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Easy Rawlins #16
Farewell, Amethystine
The Easy Rawlins novels follow the infamous detective Easy Rawlins solving mysteries on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California. Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los Angeles.This is the latest highly anticipated Easy Rawlins novel, following on from Blood Grove.Praise for Walter Mosley"Skitters across the spectrum between orthodox and radical like a polygraph needle wired to a nervy accomplice. Fans of his Easy Rawlins and Leonid McGill series will not be disappointed, for we remain in the realm of deliciously gritty noir."? New York Times Book Review"Mosley is a master of craft and narrative, and through his incredibly vibrant and diverse body of work, our literary heritage has truly been enriched..." - National Book Foundation"The ability to simultaneously keep us readers in confusion and in thrall marks Mosley - winner of the National Book Foundation's 2020 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters - as a mystery master." - Washington Post"Rawlins is the greatest contributor to Los Angeles' literary culture and its native son's repute." - LA Times"Mosley's characteristic writing style is on full display." ? Publishers Weekly
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2024
About the author
Walter Mosley
160 books3,625 followersWalter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
August 7, 2024
For those unfamiliar with Walt Mosley, he's one of the most prolific, celebrated authors in publishing. This being the 16th installment of the Easy Rawlins series which began decades ago with Devil in a Blue Dress he demonstrates his prowess with grace, power and authority.
Its January 1970 in Los Angeles where Easy's P.I. business flourishes and his family life is filled with love and adoration from his adopted son Jesus, whose wife, young child and sister Feather live with him in a private enclave in the hills. A black former boxer and cop who's hard hitting and resourceful, Easy is a force to contend with.
Arriving at his office, his own "Helen of Troy" arrives in the form of Amethystine Stoller, a beautiful woman who's ex-husband Curt Fields has gone missing. Referred to him by a former client he's indebted to, Easy collects the basics and digs into his formidable network of cops, thugs and former criminals to uncover the whereabouts of Fields.
Walt's narratives require the reader to 'take mental notes' continually due to countless characters, plot elements and revelations. Paced to perfection, twists and turns are akin to a winding mountain road; characters range from corrupt LA officials to a 'black' witch and everything in between. Mosley uses the same 'brand' of storytelling with all Easy episodes though this is one of his best.
As with all my reviews, preference is to keep plot points, characters and details from the summary in order NOT to spoil the experience. Each chapter is filled with the unexpected along with flash backs to Easy's military experience in WWII, childhood in the Fifth Ward in Houston and countless others.
That said, if you're a fan of detective stories packed with suspense, surprise and action you can't go wrong with this one nor any Walt has written.
Its January 1970 in Los Angeles where Easy's P.I. business flourishes and his family life is filled with love and adoration from his adopted son Jesus, whose wife, young child and sister Feather live with him in a private enclave in the hills. A black former boxer and cop who's hard hitting and resourceful, Easy is a force to contend with.
Arriving at his office, his own "Helen of Troy" arrives in the form of Amethystine Stoller, a beautiful woman who's ex-husband Curt Fields has gone missing. Referred to him by a former client he's indebted to, Easy collects the basics and digs into his formidable network of cops, thugs and former criminals to uncover the whereabouts of Fields.
Walt's narratives require the reader to 'take mental notes' continually due to countless characters, plot elements and revelations. Paced to perfection, twists and turns are akin to a winding mountain road; characters range from corrupt LA officials to a 'black' witch and everything in between. Mosley uses the same 'brand' of storytelling with all Easy episodes though this is one of his best.
As with all my reviews, preference is to keep plot points, characters and details from the summary in order NOT to spoil the experience. Each chapter is filled with the unexpected along with flash backs to Easy's military experience in WWII, childhood in the Fifth Ward in Houston and countless others.
That said, if you're a fan of detective stories packed with suspense, surprise and action you can't go wrong with this one nor any Walt has written.
May 6, 2024
Mosley does it again. I believe Mosley could write these mysteries in his sleep. That’s not to say it’s easy, but he has mastered his personal formula and in the end it all seems to make for an engaging and enjoyable read.
In this one, Amethystine is the lovely damsel whose husband has gone missing. She is pointed in the direction of Easy Rawlings, and enlists him to get the answers to questions she didn’t even know to ask. Easy gets to work and along the way, the usual cast make appearances in this whodunit. The dangerous Raymond ”Mouse” Alexander and the equally hazardous Fearless Jones. Though Mouse remains scarce in this one, Fearless is fully on board providing muscle and gnarly assistance. This tale takes a winding road with a few paths leading to dead-ends, but it’s all in service to the Mosley formula. Part of which is to keep the story engaging, even, especially when things seem implausible.
All this adds up to another win for Easy, and Mosley continues to keep us entertained.
In this one, Amethystine is the lovely damsel whose husband has gone missing. She is pointed in the direction of Easy Rawlings, and enlists him to get the answers to questions she didn’t even know to ask. Easy gets to work and along the way, the usual cast make appearances in this whodunit. The dangerous Raymond ”Mouse” Alexander and the equally hazardous Fearless Jones. Though Mouse remains scarce in this one, Fearless is fully on board providing muscle and gnarly assistance. This tale takes a winding road with a few paths leading to dead-ends, but it’s all in service to the Mosley formula. Part of which is to keep the story engaging, even, especially when things seem implausible.
All this adds up to another win for Easy, and Mosley continues to keep us entertained.
June 3, 2024
I've read several of Mosley's more recent books, but Devil in a Blue Dress is the only Easy Rawlins novel I'd read before "Farewell, Amethystine." I considered trying to read the entire series before diving in, but realized that was impractical. It also would not have allowed me to discover "Farewell, Amethystine" stands on its own just fine. I enjoyed re-meeting characters that still existed somewhere in my imagination, but I didn't need to know their backstories to be drawn into this story. Actually, what struck me most was the entire story being told as memory, as Easy's backstory. Mosley's ability to write in the past tense, to tell a story long past, and still create dramatic tension and a sense of urgency is impressive. Occasionally I found myself distracted by this but only because I kept wondering if this is how the other Easy Rawlins books are structured and was curious to find out.
