campbell GUARDIAN (19/2/05) )
'Crime fiction plus, which - as always with Mosley - excels and masterfully extends the genre.' (LITERARY REVIEW (March 2005) )
'Mosley's wry streetwise humour is what keeps the fans coming back for more.' (Carla McKay DAILY MAIL (4.3.05) )
'The absorbing mystery, as in all Mosley's Easy Rawlins books, is accompanied by a perceptive, sometimes shocking, portrayal of the surrounding society and the racial politics of the troubled city...He's back in terrific form.' (Marcel Berlins TIMES (12.3.05) )
'The master of the private eye novel is back with a cracker...The story pulses to the hearbeat of LA, and Mosley's prose is tough and uncompromising.' (PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH (26.2.05) )
'This is the ninth in a series of brilliant crime novels...Only Easy can enter the LA ghettos that are so vividly captured in this brilliant evocation of a little-known side of America, and Mosley's novel sequence is as vital as anything written in the US in recent years.' (Philip Hamer CITY LIFE (Manchester Evening News) )
'Mosley and Rawlins both on top form.' (Mike Ripley BIRMINGHAM POST )
'This is Walter Mosley at his very best, delivering a raw, gritty and direct thriller in which the seething violence and anger of the time leap off the page while Rawlin's internal musings on politics, race and sex provide a fascinating counterpoint.' (Myles McWeeney IRISH INDEPENDENT )
'Easy has become one of crime fiction's classic investigators, and in this novel he expresses more clearly than before his long heldback anger against brutal white oppression. it is a forceful statement as well as an intriguing mystery.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (27.3.05) )
'This book is certainly a rattling read.' (Sue Jones SOCIALIST REVIEW (June 2005) )
'Little Scarlet is not just a good thriller - it's much more than that. it's an insightful look at the reasons for the black revolt.' (John O'Mahony IRISH EXAMINER )
''a fast-paced treat for old and news readers alike.' (Lana Citron JEWISH CHRONICLE (1.7.05) ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'Walter Mosley's excellent new Easy Rawlins novel is set in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles, in which more than 30 people died.' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES (20/2/05) )
'Little Scarlet is the ninth of Easy's adventures, and admirers of Walter Mosley's spare prose and understated observation will be pleased to hear that it is among the sharpest and richest.' (Duncan Campbell GUARDIAN (19/2/05) )
'Crime fiction plus, which - as always with Mosley - excels and masterfully extends the genre.' (LITERARY REVIEW (March 2005) )
'Mosley's wry streetwise humour is what keeps the fans coming back for more.' (Carla McKay DAILY MAIL (4.3.05) )
'The absorbing mystery, as in all Mosley's Easy Rawlins books, is accompanied by a perceptive, sometimes shocking, portrayal of the surrounding society and the racial politics of the troubled city...He's back in terrific form.' (Marcel Berlins TIMES (12.3.05) )
'The master of the private eye novel is back with a cracker...The story pulses to the hearbeat of LA, and Mosley's prose is tough and uncompromising.' (PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH (26.2.05) )
'This is the ninth in a series of brilliant crime novels...Only Easy can enter the LA ghettos that are so vividly captured in this brilliant evocation of a little-known side of America, and Mosley's novel sequence is as vital as anything written in the US in recent years.' (Philip Hamer CITY LIFE (Manchester Evening News) )
'Mosley and Rawlins both on top form.' (Mike Ripley BIRMINGHAM POST )
'This is Walter Mosley at his very best, delivering a raw, gritty and direct thriller in which the seething violence and anger of the time leap off the page while Rawlin's internal musings on politics, race and sex provide a fascinating counterpoint.' (Myles McWeeney IRISH INDEPENDENT )
'Easy has become one of crime fiction's classic investigators, and in this novel he expresses more clearly than before his long heldback anger against brutal white oppression. it is a forceful statement as well as an intriguing mystery.' (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (27.3.05) )
'This book is certainly a rattling read.' (Sue Jones SOCIALIST REVIEW (June 2005) )
'Little Scarlet is not just a good thriller - it's much more than that. it's an insightful look at the reasons for the black revolt.' (John O'Mahony IRISH EXAMINER )
