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Just after devastating riots tear through Los Angeles in 1965, when anger is high and fear still smolders everywhere, the police turn up at Easy Rawlins' doorstep. He expects the worst, as usual. But they've come to ask for his help.
A man was wrenched from his car by a mob at the riots' peak and escaped into a nearby apartment building. Soon afterward, a redheaded woman known as Little Scarlet was found dead in that building, and the fleeing man is the obvious suspect. But the man has vanished.
The police fear that their presence in certain neighborhoods could spark a new inferno, so they ask Easy Rawlins to see what he can discover. The vanished man is the key, but he is only the beginning. Easy enlists the help of his longtime friend Mouse to break through the shroud. And what Easy finds is a killer whose rage, like that which burned in the city for weeks, is intrinsically woven around deep-set passions, feelings echoed within Easy himself.
Rawlins's hunt for the killer reveals a new city emerging from the ashes, with the promise of a new life for Easy, Mouse, and his old friends Jackson Blue and Jewelle. Mosley's lean and musical vernacular captures the heat and the rhythm of Los Angeles' heart, where danger is the common currency of everyday life. Little Scarlet is further proof that Mosley is "a master of mystery" (New York Times Book Review).
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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!
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