One of the wonderful things about the story being set in the past is it allows Mosley to tell a classic, hard-boiled PI story without distractions of modern technology. The elimination of pay phones is the worst thing to happen to PIs in a long time! I keep trying to decide which of Mosley's protagonists I enjoy the most, and my conclusion is whichever one is currently taking me down dark alleys and into sweaty bedrooms while trying to do the right thing and stay alive.
Thank you to the publisher, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this eBook. After reading “Farewell, Amethystine,” I can’t wait to catch up on my Easy Rawlins reading while waiting for Walter Mosley’s next book.
One of the wonderful things about the story being set in the past is it allows Mosley to tell a classic, hard-boiled PI story without distractions of modern technology. The elimination of pay phones is the worst thing to happen to PIs in a long time! I keep trying to decide which of Mosley's protagonists I enjoy the most, and my conclusion is whichever one is currently taking me down dark alleys and into sweaty bedrooms while trying to do the right thing and stay alive.
Thank you to the publisher, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this eBook. After reading “Farewell, Amethystine,” I can’t wait to catch up on my Easy Rawlins reading while waiting for Walter Mosley’s next book.
October 26, 2024
Book 16, final book of the series.
This was my least favorite book in the series. The characters were a little flat, and the scenes were a little boring. There were a lot of historical moments and not enough story moments.
However, it's easy, breezy Rawlins, and he is my everything.
Thank you, Walter Mosely, for a wonderful series
This was my least favorite book in the series. The characters were a little flat, and the scenes were a little boring. There were a lot of historical moments and not enough story moments.
However, it's easy, breezy Rawlins, and he is my everything.
Thank you, Walter Mosely, for a wonderful series
July 3, 2024
It's 1970 and Easy is 50 years old. Los Angeles is still a place for a black man to be police savvy. Another confusing, convoluted plot in which Easy and the reader are both along for the ride. Easy is hired by an attractive young black woman to find her missing former husband- a white man. There's also drama involving his police buddy who is in hiding. Easy goes back and forth between the two. Police corruption. Las Vegas gangsters. Easy knows he's being lied to and not told the whole story but the client is a looker connected to some of his closest confidantes. He's surprised too by what ultimately unfolds and the title is preordained.
June 15, 2024
4.5 stars. I’m a sucker for an Easy Rawlins book and this is another good one. Walter Mosley is on a book tour and I’m going to go see him later this month at Powell’s. Always a pleasure to see the master in person.
September 28, 2024
If you have read Easy Rawlins stories by Walter Mosley in the past, you know the drill, what to expect, what not to expect, what you like and want more of, which will lead you to the next one. If you have never read one of these tales, have never even seen Devil in a Blue Dress starring Denzel Washington (and you really should watch or re-watch that movie) then Farewell, Amethystine serves admirably as introduction to the series. He's older and more appreciative of a good nap and relaxed time at home with family than in earlier installments. But he's still formidable Easy, still on the trail of conmen and killers, still dealing with unhelpful police officers, still being seduced by beautiful women who may or may not be distracting him from their evil deeds. Cameos are made by long time friends such as Fearless Jones and Mouse Alexander. The details of the crime being investigated in Farewell, Amethystine don't matter too much. To be honest, I can't say that I fully kept up with how Easy followed one set of clues to the next until reaching the end of the trail. It's his manner of interacting with friends, foes and individuals of uncertain character that captivates the reader. Walter Mosley's prose carries us along in his signature style from a bygone era that makes the pages quite easy to turn. If you enjoy pulp fiction from authors such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and Elmore Leonard, be sure to add Walter Mosley to your lineup. In addition to elements familiar from other hardboiled crime books, Mosley's Easy Rawlins is a Black Man operating in a White World, providing extra challenges and hurdles for the private investigator to deal with while navigating the criminal underworld. Walter Mosley is a talented author who occasionally leaves his patented crime novels behind and gifts us with a very different sort of story. The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is one such example that I highly recommend. As for the Easy Rawlins stories, I recommend them as well and invite you to choose your reading order. Chronological, alphabetical, grouped by cover color, it doesn't much matter. Just jump in, the water is warm. It has been several years since the last Easy Rawlins book I read, and it may be several years until I read the next one. When I do make my return, I know I'll be immediately drawn into a comfortably dangerous literary landscape. And I know that Rawlins will figure out a way to get to the bottom of things.
July 15, 2024
Easy Rawlins books have become a kind of way to keep track of time the last five years. Geological layers of book reading: I had just started rereading the series when I was fired from a job in 2019. I kept rereading during the stay at home period of COVID lock downs. I was reading the fifteenth book the day I got my first booster shot.
The sixteenth book finds me extremely content. I have a job I love and a home life that seems shockingly idea. These are likely halcyon days; I wouldn't be me if I wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop, but honestly things are pretty great.
Easy's doing OK, too. Mosley's writing is on point. His ear for dialogue is strong. His plot is an absolutely convoluted mess that requires a pretty intricate knowledge of the 15 books that have come before this volume. It's weird that byzantine plotting didn't sink this book for me. I was aware of it, but it mattered less to the reading experience than I would have expected.
That's probably because I've put in the time and read those previous books, many of them several times. I was just happy to see what was up with Easy et al. That's also why I wish there had been more Mouse in this book. We touch base with a whole cast of characters here and Ray is less integral to the plot than I'd like.
Whatever, once I say that's plots out the window and I STILL enjoy the reading experience, you know you've got me for life. As long as Mosley writes Easy I'll read him.
Tiny side note. There's a coupla places in this book where Mosley mentions things happening in rooms above a furniture store. Couldn't help but think of Colson Whitehead's Ray Carney books when that came up, and can't help but wonder if that's intentional. I wonder what Mosley thinks of those books?
