Beware of Mysterious Sexy Women with Big Suitcases

This is a solid, concise, well-written and well-read noir detective story set in Los Angeles shortly after World War II. The recently fired Easy Rawlins, in need of money to pay the mortgage on his modest Watts house with its avocado and fruit trees, accepts a seemingly innocuous job to look for a beautiful white woman and then becomes caught up in a tangled web of desire, greed, racism, and violence. In addition to the historical Southern Californian setting, the most interesting part of the novel involves race, most noir detective stories involving white detective heroes, but this one featuring an African American war veteran, a strong and brave and dignified man who has killed white men (German soldiers) in combat, but who nonetheless finds himself tongue-tied when questioned by haughty white American men. He has been living under the radar in a very racist society and now must find a way to deal with the ugly and violent and petty machinations of powerful white people in order to save his house and his life. Easy's voice, both in Walter Mosley's spicy and authentic first-person narration and in Michael Boating's excellent reading of it, is appealing and humane. Boating effectively brings to life the different characters, from the formidable loose canon Mouse to the damaged and damaging Daphne Monet. The novel has plenty of violence and sex, but these are mostly in the service of story and character rather than being gratuitous.

48 people found this helpful

I had to at least sample this author

Sometimes I'll choose a book just because I think that I should at least read something by a particular author--expand my horizons a bit, as it were. Walter Mosley is one of those authors on my list and so when Devil in a Blue Dress appeared in the sale pile, I took the chance. Glad I did. Mosley's reputation is well deserved. While I am not hooked on Easy Rawlins and racing out to gather up as many in the series as I can, I'm sure that more may make it into my library in the future.

41 people found this helpful

Well Done Hardboiled

Easy Rawlins has just lost his factory job and needs to find a way to make money before the the mortgage payment comes due for his home within just a few days. This is the late 1940s and Ezekiel, an African American has returned from the war battle worn and with few illusions, and his house is the one stable thing in his life for which he's willing to fight in order to keep. When a suspicious white man enrols him to find a white girl called Daphne Monet, last seen in one of the illegal bars in the company of a well-known gangster, Easy knows he can't trust the man and questions his motives for wanting to find Daphne in the first place. But money is money and this job pays well... though is he prepared for the most dangerous character in the story, in the shape of a very beautiful and sexy Daphne? This first novel in the Easy Rawlins series has a lot going for it, not least of which the descriptions of a bygone nitty gritty downtown Los Angeles where walking into a bar could be more dangerous than walking the streets at night. The hardboiled atmosphere is palpable and Ezekiel is easy to like, which means I'll more than likely be revisiting this series in near future. Having read this very shortly after the first book in the Harlem Cycle by Chester Himes, I feel confident in saying that Mosley was more than likely influenced by his predecessor, and that can only be a good thing.

7 people found this helpful

A little violent for my taste

Although I am a real mystery fan, I found this book to be a little to graphic for my taste. The story was a good story, I have seen this made into a movie so was already familiar with the story. I don't regret listening to this, but won't likely purchase another book by this author,

38 people found this helpful

Rough, Raw, and Gritty

This is a good noir mystery with an excellent sense of character and place. It's also a raw expose of California in 1948's seedy underbelly, with graphic descriptions of violence, slightly less graphic descriptions of sex, and an unflinching parade of human vice. Get ready for racism, brutality, sexual abuse, and murder. There's also a particularly revolting pedophile side character that keeps an underage sex slave with him at all times like some sick pet. It's not all darkness and depraviry. The protagonist in particular is a good and even noble man in his way. Just don't expect the world he lives in to be the same.

Writing is great. Narration is spot on. The plot never lingers and world is well-realized and interesting. Just don't put this one on for the kiddos.

5 people found this helpful

Easy on the Ears

Pretty early into listening to this book I told my friend: Maybe we should just listen to mystery novels the next few months. I love all kinds of books, but Mosley's style, pacing, characters, and setting made me want to just drop everything else and binge on mystery for a good long while.

Here's the set-up: In 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins, an out of work black man is asked by a rich, dangerous white man to help him find a beautiful and mysterious woman. It's not an original plot, but the setting and the characters and Mosley's sweet and smoky prose sell it all so good. I'd read a little bit of Mosley's work in the past, but I went back to the beginning of this one -- and it was my first Easy Rawlins book. It didn't disappoint. It was smooth and vivid, with a lot on its mind about racial identity and what it means to be a black man in the United States of America -- back in the 40s as well as today. I can't believe how tight it is -- how much Mosley managed to cram into 5 1/2 hours.

Michael Boatman's performance helps make this book easy on the ears. Easy himself is such a likeable character, and Boatman's performance makes you feel like you're having drinks with him.

I can't wait to hear more of these, and more of Mosley's other books. (And all the other mystery novels I'm gonna binge on.)

4 people found this helpful

hardboiled

What made the experience of listening to Devil in a Blue Dress the most enjoyable?

good narration overall although narrator isn't great at accents.

Would you recommend Devil in a Blue Dress to your friends? Why or why not?

A classic detective novel - so not for everyone. I loved the scene of Watts in the late 40's actually a brilliant idea to take the classic hardboiled detective story out of white LA and into the black areas.

Overall - I enjoy the genre and this book is a classic example - in a good way

9 people found this helpful

Nice history lesson

This was an interesting listen with many twists. But I found the setting - post-WWII California - even more entertaining.

18 people found this helpful

Not bad, not great.

This story is pretty convoluted. There are a lot of twists and turns in the story line which made it a little hard to follow and even harder to believe. I found it a little violent for my taste. There seemed to be a lot of killing that didn't make much sense.

16 people found this helpful

Read this book.

You will develop a love hate relationship with the characters. I enjoyed the 40's action without the Period detective slang. I will read more by this author.

4 people found this helpful