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Devil in a Blue Dress

(Easy Rawlins #1)

Walter Mosley

3.90 · Rating details · 19,360 ratings · 1,401 reviews

In Los Angeles of the late 1940s, Easy Rawlins, a black war veteran, has just been fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Monet, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs. ...more

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Paperback, 263 pages

Published September 17th 2002 by Washington Square Press (first published 1990)

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Start your review of Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1)

Apr 17, 2017 Brown Girl Reading rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Lovers of Easy Rawlins and detective novels

This was a great start for me. I can't wait to get to the second Easy Rawlins. The best thing about this novel was the ambiance and the character of Easy Rawlins. So well done! I want to watch the movie to compare. I recommend Devil in the Blue Dress to anybody looking for a detective novel with a little something else. This detective novel takes place in 1940s California with all the fear a black man living in that time period might have to go through. Having lost his mortgage, Rawlins accepts ...more

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Mar 31, 2013 carol. rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of detective noir

Shelves: mystery, multi-culti, male-lead, favorites

If you don't immediately start humming the song when you see this title, play it while you read. It is a classic:
http://youtu.be/KVbr37_yPeY

Easy Rawlins is just trying to get by. Laid off from his job building jets, he needs to make payment on his mortgage or face the loss of his house.
description

Drowning his woes at a tiny bar above a meatpacking warehouse, his friend and bar owner Joppy hooks him up with DeWitt Albright. Easy can't help but notice that Joppy, an ex-heavyweight fighter, is nervous, a su ...more

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Jan 31, 2014 Dan Schwent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014

When a jobless World War II vet named Easy Rawlins is hired to find a woman, he finds himself ensnared in a web of lies and murder. Can Easy find Daphne Monet without becoming another victim? And what secrets is Daphne Monet carrying?

Devil in a Blue Dress is a throwback to the pioneers of noir like Hammett, Chandler, and Cain. Only this PI is black and his case takes place in the black Los Angeles of 1948. Mosley's black LA is just as vivid as Chandler's seedy Hollywood underbelly.

Easy's support ...more

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May 06, 2020 Joe Valdez rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-suspense

My case study of 20th century detective fiction continues with Devil in a Blue Dress, the debut of Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, World War II veteran and homeowner in South Central Los Angeles who often gets more trouble than he bargained for taking jobs to help bad people recover coveted items. Walter Mosley has published sixteen Easy Rawlins mysteries to date and in some ways, L.A. no longer seems like the pressure cooker it was when this novel arrived in 1990. In other ways, the city remains the sa ...more

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Nov 06, 2014 Bobby Underwood rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Devil in a Blue Dress introduced Walter Mosley's hero, Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins to the reading public. A fast-flowing narrative with a story somewhat complex in a bare-bones kind of way, Mosley takes us into Raymond Chandler country - Los Angeles after the war. But this is a slightly different perspective because Easy happens to be a black man. He becomes a private-eye of sorts in order to locate a blonde French girl named Daphne Monet for a white man he doesn't quite trust. Daphne has a penchant Devil in a Blue Dress introduced Walter Mosley's hero, Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins to the reading public. A fast-flowing narrative with a story somewhat complex in a bare-bones kind of way, Mosley takes us into Raymond Chandler country - Los Angeles after the war. But this is a slightly different perspective because Easy happens to be a black man. He becomes a private-eye of sorts in order to locate a blonde French girl named Daphne Monet for a white man he doesn't quite trust. Daphne has a penchant for black men, and haunts the world of dusty underground bars and hole-in-the-wall jazz joints Easy knows all too well.

Finding her may not be Easy's only problem, however, as someone is out to kill him, prompting him to employ his old pal, Mouse, to watch his back while he investigates. Mouse is sharply drawn by Mosley as an amoral yet likable killer; deadly as an enemy, unequaled as a friend. Easy is portrayed by Mosley as a decent man who understands his world and his place in it, but doesn't like it one bit. Like Ross Macdonald's, Lew Archer, Easy is more comfortable being an observer of human cruelty and frailty than a participant.