The sixteenth book finds me extremely content. I have a job I love and a home life that seems shockingly idea. These are likely halcyon days; I wouldn't be me if I wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop, but honestly things are pretty great.
Easy's doing OK, too. Mosley's writing is on point. His ear for dialogue is strong. His plot is an absolutely convoluted mess that requires a pretty intricate knowledge of the 15 books that have come before this volume. It's weird that byzantine plotting didn't sink this book for me. I was aware of it, but it mattered less to the reading experience than I would have expected.
That's probably because I've put in the time and read those previous books, many of them several times. I was just happy to see what was up with Easy et al. That's also why I wish there had been more Mouse in this book. We touch base with a whole cast of characters here and Ray is less integral to the plot than I'd like.
Whatever, once I say that's plots out the window and I STILL enjoy the reading experience, you know you've got me for life. As long as Mosley writes Easy I'll read him.
Tiny side note. There's a coupla places in this book where Mosley mentions things happening in rooms above a furniture store. Couldn't help but think of Colson Whitehead's Ray Carney books when that came up, and can't help but wonder if that's intentional. I wonder what Mosley thinks of those books?
June 21, 2024
Easy Rawlins in 1970: finding missing people, some dead, some alive; falling in love with a young woman; living in a hilltop fortress; bringing in Fearless Jones for muscle since Mouse is not available. All this is great but the narration has lost that smoky atmosphere of LA in the fifties that marked the early Rawlins books and made them special. Here the p;ot falls apart at the end as two bad guys just disappear, like Mosley didn’t know what to do with them. Still, nice to be back with Easy, a wise and charming character.
August 3, 2024
3 1/2 stars. A crime story with double and triple crosses, a femme fatale, multiple murders and a plot so twisted I wasn't sure what was going on half the time. Mosley is a superior stylist who paints a vivid portrait of Los Angeles in 1970 and Easy Rawlins is a sleuth for the ages.
October 22, 2024
Mosley sets this Easy Rawlings story in the 1970s rather than his previous post-WWII milieu, bringing many previous characters up to date as he does so. This was an enjoyable PI procedural (especially as narrated by Michael Boatman) even though I hadn’t read many of the previous books in this long-running series.
September 4, 2024
Hmmm. I could not get past the writing style to get to the plot.
September 26, 2024
Farewell, Amesthystine by Walter Mosley, is the 16th and latest in the Easy Rawlins series. The series describes post war LA and the influx of blacks from the south to LA, for jobs, a better life and a chance to stake a claim to the American dream of family, food on the table, and independence, albeit limited to the “negro experience” in U. S. Of A.
It’s 1970, and Easy has hit the mid-century mark, a milestone for a black male. As Easy puts it, in a confrontation with LAPD captain Anatole McCourt, “There was no question that he could have beaten me to death right there and then. But I had just turned fifty. The average life span of Negro men in that year was sixty. He had more to lose than I did.”
Easy has in the past 20 years succeeded quietly, amassing ten properties -100 rental units, providing with his private investigator activity -a steady cash flow, for a life off the grid. Including safe housing for he and his step daughter Feather, and step son Jesus with wife and daughter. A guarded enclave in the Santa Monica hills, “There were only six homes in Brighthope. All of them owned by Sadie Solomon, the richest woman west of the Mississippi River. Sadie gave ninety-nine-year leases to certain people who had done right by her, and others who had that potential. I was both.”
The story here involves Easy rescuing a friend, Melvin Suggs a LAPD captain…whose saved Easy’s ass frequently in the past… from the clutches of a cop even higher up, an under chief in the LAPD, and unraveling the disappearance of a new client, Amesthystine’ ex husband. The stories, as with most Mosley’s books, are complex and take many turns and introduce an array of characters and LA life. What stood out, for me, is Mosley’s unrelenting depiction of the realities and disparities of being black, and living black in LA and in America.
Easy’s turn. “I remembered Underchief Laks. A neatly dressed prig. He had four senior officers take me into custody on a Sunday afternoon when I still lived in LA proper.” —“What am I doing here?” I asked one of the few cops who outranked my friend Melvin Suggs. “It’s your turn, Easy.” “ My turn for what?” “So, when you sign this confession you will be charged for his murder.” “I didn’t kill him,” I said with steely conviction that I did not feel.” —“We have a numbered list of Los Angeles’s top criminals. One by one we choose them and make sure that they pay… for something.” —“Seven out of ten of the city’s white residents would have said it couldn’t happen—not in America. Out of the remaining three, two would have said that I could have beaten the false charges in court. Eleven out of nine Black Angelenos would have known” -different.
American Progress. “Most people, at least most whites, thought that everything was fine. Children made more money than their parents did, peace had been retained by the war I’d fought in, and freedom was available to everybody who deserved it—as long as they spoke English while praising Jesus and the almighty dollar.”
Law & Order. “The criminal courts building is on Temple Street downtown. Concrete and steel, it’s a monolith and an edifice, a symbol of the power of a justice system that has managed to hide the corruption fueling its machinations.”
Hippies. “They were young and, I knew, sooner or later they’d trade in these Utopian desires for good-paying jobs and the status quo. I knew it, but it was nice to be out there among them with their long hair and pot smoke, their perfect (if flawed) ideals and deep beliefs.”
Staying Alive. “he turned the corpse over. “Bradley Mirth,” he said. It was a big white man in military-like fatigues. His face was broad, with one eye open. He’d received at least six wounds. “Who is he?” I asked. “Used to be LAPD back in the days of Parker and his Night Riders. The ones who enforced laws that were never written down.” — “One of the good things about having lived half a century under the weight of second- and third-class citizenship—bad luck was never a surprise. If they wanted me they would get me. That was all there was to it.”
Code Blue. “LAPD, at that time, was a cult. Maybe all police departments everywhere in the world are bound up by toxic orthodoxy, I don’t know, but back then the LAPD didn’t believe in anything but the righteousness of their struggle to survive on streets at least partly of their own making.”