''a fast-paced treat for old and news readers alike.' (Lana Citron JEWISH CHRONICLE (1.7.05) ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have enjoyed Walter Mosley's writing over the years especially because he is a blackman writing about black characters, unlike James Patterson and his Alex Cross novels. In this edition during the last days of the Watts riots, a black woman named Little Scarlet, is found murdered in her apartment, a building that a white man entered after escaping a mob of rioters. Did this man commit the murder? Rawlin's is soon on the case. As in past novels the mystery is a way for the reader to look into an earlier time, in this case the late 1960's. Through Rawlin's eyes the reader experinces the conflicting feelings of the black investigator toward the riots: great sadness for the loss of life, but also understanding the anger that caused the riots in the first place. In all this is a good mystery wrapped up in a slice of history.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Since the Easy Rawlins series began, I have been anxious for Mr. Mosley to take Easy through to the 1965 Watts riots. That event marked the equivalent of the Grand Canyon in changing race relations in the Los Angeles area, and I was sure that Mr. Mosley would have many wonderful observations to make about the events and their effects on those who lived through them.
As high as my expectations were, Mr. Mosley happily exceeded them. Even among bit characters, you will recognize the attitudes of people you have met or known -- including the hard core racist whose feelings are based on personal insecurity, the person who sees a dark face and is afraid, scavengers who take advantage of anyone who is vulnerable, timid people who are put into fear by any changes, cowards who look the other way if the person who is hurt is a powerless individual, professionals who feel responsible to do the right thing, those who reach out to those in need regardless of who they are, and those who feel bitter because of past wrongs and cannot release that bitterness . . . even if it chokes them literally to death. The book represents a symphony of racial and human attitudes and instincts that accurately represents the world of Los Angeles in 1965.
Little Scarlet is really two stories in one novel. The more important story is about what it means to be a good person. The less important one concerns a murder mystery about a woman who is found dead during the riots. What is most remarkable about the book is that Mr. Mosley is able to subsume the second story into the theme of the first story.
The most delicate aspect of the book though is to capture how everyone was changed by the riots. Mr. Mosley does that in many different and subtle ways that will delight anyone who enjoys a great storyteller telling an important tale with great skill. By the end of the story, you have hope that we can all be better to one another . . . because even the most cynical and calculating are beginning to address one another differently.
For long-time fans of the series, you will be delighted that Mr. Mosley has worked in some many of his primary characters in roles that build your understanding and enjoyment of each character.
Mr. Mosley long ago became much more than a detective novelist. Seeing him apply his remarkable talents in this genre again provides a great context for appreciating his continually improving work.
Reach out and understand!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Walter Mosley is my favourite author FULL STOP. I cannot stress that he writes in a beautiful jazzy prose with some fantasic character. you can feel the heat taste the food and sense the vibe of the stories he tells. I have read every book in the Easy rawlins series and I am on tenterhooks for next one to come along and I will be paying whatever to get my hands on it..let the kids keep harry potter as this is the best magic for all those that want mystery, and stylaised crime novels. A must buy for fans and those new to Easy rawlins
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley
Little Scarlet was my first read of Walter Mosley, as I had read the reviews and gave it a go. I would recommend it for anyone that has not really delved into the situations of the... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2009 by Mr. L. S. Spencer-davis
Mosley again reels off another work of greatness
Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins seems to grow and become more complex in every book of the series. Here in "little Scarlet" he seems to be both angry and bitter at the world around him; the... Read more
Published on 28 April 2007 by Chaka Whyte
Top form
I'm a huge fan of the Easy Rawlins series and this is right up there with the best. Don't get me wrong, nothing will ever beat Devil in a Blue Dress but this comes close. Read more
Published on 9 April 2007 by T. Josham
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