Easy's attraction to the beautiful white girl, Daphne Monet, and his uneasiness about what may really be going on, underscores a complex and riveting narrative in which everyone might just have underestimated Easy. Mosley makes the larger story here not the case, but the story about a good man in a not-so-good world, trying to detach himself from it all, only to discover it is part of who he is. Mosley's "Mouse" is unforgettable, and in some respects what Hawk is to Spenser in Robert B. Parker's series.

Daphne has more to hide in this novel than just money, and its truth is the impetus for everything that happens. There is murder here, and greed, and something Easy has seen way too much of, even for a black man in post WWII Los Angeles -- sorrow. This is a fine read and a perfect introduction to Easy Rawlins. White Butterfly might be a slightly better book, in my opinion, but Devil in a Blue Dress is highly recommended to mystery fans. ...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Richard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: black-authors, cool-titles, cool-covers, urban-gothic, afrocentric, series-easy-rawlins, author-mosley, dicks, favorites, essential-crime

This book is one of my favorite detective novels. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a young black WWII veteran who has lost his job and is eager to jump at an opportunity when a shady businessman hires him to locate a pretty white woman named Daphne Monet, who is known for gettin' her party on at black nightclubs.

This is not only one of the best debut detective novels, but also features what I think is one of the best literary characters, especially in the detective genre. I think that Easy is a wonderf ...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Kemper rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: noir, crime-mystery, detectives, 2011-r

Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins fought his way across Europe as a decorated soldier during World War II, but in post-war Los Angeles, he’s a second class citizen because he’s black. When Easy is fired from a good job due to racism from his boss, he finds himself on the verge of losing the small house he loves. A friend of Easy’s hooks him up with a white man named Albright who has an opportunity to make some quick cash.

Albright is looking for a white girl named Daphne Monet who is known to hang out in bl Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins fought his way across Europe as a decorated soldier during World War II, but in post-war Los Angeles, he’s a second class citizen because he’s black. When Easy is fired from a good job due to racism from his boss, he finds himself on the verge of losing the small house he loves. A friend of Easy’s hooks him up with a white man named Albright who has an opportunity to make some quick cash.

Albright is looking for a white girl named Daphne Monet who is known to hang out in black clubs. Since Albright won’t get any answers if he goes looking for her in those places, he wants Easy to find her and is offering $100 for a week’s work. That’s enough to pay his bills, and even though Albright makes Easy extremely nervous, he doesn’t see another way to keep his house.

Easy begins looking for Daphne, but he quickly finds himself the target of cops, rich white men and a dangerous hijacker. Fortunately for Easy, he has one of the staples of crime fiction in his corner; a Bad-Ass-Criminal-Friend. Raymond “Mouse” Alexander is a cheerful little psychopath who has a quick trigger finger and a nose for money, and he’s even more dangerous than the people Easy is already up against.

Mosley created a great character with Easy. In some ways, he’s an average everyman, just looking to get by during a time when his race makes him a frequent target so he doesn’t see the percentage in looking for extra trouble, but Easy also frequently gets fed up with the attitudes of the time and will demand respect when he feels he’s being slighted. He can also be extremely dangerous when pushed.

Since he isn’t a trained detective, Easy finds out what he needs by tapping the many relationships he has within the black community. You won’t find Easy dusting for fingerprints, but you may see him gossiping at the barber shop. Mosley did a superior job of recreating the world of Watts in 1948 and it’s a lot of fun to read about Easy moving through this environment.

Mouse is also a great twist on the classic Bad-Ass-Criminal-Friend concept you see in most detective books. Usually, the BACFs are loyal to their more law abiding friends and follow their lead when their services are called for. In this case, Easy is actually terrified of Mouse and with good reason. They may be old friends, but if Mouse sees an angle to make money, then he’d kill Easy or anyone else that stood in his way without a second thought. Dealing with Mouse is like handling nitroglycerin; it can be useful but if you’re not careful you’ll end up splattered all over the walls.