Now if you’re new to Mosley, Rawlins & the LA postwar experience, perhaps the slant seems heavy? But if you take the time to read Mosley, you will understand this is just the reality served straight up. If you care, then you need to understand it, to deal with it. And you should read first the early books to get where Easy, and Mosley, are coming from. Progress made is hard earned -a life and death experience.
It’s 1970, and Easy has hit the mid-century mark, a milestone for a black male. As Easy puts it, in a confrontation with LAPD captain Anatole McCourt, “There was no question that he could have beaten me to death right there and then. But I had just turned fifty. The average life span of Negro men in that year was sixty. He had more to lose than I did.”
Easy has in the past 20 years succeeded quietly, amassing ten properties -100 rental units, providing with his private investigator activity -a steady cash flow, for a life off the grid. Including safe housing for he and his step daughter Feather, and step son Jesus with wife and daughter. A guarded enclave in the Santa Monica hills, “There were only six homes in Brighthope. All of them owned by Sadie Solomon, the richest woman west of the Mississippi River. Sadie gave ninety-nine-year leases to certain people who had done right by her, and others who had that potential. I was both.”
The story here involves Easy rescuing a friend, Melvin Suggs a LAPD captain…whose saved Easy’s ass frequently in the past… from the clutches of a cop even higher up, an under chief in the LAPD, and unraveling the disappearance of a new client, Amesthystine’ ex husband. The stories, as with most Mosley’s books, are complex and take many turns and introduce an array of characters and LA life. What stood out, for me, is Mosley’s unrelenting depiction of the realities and disparities of being black, and living black in LA and in America.
Easy’s turn. “I remembered Underchief Laks. A neatly dressed prig. He had four senior officers take me into custody on a Sunday afternoon when I still lived in LA proper.” —“What am I doing here?” I asked one of the few cops who outranked my friend Melvin Suggs. “It’s your turn, Easy.” “ My turn for what?” “So, when you sign this confession you will be charged for his murder.” “I didn’t kill him,” I said with steely conviction that I did not feel.” —“We have a numbered list of Los Angeles’s top criminals. One by one we choose them and make sure that they pay… for something.” —“Seven out of ten of the city’s white residents would have said it couldn’t happen—not in America. Out of the remaining three, two would have said that I could have beaten the false charges in court. Eleven out of nine Black Angelenos would have known” -different.
American Progress. “Most people, at least most whites, thought that everything was fine. Children made more money than their parents did, peace had been retained by the war I’d fought in, and freedom was available to everybody who deserved it—as long as they spoke English while praising Jesus and the almighty dollar.”
Law & Order. “The criminal courts building is on Temple Street downtown. Concrete and steel, it’s a monolith and an edifice, a symbol of the power of a justice system that has managed to hide the corruption fueling its machinations.”
Hippies. “They were young and, I knew, sooner or later they’d trade in these Utopian desires for good-paying jobs and the status quo. I knew it, but it was nice to be out there among them with their long hair and pot smoke, their perfect (if flawed) ideals and deep beliefs.”
Staying Alive. “he turned the corpse over. “Bradley Mirth,” he said. It was a big white man in military-like fatigues. His face was broad, with one eye open. He’d received at least six wounds. “Who is he?” I asked. “Used to be LAPD back in the days of Parker and his Night Riders. The ones who enforced laws that were never written down.” — “One of the good things about having lived half a century under the weight of second- and third-class citizenship—bad luck was never a surprise. If they wanted me they would get me. That was all there was to it.”
Code Blue. “LAPD, at that time, was a cult. Maybe all police departments everywhere in the world are bound up by toxic orthodoxy, I don’t know, but back then the LAPD didn’t believe in anything but the righteousness of their struggle to survive on streets at least partly of their own making.”
Now if you’re new to Mosley, Rawlins & the LA postwar experience, perhaps the slant seems heavy? But if you take the time to read Mosley, you will understand this is just the reality served straight up. If you care, then you need to understand it, to deal with it. And you should read first the early books to get where Easy, and Mosley, are coming from. Progress made is hard earned -a life and death experience.
August 27, 2024
I’ve read a number of this author’s books so knew what I was getting into. Surprising to me is that Mosley’s character Easy Rawlings is 50! When I think of him, I see a young Denzel Washington from the film Devil in a Blue Dress, adapted from the book that introduced Mosley’s iconic private investigator to the world in 1990. In this latest book, a young Black woman with a sad story enters his office, he is coaxed into action. Amethystine Stoller is missing a husband and she’s convinced Easy is the guy to find him.
Recommended!
Recommended!
November 10, 2024
Maaaaybe 3 1/2 stars. Easy Rawlins is an enjoyable character and Mosley paints detective work in 1970 perfectly. But the plot was so twisted, I could hardly keep up! Plus, with nicknames for every character and Easy changing which one uses for them on every other sentence, it’s hard to keep track of everyone.
I usually like when authors expect a high level of intelligence of their readers, but you need to be a detective yourself in order to follow all of the twists and turns of this story.
I usually like when authors expect a high level of intelligence of their readers, but you need to be a detective yourself in order to follow all of the twists and turns of this story.
August 4, 2024
Not my first dance with Walter Mosley, and his Easy Rawlins books. They are delicious hard boiled detective mysteries and while he didn’t create the genre, his are the gold standard for the Black milieu. Farewell Amethyst is a good example. The plots are filled with surprises and the characters are presents, well wrapped, to be opened as the story progresses. His writing is rich in description and a pleasure to read. Happily, I’ve only scratched the surface and have many more of these wonderful books in my future.
December 3, 2024
Mr. Mosley's writing and stories make me feel comfortable, at home, as one. I just sit back and enjoy.
In this one, I greatly appreciate the political commentary. It's not in your face but he gets the point across.
Just another wonderful book by Mr. Mosley.
In this one, I greatly appreciate the political commentary. It's not in your face but he gets the point across.
Just another wonderful book by Mr. Mosley.
