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Black Betty (Easy Rawlins #4)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 1,843 ratings · 55 reviews

The New York Times Book Review ended its rave for White Butterfly, the most recent novel in Walter Mosley's acclaimed mystery series, by saying "I can't wait to see where Easy Rawlins turns up next. And when". Black Betty holds the sure-to-be-bestselling answer. The place is Los Angeles. The year is 1961, the dawn of a hopeful era for America's black citizens. Easy Rawlins...more

Hardcover, 255 pages

Published June 1st 1994 by W. W. Norton & Company (first published January 1st 1994)

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Oct 21, 2012 Alvin Horn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Book Drenched In History January 9, 2003
Review by Judith W. Colombo

Walter Mosley doesn't just write mysteries. He creates a historical landscape peopled with vibrant and authentic characters who like most of us are flawed and lacking in some way. "Black Betty" is Mosley at his best. The mystery is enthralling and many layered, the atmosphere electric, and the villains exquisitely evil.

The time is 1961 the era of Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, and the beginning of The Civil rights movement....more A Book Drenched In History January 9, 2003
Review by Judith W. Colombo

Walter Mosley doesn't just write mysteries. He creates a historical landscape peopled with vibrant and authentic characters who like most of us are flawed and lacking in some way. "Black Betty" is Mosley at his best. The mystery is enthralling and many layered, the atmosphere electric, and the villains exquisitely evil.

The time is 1961 the era of Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, and the beginning of The Civil rights movement. Easy Rawlings is raising two adopted children on his own, and his secret real-estate empire is sinking. He has no idea how to solve his financial problems until a sleazy private eye Saul Lynx approaches him with a job. Lynx offers Easy $200 to track down a former acquaintance of his, Elizabeth Eady, aka Black Betty. Betty a beautiful and sensual woman has vanished from her wealthy employer's home in Beverly Hills.

Easy's search for Betty will uncover a trail of chaos and murder. To make matters worse, Easy's psychopathic best friend Mouse is also out of prison determined to find and execute the man who betrayed him. However, this book is much more than a murder mystery; it is a journey into the heart of racial bigotry and the paradox that is the human race. The language is vibrant and moving:

On the bus there were mainly old people and young mothers and teenagers coming in late to school. Most of them were black people. Dark-skinned with generous features. Women with eyes so deep that most men can never know them. Women like Betty who'd lost too much to be silly or kind. And there were the children, like Spider and Terry T once were, with futures so bleak it could make you cry just to hear them laugh. Because behind the music of their laughing you knew there was the rattle of chains. Chains we wore for no crime; chains we wore for so long that they melded with our bones. We all carry them but nobody can see it-not even most of us. All the way home I thought about freedom coming for us at last. But what about all those centuries in chains? Where do they go when you get free?