This was a great start to a good series. The movie version with Denzel Washington is also pretty good with a terrific performance by Don Cheadle as Mouse.
...more

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Jul 12, 2018 Thomas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: african-us-crime, us-private-eye

4.5 stars
This is the first book in the Easy Rawlins series. I had to get it on interlibrary loan. I have been reading rave reviews of Mosley's Easy Rawlins series for years. This one won the Shamus award for best first PI novel. Easy is a black war veteran in 1948 Los Angeles. He just lost his job and he needs money to pay his next mortgage payment. Then a job offer comes his way. He is offered $100 to find a white woman who likes to frequent black bars and listen to jazz. Dewitt Albright explai ...more

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Jun 20, 2017 Bonnie Shores rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a proud and unapologetic black man in 1940s Los Angeles. He has just been laid off from his factory job because he let his independence show too openly toward his white supervisor. While hanging out at a local bar, a menacing, heavy-set white man dressed all in white approaches him with a "job". Because the bartender vouches for him, Easy takes the job. After all, he has a mortgage to pay. What is this job? Find some 22-year-old blond knockout, Daphne Monet, who frequen ...more

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Jun 28, 2017 Duane rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed-books, 2017-book-challenge, rated-books, guardian-1000, mystery-crime

Having read Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep earlier this year, it’s easy to make the comparison to this novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley. After all, they’re both hard-boiled crime novels, both set in Los Angeles in the 1st half of the 20th century, and both debut their famous private-eye protagonists, Philip Marlowe and Easy Rawlins, who would appear in multiple novels, and even on the big screen. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

Easy Rawlins pwas an African-Amer ...more

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Jan 01, 2018 Monica **can't read fast enough** rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: aa-fiction, mystery

First let me say that I don’t know why it took me so long to start this series. I always knew that I would enjoy them once I got started. However, I admit that I was just a tiny bit nervous starting this one because I attempted to read Killing Johnny Fry early in 2017 and it was no bueno! I DNF'd that sucker and never looked back! It was Mosley's take on an erotic story and let me tell ya, it wasn't my cup of tea in any way shape or form. Just no. Nuh uh. Naw, y'all!

Devil in a Blued Dress on th First let me say that I don’t know why it took me so long to start this series. I always knew that I would enjoy them once I got started. However, I admit that I was just a tiny bit nervous starting this one because I attempted to read Killing Johnny Fry early in 2017 and it was no bueno! I DNF'd that sucker and never looked back! It was Mosley's take on an erotic story and let me tell ya, it wasn't my cup of tea in any way shape or form. Just no. Nuh uh. Naw, y'all!

Devil in a Blued Dress on the other hand, is a perfect example of why Walter Mosley is such a respected and widely read author. Mosley skillfully injects social commentary into a murder mystery and makes the story about more than just who did the dead and why. Mosley cleanly and unflinchingly exposes his readers to what it means for Easy to be a black man in post World War II America, and it isn't a comfortable or easy existence. The injustice, intolerance, and general inequity that Easy experiences almost daily just by being what he was born to be allows Mosley to make his reader just as uneasy as Easy is himself. Mosley inserts so many 'black truths and realities' so seamlessly that the world that Mosley exposes feels like an up close and personal look into someone's actual life.

I went into Devil in a Blue Dress thinking that I would get a really well written and entertaining mystery and that's about it. I knew that Easy Rawlins is a beloved character and that the entire series is well loved and widely read, but I was not expecting Mosley to deliver such rich and complicated characters that would get me excited to see just how deep Mosley is going to dig in future books. The whole cast of characters in Devil in a Blue Dress are well fleshed out, even the ones that are revolting. I was surprised that I found myself needing to mark conversations and other sections because they stood out so clearly to me. I thought that I was just going to be entertained, not prodded to think about 'real' issues.

What I loved the most about reading this book is the way that Mosley taps you on the shoulder in different scenes and basically says "You seeing this crap? Yeah, THIS is Easy's reality." Mosley is another author that I am kicking myself for not getting read sooner in my life. Better late than never, and because of being so late to the game I now have the pleasure of being able to read through thirteen more Easy Rawlins books without having to wait for new installments!

Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds ...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Megan Baxter rated it really liked it

Devil in a Blue Dress is an excellent hard-boiled mystery. It is also a fascinating examination of race and masculinities in late-1940s Los Angeles. That it manages to do both these things at the same time, seamlessly, is little short of breathtaking.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook ...more

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Mar 11, 2020 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: march-2020, african-american-author, classics, movie

Backlist A Thon: Book with Blue on the cover

I absolutely loved this book!

Devil In A Blue Dress is a noir classic.

A man down on his luck.