June 3, 2024
I am a huge Easy Rawlins fan, so I was ecstatic when I was approved for the ARC through NetGalley. Farewell, Amethystine follows Easy through a couple of mysteries and murders that are interconnected. The story starts when Amethystine hires Easy to find her missing ex-husband. What follows is a convoluted story about gamblers, criminals, murderers, and a double cross. Unexpectedly, Easy’s heart becomes involved. Meanwhile, Melvin and Mary are involved in a blackmail plot. As usual, Mosley is a great storyteller. He interweaves Easy’s teenage relationship with Anger into present thoughts and actions. The pace for the story is medium. You will still enjoy this story even if it is your first Easy Rawlins book. However, keep in mind that it does happen in the late sixties.
For Easy Rawlins fans: Mouse only makes a brief appearance. However, we get a good dose of Fearless. Melvin and Mary are also mixed up in the drama. You also get updates about Feather and Jesus.
For Easy Rawlins fans: Mouse only makes a brief appearance. However, we get a good dose of Fearless. Melvin and Mary are also mixed up in the drama. You also get updates about Feather and Jesus.
July 29, 2024
The author, Walter Mosley, has done it again…AWESOME read, 1970’s, Easy Rawlings, our famous PI, along with “Mouse”, “Fearless” and his family are trying to investigate a missing persons, intrigue, murders, jail, racial injustice and oh those twists and turns. Enjoy
September 9, 2024
Good story, well told prompting much thinking about race relationships especically between white cops and black folks.
i plan to read more mosley as ive only read 2 or 3 of his books
i plan to read more mosley as ive only read 2 or 3 of his books
October 6, 2024
Another fast-paced, lyrical installation in the Easy Rawlings series. I wish I could savour them more, to make them last longer, but I always need to find out what happened next.
November 18, 2024
Audio 3.5
July 24, 2024
I love the Easy Rawlins series. This one is not quite the best but does have an interesting plot. Although Mouse makes a brief appearance, his presence is sorely missed. I like Easy's relationship with his family and that's the one that really counts. He's still a bit of a hound dog, but he appears to be more careful this time, and with good reason. Mosley still has juice and his characters are riveting.
December 2, 2024
3.5 stars
In this 16th book in the 'Easy Rawlins' series, the private detective's search for a missing man morphs into a complicated saga.
*****
It's 1970, and middle-aged Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins has come a long way since his early days as a struggling private investigator in Los Angeles.
Now a financially secure private detective and real estate dabbler, Easy has a luxurious home, which he currently shares with his teenage daughter Feather - a swimming champion;
and his adopted son Jesus, along with Jesus's wife and baby daughter. Easy is a wonderful father and grandfather, and does his best to keep his work life separate from his family life.
Easy's successful private detective agency has three sleuths and a receptionist, and as the book opens, a new case walks in the door.
A beautiful alluring Black woman called Amethystine Stoller wants Easy to find her ex-husband, a White forensic accountant called Curt Fields, who's vanished. Easy is captivated by Amethystine, who reminds him of his first love Anger Lee, and he takes the case.
A Black man like Easy has to be careful in 1970s southern California. Los Angeles is a toxically racist city, and dark-skinned men are constantly at risk of being stopped by the cops - and beaten or arrested - for no reason at all. Truth be told, for Easy there might be a reason. Some of the sleuth's best friends are thieves and killers, and Easy is no stranger to deadly violence himself.
In any case, Easy reaches out to a White LAPD cop called Melvin (Mel) Suggs, who happens to be a friend, for information about Curt Fields.
Easy learns that Mel is in hiding to avoid arrest, having been accused of wrongdoing by a (corrupt) fellow officer. Easy needs to locate Mel to get information about Curt Fields, and the PI sets out to find the cloistered cop.
From this point on, the story gets VERY complicated. In a nutshell, the Curt Fields case is connected to Mel Suggs in a roundabout way, and the whole business involves prostitutes, blackmail, gamblers, Las Vegas casinos, various family members, and so on. People end up dead, and Easy contacts his best friends, the criminals Mouse Alexander and Fearless Jones, for help.
During his investigation, Easy visits various places in southern California; speaks to lots of people; has run-ins with police officers; gets drugged and beaten; has sex with several women (who apparently find Easy irresistible); deals with a dead body; and eventually resolves the cases.
On the bright side, Easy enjoys his lovely home; makes meals for his family; plays with his grandbaby; hobnobs with his friends; has fond memories of his first love Anger Lee; and more.
Author Walter Mosley is well-known for his gritty stories, authentic dialog, depiction of racial strife, etc. I liked the book from that point of view, but was less enamored with the byzantine plot. Still, I'd recommend the novel to fans of Elmore Leonard, and to readers who enjoy unflinching suspense tales.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
February 14, 2024
Farewell Amethystine
It is 1970 and Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlings in back. The 50 year old black private investigator is more fortunate than in previous books in the series. He now has a family, a thriving investigation business and a wonderful home.
However his life is turned upside down when attractive Amethystine Stoller asks him to investigate the disappearance of her ex husband Curtis. The man is a forensic accountant who was working for some shady characters when he disappeared.
Easy engages the help of some of his less honest associates to solve the mystery. Along the way he discovers that his one high ranking friend in the LA Police Department has gotten involved in his spouse’s illegal activities and also needs help.
The author creates characters living in the black enclaves of the Watts and Compton in Los Angeles. The dialect is strictly from the streets and is colorful. I have read most of the author’s books and enjoyed this one as well.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
It is 1970 and Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlings in back. The 50 year old black private investigator is more fortunate than in previous books in the series. He now has a family, a thriving investigation business and a wonderful home.
However his life is turned upside down when attractive Amethystine Stoller asks him to investigate the disappearance of her ex husband Curtis. The man is a forensic accountant who was working for some shady characters when he disappeared.
Easy engages the help of some of his less honest associates to solve the mystery. Along the way he discovers that his one high ranking friend in the LA Police Department has gotten involved in his spouse’s illegal activities and also needs help.