This is not merely a fast paced and gripping mystery but a powerful story of one of the saddest aspects of American life. Mosley does not preach nor condemn, he merely presents us with a historically accurate account of an era in which this mystery story unfolds. I highly recommend this story.
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Mar 22, 2012 Brandon Mueller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a spectacular book! I have no idea how Walter Mosley does it! Once again, Walter Mosley has put together another one of his amazing mystery-crime novels, and this time, I think that he has done his absolute best so far. This man simply knows how to write mystery novels, and he does it in a way unlike any other mystery book I have read. This novel, "Black Betty", is part of the "Easy Rawlins Mystery Series", and it is the fourth book in the series. Like his previous books in the series, this...more What a spectacular book! I have no idea how Walter Mosley does it! Once again, Walter Mosley has put together another one of his amazing mystery-crime novels, and this time, I think that he has done his absolute best so far. This man simply knows how to write mystery novels, and he does it in a way unlike any other mystery book I have read. This novel, "Black Betty", is part of the "Easy Rawlins Mystery Series", and it is the fourth book in the series. Like his previous books in the series, this one starts out completely different than the others, and has Easy Rawlins doing something far different from fighting crime and solving mysteries. This time, he is just trying to be a good father as his wife had just left him a few years before, and his son, Jesus, has grown to be 15 years old, and his daughter, Feather, has reached the age of 7. His kids have grown-up a lot since the prior book, and he has too, now at the age of a respectable 41. It is 1961, in the era of JFK and MLK, and Rawlins is just trying to find a job and take care of his family after having to move out of his previous home due to his new financial issues. See, Rawlins had owned a bunch of apartments a few years back, but after risking all of his property and money on the hope of becoming rich by investing money into new property, he became virtually bankrupt and in major debt. However, one day, a detective Saul Lynx comes to Rawlins door asking him to return to his old ways of finding missing people in exchange for a few hundred dollars. Rawlins first refuses the offer, even with his financial crisis, but then when Lynx "ups" the offer and tells Rawlins that he will be looking for an old aquaintance of his, Rawlins jumps on the offer. Lynx tells Rawlins the situation and that he will be looking for an Elizabeth Eady (Black Betty), an old friend of Rawlins' when he was young and living in the 9th Ward of Houston. Rawlins begin searching right away, but before he gets too far, his friend, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, is released from jail, and Easy has to begin juggling keeping Mouse from killing every man that looks at him wrong and trying to find Black Betty. Along the way, Rawlins requires the help of many of his old friends as he tries to get to the bottom of the curious task infront of him, and as he returns to his old ways of finding the information he wants through connections and past relationships. This time around, Rawlins gets caught in the mess and ends up basically having no choice but to find Betty, and like every other time, Rawlins has many run-ins with the law as a black man who is treading in pretty deep water. In this novel, Rawlins goes from rich neighborhoods to poor, from old friends to new friends, from sex relationships to social ones, and from old secrets to new ones. Rawlins gets himself caught-up in many sticky situations, and sometimes you really have to wonder when his luck is going to run out. Once again, there are many twists and turns in this book that keep you alert up until the very end, and sometimes, you have to read things twice (and maybe even three times) before you can fully comprehend what you just read. However, in the end, it is one person who is the center for all of the troubles and grief that all of the characters experience. This book, like all of Mosleys's books, has a theme of overcoming racism, and also strong themes of never giving up and being there for your family and the people that are your real friends. Mosley delivers another one of his powerful books, and I would reccommend this book and series to lovers of Walter Dean Myers literature, fans of African-American literature, and anyone who is looking for a good crime book with lots of action in it. I applaud Mosley once again and give him two thumbs-up for a job well-done.(less)

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Dec 10, 2009 Flying_Monkey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Walter Mosley manages to be an extraordinarily prolific writer but at the same time one of great quality, who has shown equal facility in tough but politically and socially literate crime writing and also in witty and wise post-modern science-fiction.

Black Betty is a fine demonstration of his craft. His particular skill is in weaving the world into his tales. The mystery is well-constructed and satisfyingly tangled, featuring multiple murders, corruption and racial and class divisions. However t...more Walter Mosley manages to be an extraordinarily prolific writer but at the same time one of great quality, who has shown equal facility in tough but politically and socially literate crime writing and also in witty and wise post-modern science-fiction.

Black Betty is a fine demonstration of his craft. His particular skill is in weaving the world into his tales. The mystery is well-constructed and satisfyingly tangled, featuring multiple murders, corruption and racial and class divisions. However the central plot is framed both by the atmosphere of early 1960s America with the rise of the civil rights movement confronting old prejudices, and by the dense web of family and social life within the families of ordinary, mainly (but not entirely) black, working class Americans.

In theory Easy Rawlins' role in the investigations in which he is involved is limited to where white men fear to tread - the black community. However the networks of corruption and deceit he uncovers inevitably take him outside this world, in this case into the bizarre and emotionally-stunted world of white land-owners and their complicated relationships with their Black and Latino servants, as well as a corrupt and racist police force and legal system.

Easy is also personally involved - Elizabeth Eady AKA Black Betty - the woman whose disappearance he is hired to investigate was a teenage crush of his, a woman who inspires obsession in many, which turns out to be her tragedy. At the same time, Easy has to contend with several other difficulties: the release of his psychotic - but often useful - friend, Mouse, from prison, bristling with anger and the need to revenge himself on the man who sent him down; the ongoing silence of his eldest adopted child Jesus, who has chosen not to speak as a result of the trauma and abuse from which Easy rescued him; the suspicious collapse of the real estate businesses in which he has invested his occasional earnings; and various other ongoing personal and social difficulties. Easy Rawlins has a well described and believable, if unconventional, family and a life beyond the crimes he is occasionally employed to solve. He is a fascinating character who has grown with successive novels; full of desire and anger but compassionate, wise and often painfully self-aware.

