This was the first Easy Rawlins novel to come close to being as good as the first, Devil In A Blue Dress . The books in between have all been decent, but until this one, none have been able to match the urgency and freshness of the first novel. In Little Scarlet, Easy is a changed man after witnessing the violence and destruction during the 1965 race riots in Watts, and he searches for the murderer of a black woman in the riot's aftermath. Using the riots as a setting really upped the ante fr...

4.5 stars. I always enjoy his books. This book takes place in the 60’s but is so relevant with what is going on in society right now. His books have the same character in them and I haven’t read them in any sort of order and haven’t had any problems following the stories. The plot is standalone but a lot of the characters are the same and there are references to past events. Maybe I feel this way because I have read other books by him. If you haven’t read this author I would highly recommend pic...

Sadness is a kind of beacon for me.Easy Rawlins is a black man in his mid-forties who works as a senior custodian at a junior high in Los Angeles in the ‘60’s. But his real work is done through his inconspicuous office in Watts and on the streets as he helps those he knows in his neighborhood, investigating crimes against them or any injustices they’ve suffered. He doesn’t have a private investigator’s license, but that doesn’t stop him from helping or force him to always play by the rules. But

This novel has a passion for the real. It takes the reader back to 1965 – Los Angeles riot. A time when injustice meets the cruelty of reality and calls it powerlessness. Where Easy Rawlins solves the murder of “Nola Payne” referred to as “Little Scarlet”. Was she killed by her “white lover” or a victim of the riots? It turns out she was a victim of society. The pin up hate of a man named Harold Ostenberg, who never could find his identity, in a world which left him none and a mother who lost he...

I enjoyed the first several books of this series, but I'm really enjoying them now because you can see the evolution of Easy and the love he has for his patchwork family.

Walter Mosley delivers crime fiction set during a turning point in America's racial history. His protagonist, Easy Rawlins, is a man who, more often than not, would like to be left alone--he just keeps getting caught up murders that require his special expertise in detection. The great pleasure of reading Mosley is the classic, sharp-paced action mixed with commentary on the problems of being African American in a racist society.

I originally read this 15 years ago shortly after it was published. With the protests going on today over the murder of George Floyd, I felt it was an appropriate time to re-read books that take place during times of social unrest.Little Scarlett opens just after the worst of the Los Angeles 1965 riots is ending. The social unrest is the backbone of the setting, and systemic racism is the lifeblood of the tale. A black man, Ezekiel Rawlins, is asked by the LA Police Department to investigate a m...

There are books that are written to convey plot as clearly as possible and keep the reader turning pages eagerly. This is one of them, but it's also a book that is freighted with bleak, clear-eyed insight. The prose is a joy to read - fleet-footed, yet meticulous, never heavy-handed, but far from empty-headed. If everything else by Mosley is half as good, I look forward to reading more of his work.

It is the last day of the Watts Riots in 1965 and there is a murdered black woman who may have been killed by a white man and the police come to Easy to find out what happened.

Easy Rawlins is rough, self-assured, mature, street smart, definitely a man’s man. A businessman who loves family and respects women, he is the amateur investigator featured in 10 books by Walter Mosley.It’s the 60’s – a violent time in our history. An violence is the vehicle that Mosley uses to drive this story. Watts 1965. For those who don’t know what went down, go Wiki it for the full 411. But here’s a snapshot…Watts, is a black neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, California, that eru...

Another very good entry in the series, this time the backdrop is the Watts riots of 1965. Easy finds himself working with the cops on this case and it's a new experience for him but he can get to places and information that they can't. The murder of one woman leads to connections to other deaths and a case from the previous short story collection. More great writing from Mosley with all your favourite supporting characters but none better than the main character himself which I really enjoy read...

This is book nine of the series and i have to say this book is my extra favorite one so far. I love them all but this book really hit on issues that are so relevant even in today's society, from passing for white to police putting their knee on the Black man's neck. Wow, who knew🤔Walter Mosley has a way of telling stories that matter through his fictional writing which is not that fictional at all!!

Another excellent book by Mr. Mosley

I had to read Mosley's Little Scarlet for my Mystery Lit class. I felt a bit uncomfortable at first while reading. I felt like I had walked down a bad alley in the wrong neighborhood. Little Scarlet takes place during the Watts Riots in the 60's (Google it!) and centers on the murder of a black woman and the behind the scenes investigation by Easy Rawlins. Rawlins is a black, hard boiled 'researcher' just trying to make it in a white world. He is not perfect and I think I'm in love with him. The...

This was probably my favorite of the Easy Rawlins series. It takes place right after the Watts Riots and the setting and characters are written to show how the clash of change and resistance-to-change really impacted so many lives. I really liked Six Easy Pieces (6 short stories) as well and I saw how Mosley picked up some of the threads from those stories in this book. Looking forward to the next one!

My favorite Easy story so far. Set right after the 1965 LA riots THIS is what I expect from Walter Mosley. I needed this after attempting to read John Woman and getting smacked in the face with the crazy "hotepishness" that it represented. I told you I was gonna steal that phrase Jerrika! (If you need context for hotepishness please read Jerrik's review of John Woman here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Mosley delivered everything and more of what I needed and wanted in an Easy Rawlins

This one touched my heart a bit. Taking place during and after the riots in 1965 in LA, Easy is once again asked to do what the white police aren't able/willing to do. Track down a man who has been accused of killing black woman all across LA. But because of the "sensitive" nature of the neighborhoods due to all the riots police relations haven't been well handled and it's up to Easy to get it all straightened out. They suspect that it's a white man killing all these black women and because of

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...More than a man of of mysteryWalter Mosley prefers 'literary' labelJenny Shank, Special To The NewsPublished July 16, 2004 at midnightOver the fourteen years of Walter Mosley's publishing career, during which he has turned out 19 books, Mosley has experienced segregation and discrimination - in the bookstore.As a writer who's primarily known for mysteries but has also written straightforward literary fiction, science-fiction and essays, Mosley on occasion

I got to meet Walter Mosley a couple of years ago when he gave a reading at The Free Library in Philadelphia, but I confess this is the first time I've gotten around to reading one of his many books. I very much enjoyed it. The Easy Rawlins (not Rawlings, mind you) character is driven by a fierce sense of justice and guided by a powerful and reliable moral compass. He is hard on himself, but he is almost universally recognized by those who know him best as that rarity, a good man. Mosley sets th...

It's unusual for a series to still be improving, 9 books in -- but this one is. In this one, the police ask Easy to help solve a crime that occurred during the riots in Watts. While the plot is certainly what moves the book along, there is a lot here to consider about race and the riots. Excellent read