The author creates characters living in the black enclaves of the Watts and Compton in Los Angeles. The dialect is strictly from the streets and is colorful. I have read most of the author’s books and enjoyed this one as well.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
October 18, 2024
"You still got some dog in ya, Easy." - Raymond "Mouse" Alexander
Yes, Mouse makes an appearance in this one--he even utters the book's first lines--but, unfortunately, he plays only a bit part and too quickly disappears from the tale altogether. The same can be said of about 10 other characters in the too-large cast who are introduced for apparently no reason because they don't appear again and have no bearing on anything, including, oddly, Rawlins' two partners in the WRENS-L Detective Agency, one of whom is even described early on as "LA's best detective"; one would think if that were true he might at least be consulted at some point, but no. It's like Mosley didn't know what to do with them after presenting them. Instead, he brings back Fearless Jones for a more expanded but still limited co-starring role, and his pairing with Rawlins makes for probably the book's best parts.
This installment finds Rawlins now at age 50 and a grandfather and, as Mouse notes, still something of a dog. It's 1970, Rawlins now owns 12 apartment buildings, and he lives pretty much rent-free on almost literally the top of the world, thanks to his four-story mountaintop home accessible only via heavily guarded elevator. He's swimming in money and tosses it around routinely.
As usual, most of the action takes place in and around LA with regular mental flashbacks to Houston's Fifth Ward. As always, Mosley is very, very concerned with skin color. He has to be the most epidermally motivated author ever. All the bad (and incompetent) guys in Mosley's world are, of course, white and described with either that colorless word or "pasty" (or, in the case of one poor sucker, "pudgy, pasty, and pimpled"). It's more fun to observe throughout Mosley's various books the lengths he goes to in describing and verily celebrating all the way more variegated hues of brown to black, and in this book some of his best efforts range from "high yellow" and "pale brown, very pale" to "satin brown" and "brown like the lighter version of See's caramel candy." Albert Grimes, who is another of those blips in this book's teeming cast, has skin "the color of a copper penny that hasn't been shined in a week." Rawlins' granddaughter, Essie, is "beautiful and brown, Buddha-like." Millicent Roram (another character introduced and promptly abandoned), meanwhile, is said to be "the color of a cantaloupe rind." And so on.
Such descriptions stand out in the narrative because the plot itself isn't much fun to track, and it's not just because so many characters keep being introduced only to be randomly written out of the script. It's also because, at least in part, there's never any mystery to this whodunit. (The book's very title, printed as a reminder atop every righthand page, helps nothing in that regard.) Things get more unnecessarily convoluted before the falling action and resolution are reached, but that only contributes to the overall phoned-in feel. This book did make me want to read Papillon, though.
First lines:
"Naw, naw, man. Shit no. They wanna kick her outta that school because she a Black woman want the Constitution to practice what it preach."
July 1, 2024
The year is 1970, and Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins and his associates are contemplating the revolutionary spirit that has engulfed the United States. Easy is a successful private detective who has investigated numerous cases in the Southland of California, where corruption and the excess of human vices are often on display. The arrival of a new client postpones the discussion of the pros and cons of social change. Amethystine “Amy” Stoller seeks Easy’s help in locating her ex-husband, Curt Fields, who has a gift for numbers.
Upon meeting Amethystine, Easy’s mind recalls an earlier time in his life and the love who got away. These remembrances begin to recur as complications arise with his latest case. Easy meets with Curt’s parents in order to glean pertinent information but is flummoxed when they appear clueless as to their son’s life. His woes are compounded when he learns that a friend who is a Commander in the LAPD is missing and might be in legal jeopardy. Easy is now pulling double duty in his sleuthing and looking for any leads that may prove fruitful.
When Easy finds Curt’s body, his inquiries take on a greater urgency. He believes that Amethystine is holding information from him. Local cops are more than eager to pin the murder on Easy. Desperately in need of allies, he reaches out to his friend, Fearless Jones. Fearless is a war veteran like Easy, and his loyalty is unquestioned. Easy needs the mind of his LAPD buddy, Melvin Suggs, and knows that Fearless can provide extra muscle if necessary.
The perils that Easy faces are inconspicuous but are present as each case develops further. He will need to be as sharp as ever to avoid becoming a victim in either case as money, power and secrets are all worth killing for in the City of Angels.
FAREWELL, AMETHYSTINE is the latest arresting mystery from the fertile mind of Walter Mosley. This is the 16th novel to feature Easy Rawlins, and the seasoned gumshoe hasn’t lost a step, despite facing cases with many wrinkles. Easy is a tenacious investigator undeterred by the menace of a thug or the seductions of a femme fatale. His love of his family and devotion to his friends are just a couple of his admirable characteristics.
Easy lives in a Los Angeles that still bears fresh wounds from racial unrest in the preceding years, and the LAPD remains quick to clamp down on the civil rights of those they view as the enemy. Mosley deftly portrays the tense interactions between Easy and the often uncivil members of the police department. The women who figure prominently in the narrative are intelligent, sultry and occasionally dangerous, and they serve as possible foils to Easy’s successful resolution of his cases.
Walter Mosley brings a winning formula of the dramatic, enigmatic and poignant in crafting a cogent tale. Easy Rawlins is a genuine salt-of-the-earth character whose adventures never fail to excite the reader’s interest.
Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro
Upon meeting Amethystine, Easy’s mind recalls an earlier time in his life and the love who got away. These remembrances begin to recur as complications arise with his latest case. Easy meets with Curt’s parents in order to glean pertinent information but is flummoxed when they appear clueless as to their son’s life. His woes are compounded when he learns that a friend who is a Commander in the LAPD is missing and might be in legal jeopardy. Easy is now pulling double duty in his sleuthing and looking for any leads that may prove fruitful.
When Easy finds Curt’s body, his inquiries take on a greater urgency. He believes that Amethystine is holding information from him. Local cops are more than eager to pin the murder on Easy. Desperately in need of allies, he reaches out to his friend, Fearless Jones. Fearless is a war veteran like Easy, and his loyalty is unquestioned. Easy needs the mind of his LAPD buddy, Melvin Suggs, and knows that Fearless can provide extra muscle if necessary.