I would rate Black Betty as the best of the Easy Rawlins tales. What is particularly great about it is Easy's story of personal survival and compromise in an unfair world where a black man cannot sit back and enjoy what he has without someone trying to destroy it. Easy does get to the bottom of things, but it is at immense cost to all those involved including himself, and in the case of Mouse - well, as those who know the character will be aware that there is very little in the world that will stop him doing what he has set his mind on.

This is ultimately a tale cut about with sadness and rage, and a mighty fine and and jolting read it is too. (less)

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Jan 20, 2013 Rae Lewis-Thornton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Well, it seems that RLT Reads Book Club has gone straight to hell in a hand basket. I know some of it was my fought. Over the last two years my health has been a handful and I have been off my reading game and not able to keep up. Trying to balance my health and all of RLT Brands is two full time jobs wrapped up into one. But I made an executive decision over this past holiday; to take some time for me. Life is to short to not do some of what you enjoy. So I'm back to my favorite pass time on th...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Sean Cronin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's probably no surprise to folks on this book-club site - Mosley is a terrific crime novelist.
"Black Betty" is an Easy Rawlins story and Easy is about as tough, worldly and taciturn as any private detective by an active author. For those new to Mosley, Easy is African American, WWII vet, L.A. and this story takes place in the early 1960s. Other books are further back or further forward in time. I don't know the temporal sequence Mosley uses (if any).
Easy is hired, by a white man, to find Black...more

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Mar 27, 2010 rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, own

I'm not quite sure how to rate this one. I more than just "liked it," because it's hard not to become involved in the lives of Mosley's complex, beaten-down characters and admire the writer who is able to write a simple mystery plot three dimensionally. Easy Rawlins is not the only real person in this book; all of them seem like flesh and blood humans. Mosley manages to create real characters while also giving Easy's voice a genuine noir cadence, which sounds authentic to Easy rather than being...more

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Nov 02, 2009 Jo Ann Fishburn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love Easy Rawlins. He is honorable and courageous, able to show his vulnerability, loving and loyal, especially with his wonderful kids and his friends (not all so wonderful). That said, I think I have to stop reading the series for awhile. The world in which Easy lives is so vicious and violent that it casts a darkness over your life when you're reading the books. I've read chronologically the first five in the series, which are set in Texas and LA from WWII to the presidency of JFK and the c...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Roy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With Black Betty, Mosley delivers what you'd expect from an Easy Rawlins mystery if you came to it having already read a few others such as I had. The crime to be solved is made to seem convoluted but ultimately turns out to be relatively simple. But as with each book in this series it isn't really about the plot. It's about Easy's singular way of seeing and evaluating and dealing with the people he encounters along the way, his perspective on a period of time that seems both long ago and immedi...more

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Minnie >>>>But as with each book in this series it isn't really about the plot. It's about Easy's singular way of seeing and evaluating and deali...more
Feb 23, 2009 08:32am

Roy Hi Minnie,
It does as you said "fly in the face of editors and publishers who constantly argue for plot and core in a novel", so I do not consider it s...more
Feb 26, 2009 10:03am

May 25, 2012 Tfitoby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: black-as-night

Wonderfully convoluted as always, this adventure finds Easy Rawlins at his worst; an angry man who makes bad decisions that get people killed. Yet as ever he displays those characteristics which make him a likable noir hero, a willingness to put his life on the line for his beliefs and the pursuit of what's right and true and justice and all that other stuff.

Whilst Mosley is as formulaic as ever there's something infinitely readable about these books, unlike other too predictable authors in the...more

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Aug 02, 2009 Zen Cho rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-or-mystery, dudebooks, written-by-poc

I find Mosley's books very entertaining and easy to read. I'm still not sure what to think of his treatment of gender, but I should think he's a lot better on women than other writers of noowah, and he's a LOT better on race.

I recognised the structure of this story -- millions of things happening to an increasingly stressed out, bleedy dude who is cynical but secretly wants to do good -- from pretty much all of Terry Pratchett's Watch books. Vimes is a noir detective! How funny that I might neve...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Maurice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Walter Mosley is a great observer of human nature. "Logic is the most frightening talent that a man has. A man with logic can see death coming where a fly only sees a shadow. I saw death in Lewis's reasoning." Or, "...behind the music of their laughing you knew there was the rattle of chains. Chains we wore for no crime; chains we wore for so long that they melded with our bones. We all carry them but nobody can see it." Brilliant.

