Some years after the events of "Devil in a Blue Dress," Easy Rawlins's real estate investments are doing quite well. Unfortunately, he hasn't been paying taxes on them, which gets him involved with a government espionage investigation and a nasty tax man. At the same time, Easy's old flame shows up with her son, having left her husband Mouse, who happens to be Easy's friend and a sociopathic killer.

Walter Mosley has written another fine mystery. Its setting, the black culture of 1950s Los Angeles, is a unique setting and makes for an interesting companion piece to Ellroy's LA Quartet. Easy's milieu is just as fascinating as the puzzle he must unravel. Once again, Mouse pulls Easy's fat out of the fire; I'm starting to wonder if this happens in every book.

Some years after the events of "Devil in a Blue Dress," Easy Rawlins's real estate investments are doing quite well. Unfortunately, he hasn't been paying taxes on them, which gets him involved with a government espionage investigation and a nasty tax man. At the same time, Easy's old flame shows up with her son, having left her husband Mouse, who happens to be Easy's friend and a sociopathic killer.

Walter Mosley has written another fine mystery. Its setting, the black culture of 1950s Los Angeles, is a unique setting and makes for an interesting companion piece to Ellroy's LA Quartet. Easy's milieu is just as fascinating as the puzzle he must unravel. Once again, Mouse pulls Easy's fat out of the fire; I'm starting to wonder if this happens in every book.

Even though Mosley's popular whodunnits started taking shape in the 90's, it's easy to see that the stories he writes stemmed from a certain influence:

Shaft, maybe even Black Ceasar, et al. for the action and "givin' it to da man!" undertones. Mixed in with a little bit of "Cotton Comes to Harlem" and "Mohagany" for the occasional romance and levity. In fact, his works don't seem much different than what you would see on the 1973 big screen in a theatre packed to the back with black faces. Note the similarities...

1. You've got your classic hard brother, be he a private dick or just a good guy out to get what's coming to him. Easy, in classic Easy fashion, is a guy trying not to do what's wrong because he's seen enough of that. A hard drinker because of the pain his past has caused him, this fellow with kill only if he has to.

2. There's always the white folks who turn out to be the bad guys. They're cops or ganglords or jerks with a ton of dough. Here we have Lawrence, a tax agent who comes down on Easy because of tax evasion. Second we have Craxton, the FBI guy who wants to use Easy for his own purposes, but makes a deal with him - do my bidding and I'll chill out that tax thing. Finally, there is Officer Fine, a bit player who lusts after the cries and screams of anything black.

3. Can't forget how nobody else "understands him but his woman." And she's black, no way around that. With Easy, he's messing around with a woman who can get him killed as sure as the day is long: Mouse's wife. Now if that's not a mistake, I don't know what is. Mouse is Easy's friend, for one thing. For another, he's a cold-blooded killer. But Easy's willing to risk it all for love.

4. Must mention the white woman he cheats on her with. This is thrown in soley to annoy the white man. In 1970, this act of spite was a given. And it's in this book too.

5. Jive talk. Nothing but jive talk. It simply must be indicative of the era and this novel plays out perfectly as a piece choc full of blacks who were taught how to talk by their 1930's parents, who were taught to talk by THEIR 1900 former slave parents, who, before that, were educated in grammer and English by Africans who weren't even born here and ignorant overssers. Mosley is obviously no stranger to this snowball effect that whites have come to call "ebonics." As the credo goes, "write what you know."

6. The hard brother has to be a vigilante type. No way is he an angel. Easy has taken lives and he regrets it. He drinks like it's going out of style and he needs it. He cheats The Man out of his money to keep things balanced. He can be a sinner, but he must be able to rationalize it believably or the reader (watcher) won't sympathize with him. No problem with that here.

So yeah, it's like a blaxploitation movie with one catch: the white friend. I've never seen that in the movies, yet I've read two of Mosley's books and in both he seems to project his antagonists with an affinity for Jews, similarizing their plights in doomed histories. This approach is effective in that it shows open hearts and opened minds during an era of rampant hate. I liked this book because I could identify with many of the characters, some of whom I am ashamed to say I feel like I've known well in my lifetime. But there's just something about the story that keeps it average...