The perils that Easy faces are inconspicuous but are present as each case develops further. He will need to be as sharp as ever to avoid becoming a victim in either case as money, power and secrets are all worth killing for in the City of Angels.
FAREWELL, AMETHYSTINE is the latest arresting mystery from the fertile mind of Walter Mosley. This is the 16th novel to feature Easy Rawlins, and the seasoned gumshoe hasn’t lost a step, despite facing cases with many wrinkles. Easy is a tenacious investigator undeterred by the menace of a thug or the seductions of a femme fatale. His love of his family and devotion to his friends are just a couple of his admirable characteristics.
Easy lives in a Los Angeles that still bears fresh wounds from racial unrest in the preceding years, and the LAPD remains quick to clamp down on the civil rights of those they view as the enemy. Mosley deftly portrays the tense interactions between Easy and the often uncivil members of the police department. The women who figure prominently in the narrative are intelligent, sultry and occasionally dangerous, and they serve as possible foils to Easy’s successful resolution of his cases.
Walter Mosley brings a winning formula of the dramatic, enigmatic and poignant in crafting a cogent tale. Easy Rawlins is a genuine salt-of-the-earth character whose adventures never fail to excite the reader’s interest.
Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro
September 29, 2024
So maybe this review will be episodic, or incremental, as I proceed through the book, if I can make it? I've not read a Mosley book in a long time, and even though this mysteriously titled installment of a “Easy Rawlins Mystery” intrigued me, I have to say I am disappointed in the first 11-12% of this story about the "missing-ex."
Readers, really!? Does Mr. Mosley have an editor anymore? The opening of this novel seemed like "stream-of-consciousness," run-on-writing, with a staccato pace at best, and at worst, a sloppy style to begin a book. The first five chapters are splotchy, erratic, confusing, and inconsistent; however, I will keep going because "Easy" Rawlins is easy to like. He is monumentally likable.
Many critics would say, “author, go light on the deep, detailed descriptions of various items put on the stage of the story” b/c it tends to distract the reader as they try to get their sea-legs in the plot; nevertheless, I have always cherished Mosley’s eye for the tiniest detail about vernacular, hue, culture, politics, personalities, race, and history. I like his acute descriptions of a character’s skin-color, voice, attitude, prior experience, or décolletage.
Mosley is a master story-teller, an instructor on style, and narrative, wholly suited for this sort of noir-mystery set in the L.A. of the early 1970s; and yet he seems a little too comfortable with his audience at the opening section of this book. I am concerned! Onward.
At about 50% into the novel, he is teamed up with "Amy," aka Ms. Amethystine Stoller of the title! We've had a couple of bodies drop out, some ancillary police involvement, and Easy's take on aging, and still trying to connect at home with his extended family, while keeping very busy on the streets of L.A. being a P.I. Maybe we can get that detective/thriller vibe going in old-time 70's Los Angeles. I am at the very least hopeful! Away I go, but it ain't easy!
There is something special about Mosley’s prose; indeed, every few pages, a small paragraph leaps off the page, like it's a constitutionally derived aphorism of simple brilliance, or ironic truth, as old as our Republic. Some of the wisdom of Easy Rawlins in this book, is as deserving to be carved in granite as anything in our Nation’s capital.
As I meandered towards the end of this book, more bodies dropped out, and the plot became even more complicated, as new characters entered through stage left. Although the theme that began to emerge, in the last quarter of this novel, resonated with me, at my age. How does an older guy relate to younger people, w/ new situations and the ever-present attraction of “new love”?
The way that Mosley wove together his memories with the violent confrontations of the present, the way that Mosley navigated through the modern bureaucracy of Los Angeles, while at the same time remembering Easy Rawlins’ unpredictable trek through WWII in Europe, and the way that Mosley accepted the most recent love of his heart, compared to all of the other relationships he had survived throughout his life, was extremely relevant, poignant, accurate, and yet, sad. In a college class this might be a novel I would read back through twice, but at the conclusion, I would say that it was fairly confusing. Mosley could have done better, but how do you say that about a master?
Readers, really!? Does Mr. Mosley have an editor anymore? The opening of this novel seemed like "stream-of-consciousness," run-on-writing, with a staccato pace at best, and at worst, a sloppy style to begin a book. The first five chapters are splotchy, erratic, confusing, and inconsistent; however, I will keep going because "Easy" Rawlins is easy to like. He is monumentally likable.
Many critics would say, “author, go light on the deep, detailed descriptions of various items put on the stage of the story” b/c it tends to distract the reader as they try to get their sea-legs in the plot; nevertheless, I have always cherished Mosley’s eye for the tiniest detail about vernacular, hue, culture, politics, personalities, race, and history. I like his acute descriptions of a character’s skin-color, voice, attitude, prior experience, or décolletage.
Mosley is a master story-teller, an instructor on style, and narrative, wholly suited for this sort of noir-mystery set in the L.A. of the early 1970s; and yet he seems a little too comfortable with his audience at the opening section of this book. I am concerned! Onward.
At about 50% into the novel, he is teamed up with "Amy," aka Ms. Amethystine Stoller of the title! We've had a couple of bodies drop out, some ancillary police involvement, and Easy's take on aging, and still trying to connect at home with his extended family, while keeping very busy on the streets of L.A. being a P.I. Maybe we can get that detective/thriller vibe going in old-time 70's Los Angeles. I am at the very least hopeful! Away I go, but it ain't easy!
There is something special about Mosley’s prose; indeed, every few pages, a small paragraph leaps off the page, like it's a constitutionally derived aphorism of simple brilliance, or ironic truth, as old as our Republic. Some of the wisdom of Easy Rawlins in this book, is as deserving to be carved in granite as anything in our Nation’s capital.
As I meandered towards the end of this book, more bodies dropped out, and the plot became even more complicated, as new characters entered through stage left. Although the theme that began to emerge, in the last quarter of this novel, resonated with me, at my age. How does an older guy relate to younger people, w/ new situations and the ever-present attraction of “new love”?
