White Butterfly by Walter Mosley is the 3rd book in the Easy Rawlins mystery series. I've enjoyed taking a look at Los Angeles in the 1950s from the point of view of this detective. There's atmosphere galore here and a look at race relations and African American culture from those days.
from the back of the book:
The police don't show up on Easy Rawlins's doorstep until the third girl dies. It's Los Angeles, 1956, and it takes more than one murdered black girl before the cops get interested. Now they need Easy. As he says, "I was worth a precinct full of detectives when the cops needed the word in the ghetto." But Easy turns them down. He's married now, a father -and his detective days are over. Then a white college coed dies the same brutal death, and the cops put the heat on Easy. If he doesn't help, his best friend is headed for jail. So Easy's back, walking the midnight streets of Watts and the darker, twisted avenues of a cunning killer's mind....The New York Times has a positive review. Kirkus Reviews concludes, "As usual, plotting, setting, dialogue, and social comment are all as mannered as Raymond Chandler and -if the manner doesn't put you off- nearly as compelling."
I've also read these from this series:
#1 Devil in a Blue Dress
#2 A Red Death
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i admire how much time you make for reading. I should do that, too.
ReplyDeleteI have always enjoyed reading, and it helps that I'm a fast reader.
DeleteI'm probably the slowest reader on the planet, since I read every word written. I remember reading Devil in a Blue Dress a year or so ago. Mosley writes very well and deserves all the accolades afforded him.
ReplyDeleteYes, that first one was good, too, and he follows this character as he develops. I'll stop here in the series for a while -so many books, so little time, as they say- but I've really enjoyed these three.
DeleteSounds like another good series. :)
ReplyDeleteI was glad to have discovered it :)
DeleteI don't know this author or series at all, looks good. Valerie
ReplyDeleteI read the first one because it won an award and liked it enough to read the next two.
DeleteI haven't read any of these but it is always fun to take a look at another place, and even better when its another time. Happy Thursday!
ReplyDeleteDifferent cultures are interesting to read about for me, and I do prefer fiction so books like these are the best of both worlds for me :)
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