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May 23, 2011 aPriL MEOWS often with scratching rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-suspense-thrillers, audiobook

The most complex and very good. However, very very dark. Innocence cannot be preserved on any level. Easy is so smart but he is full of uncontrolled demons. Only his children save him from his worst impulses. He seems to pursue justice to spite the universe rather than to help, especially since victory against bad guys is temporary and the saved are rarely deserving except for perhaps possessing charm, beauty or bruised trustfulness.

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May 30, 2009 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

another of the Easy Rawlins stories. Interesting characters, thoughtfully used to illustrate deeper social conditions and relationships, especially racial. But without really beating you over the head with it. You root for some, you hope some get the come-uppance they deserve. Only on a rare occasion, do they slip a little into charicature, or stereotype.

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Nov 29, 2010 Dev rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Always a pleasure. EZ is a strong character and his take on the history of LA illuminates the plight of the black man in ways a sociological analysis cant. Strong detective fiction through the lens of a character who expects nothing from the White world and is rarely disappointed.

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Dec 18, 2009 Maggie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is about a man who does detective type work for people and in this story Easy is looking for an old acquaintance of his. It's written in the present tense but occurs in the 50s and is based in L.A. I would probably read another of his books, I liked the way he wrote.

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Jan 24, 2009 SUSAN GLASER rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ANYONE WHO LIKES DETECTIVE NOVELS IN THE HOOD.

WALTER MOSLEY IS BY FAR THE BEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN DETECTIVE WRITER. EASY RAWLINS IS HIS BEST CHARACTER AND HIS BEST SERIES, BUT BLACK BETTY TAKES A CLOSE 2ND FOR HIS CHARACTERS. THIS IS HIS BEST BOOK SO FAR.

THERE SHOULD BE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN BOOKSHELF!!!

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May 05, 2009 Erik rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love the way Walter Mosley depicts the time of the 50s and 60s. He described places I visit now in LA during this time. And you find yourself wondering… Great book. Read the complete serious when you can, you’ll embrace the characters.

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Dec 16, 2010 Derek Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pretty sloppy for Mosley. In his whole Easy Rawlins series, he always gives a heavy black context to everything his narrator thinks and says, but here it seems both club-fisted and flat. Mouse, one of the scariest characters in the universe, is back, but he's lost some of his bite (until right at the end). The case – a rich, white widow trying to track down the black woman who left her employ right after the husband's death - is hardly engrossing, and we find Easy putting all over L.A. fueled by...more

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Jul 08, 2009 Sananaa added it · review of another edition

What can I say? I am a Walter Mosely FAN!!! I have read just about EVERYthing he published. I especially like the Easy Rawlins stories. i wish they would do more movies of his work too.

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Jun 14, 2009 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries

One of the Easy Rawlins series. Read this immediately after the Socrates books - and I think I like Mosley's ex-con short stories more! But I'm a fan of just about anything he's written.

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Nov 16, 2010 Mischelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book when it first came out. I had to rush to the book to get it!! I love the story! Easy Rawlings is the coolest character in fiction!

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Jan 14, 2013 P. Afua rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love all things Mosley. I started with Devil in a Blue Dress and kept on following this amazing storyteller.

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Jul 30, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4th Easy Rawlins mystery focuses on the disappearance of the title character and Rawlins being paid to find her.

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Jun 20, 2012 Femi Massiah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love Walter Moseley, he just oozes sensuality and this dark novel is another notch on his belt of success.

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Dec 22, 2010 Sonya added it · review of another edition

Excellent! Walter Moseley draws you in with every story he tells this one was exceptional.

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Dec 03, 2012 Mimcy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

once again one of those fun reads to listen to on long drive or the way to work.

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Mar 03, 2011 Lily Bart rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Easy Rawlins is a dangerous black man -- looking for a dangerous black woman!

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Jan 15, 2013 Hopeskinete Coleman added it · review of another edition

One of the Best Mosley. This cost $85! at B&N collector's ed.??

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May 17, 2012 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

very first book I read by Walter Mosley. Got hook on his writing.

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Dec 09, 2009 Travis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, manly-literature

Like the idea of this series, but the books are so unrelentingly grim and depressing that I just gave up.

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About Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a prominent American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction.

Mosley has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private investigator and World War II veteran living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles; it is perhaps his most popular work.

Mosley has written over 20 bo...more

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Quotes from Black Betty

“I understood about fear. And I knew better than anyone in that room what Mouse was capable of. But still I had been raised in a place where to show your fear was worse than cowardice. It was suicide, a sin.” — 4 people liked it

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Black Betty (Easy Rawlins #4)

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