The way that Mosley wove together his memories with the violent confrontations of the present, the way that Mosley navigated through the modern bureaucracy of Los Angeles, while at the same time remembering Easy Rawlins’ unpredictable trek through WWII in Europe, and the way that Mosley accepted the most recent love of his heart, compared to all of the other relationships he had survived throughout his life, was extremely relevant, poignant, accurate, and yet, sad. In a college class this might be a novel I would read back through twice, but at the conclusion, I would say that it was fairly confusing. Mosley could have done better, but how do you say that about a master?
June 16, 2024
Mosley continues to puzzle me, in that his novels exist in and extend a world of their own that by now he's built out into an interconnected universe--hard man Fearless Jones does the punching here in place of the redoubtable Mouse, who spends the novel offstage and for some reason tells us he's reading Marcuse, or "Herb Marcus," on p.3. And by now characters from previous novels constitute an entire alternative ecosystem, with essentially every service or skill, legit or otherwise, that you'd need, almost all of which Easy avails himself of here. Sentence by sentence, Mosley writes with a kind of folkloric power, tossing off countless blues-philosophical lines about life, death, oppression, power, and existence that sound like offhandedly timeless adages; it's got to be an incredibly hard thing to do, to pull off so many phrases like this that feel true and that resonate so powerfully. As always, his sense of how Easy has to negotiate with power captures the thousand little outrages he has to endure, and the battles he must pick, on a daily basis.
And yet...the plot is pretty indifferent (nobody in the novel seems all that committed to it), and we don't get much of a sense of its time. (Mosley has captured the rage of the late 60s well in other books, but nothing here makes this book feel like 1970 in particular, as opposed to 1965 or 1975 or 1985.) Not to mention, of course, his weird-ass verbs. Four samples:
Here's a sex scene:
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"You need someone to help you prove that you are alive," she philosophized as she climbed on top of me.
"Man's got a bullet in his head," Anatole doubted.
"So you've moved off from me," she flirted.
"What are you?" she condemned. "Like a trained seal showing you can balance a ball on his nose?"
I will repeat that I just don't get it--he writes fabulously real-sounding dialogue that avoids the hard-guy posturing we encounter so often in the genre...and then, "wham, my suspension of disbelief slams to the floor," he objected.
And yet...the plot is pretty indifferent (nobody in the novel seems all that committed to it), and we don't get much of a sense of its time. (Mosley has captured the rage of the late 60s well in other books, but nothing here makes this book feel like 1970 in particular, as opposed to 1965 or 1975 or 1985.) Not to mention, of course, his weird-ass verbs. Four samples:
Here's a sex scene:
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"You need someone to help you prove that you are alive," she philosophized as she climbed on top of me.
"Man's got a bullet in his head," Anatole doubted.
"So you've moved off from me," she flirted.
"What are you?" she condemned. "Like a trained seal showing you can balance a ball on his nose?"
I will repeat that I just don't get it--he writes fabulously real-sounding dialogue that avoids the hard-guy posturing we encounter so often in the genre...and then, "wham, my suspension of disbelief slams to the floor," he objected.
December 15, 2024
When he wants to be, Fearless is the shadow that a shadow casts.
Replete with throw-away lines like the above, the latest installment of Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins, his life and times in mid-century Los Angeles as an African-American private investigator simmers throughout with a righteous anger. Easy moves fluidly between his castle on the mount to the ghettos and back streets of LA, ensuring his family and friends are safe as he risks his life by his commitment to a client, a friend, and the pursuit of answers, if not necessarily justice according to the law.
In all, a typical Easy Rawlins story with quick, telling characterizations; snappy dialog peppered with less profanity than found in contemporary novels; familiar settings and characters - though Mouse has but a cameo appearance.
Written as if a retrospective account, Easy ventures into his past and his first encounter with a woman and near-death experience brought to mind by an equally attractive and intelligent new client. At fifty, he has begun to feel his age and shadows of doubt flit across his mind.
That said, the novel is on the whole an average effort: a so-so, multi-threaded plot that leans on the questions of who do you trust and why. Scenes of Easy's first relationship are interspersed as dreams and reminiscences - key elements to Easy's background and psychology, but the relationship to the overall story is tenuous at best.
Tension is maintained through Easy's repeated missteps which are waived away after the fact with off-the-cuff explanations, or clear set-up for an action scene that otherwise wouldn't have happened. Easy finds himself at a loss to explain his actions to himself and to others. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. Easy tastes the possibility of love only to sense doubt, hesitates, and steps back.
Replete with throw-away lines like the above, the latest installment of Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins, his life and times in mid-century Los Angeles as an African-American private investigator simmers throughout with a righteous anger. Easy moves fluidly between his castle on the mount to the ghettos and back streets of LA, ensuring his family and friends are safe as he risks his life by his commitment to a client, a friend, and the pursuit of answers, if not necessarily justice according to the law.
In all, a typical Easy Rawlins story with quick, telling characterizations; snappy dialog peppered with less profanity than found in contemporary novels; familiar settings and characters - though Mouse has but a cameo appearance.
Written as if a retrospective account, Easy ventures into his past and his first encounter with a woman and near-death experience brought to mind by an equally attractive and intelligent new client. At fifty, he has begun to feel his age and shadows of doubt flit across his mind.
That said, the novel is on the whole an average effort: a so-so, multi-threaded plot that leans on the questions of who do you trust and why. Scenes of Easy's first relationship are interspersed as dreams and reminiscences - key elements to Easy's background and psychology, but the relationship to the overall story is tenuous at best.
Tension is maintained through Easy's repeated missteps which are waived away after the fact with off-the-cuff explanations, or clear set-up for an action scene that otherwise wouldn't have happened. Easy finds himself at a loss to explain his actions to himself and to others. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. Easy tastes the possibility of love only to sense doubt, hesitates, and steps back.
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