A beautiful & mysterious woman.

Gangsters

Politicians.

And Los Angeles in the 1940's.

Devil In A Blue Dress has everything you could ever want in a noir. This book is so atmospheric. I could so vividly picture every frame of this story. Walter Mosley is a true wordsmith. Devil in a Blue Dress is suspenseful, dramatic and compulsively readable.

I loved it!

A must ...more

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Jul 09, 2020 Aditya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I read Mosley's latest standalone that won the top Edgar and went back to his debut Devil in a Blue Dress. Such levels of consistency almost thirty years apart is seldom seen, if the rest of his output is of a similar quality I am in for some great reading. This has to be amongst the most assured crime fiction debuts, no one who has written hard boiled, gritty noirs was this polished with their first book. Mosley already seems comfortable and confident with his narrative voice.

Easy Rawlins is a I read Mosley's latest standalone that won the top Edgar and went back to his debut Devil in a Blue Dress. Such levels of consistency almost thirty years apart is seldom seen, if the rest of his output is of a similar quality I am in for some great reading. This has to be amongst the most assured crime fiction debuts, no one who has written hard boiled, gritty noirs was this polished with their first book. Mosley already seems comfortable and confident with his narrative voice.

Easy Rawlins is a black world war II vet in 40s LA. Mosley immediately gives a new perspective on noir's most hallowed setting because in most old school noirs the black man is either invisible furniture or the token hothead. Mosley captures the feeling of being from the wrong side of the tracks. I can usually spot when the private detective's love for booze is a biographical detail the author lifted from his own life or just a cosmetic add on. I don't have a similar level of insight or much experience with racism but I thought Mosley dealt with it excellently. Easy understands that in an interaction between the two races, a black man's best bet is winning the battle but inevitably losing the war.

Easy is easy to root for. He only picks up a job to find information on a missing woman as he has just lost his regular job. He keeps at it because without the money, he will lose his house. A symbol of self worth for a man whose life is a daily struggle for respect. His attitude to his skin color is the frustration men develop who are used to being on the receiving end of being dealt a bad hand by fate. A lesser author would have made him perennially indignant which would have ringed false, you can't fight absolute truths (like being born in a third world garbage vat). Not to imply he doesn't get angry, just that he is a complex character who is not defined by any one characteristic.

The mystery is labyrinthine but weaker compared to the mood that Mosley's prose evokes. There are lots of murders and murderers but some of their motivation is iffy. The joy is in the writing. Some of the accent in the dialogue takes some getting used to Most’a your colored mens is lookin’ for a woman love’em so hard that they fo’gets how hard it is t’make it through the day. But when it preaches truth like that, you better get on board with it. Mosley's world feels lived in, the characters Easy interacts with are colorful. His suave psychopath of a client - Dewitt and his gangster friend, another cliche that is used well, Mouse are the standouts. The titular femme fatale is also interesting. Mosley is deservedly considered one of the greats of modern crime fiction and I am late to the series but will hopefully catch up soon. Rating - 4/5.

Quotes:He told me a few stories, the kind of tales that we called “lies” back home in Texas.

Money isn’t a sure bet but it’s the closest to God that I’ve ever seen in this world.

you just had to take the bad along with the worse if you wanted to survive.

...more

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Mar 04, 2017 Marwan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A fast-paced noir novel that takes place in L.A. in 1984. It had a twisty plot that kept my guessing till the end. It revolves around Easy Rawling, An African-American WWII veteran who has recently lost his job and is desperate to pay the mortgage or he'll lose his house (his sense of pride). So, when He's approached by a white man named DeWitt Albright who offer him a job with a quick cash, he eagerly accepts.
Albright want him to find a white young woman called Daphne Monet, who likes to hang ...more

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Apr 29, 2019 Andrew Smith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: noir-hardboiled

Ezekiel Rawlins is a black WWII veteran living in Los Angeles in the late 1940’s. Known as Easy by everyone, he’s just lost his job – courtesy of a racist boss – and is looking for a way of covering the mortgage payments on his small house. So when a slippery fellow called Albright offers him $100 to locate a woman called Daphne Monet Rawlins finds himself in the rather reluctant role of a PI.

In this short but busy noir tale we’re then treated to a tour of seedy nightclubs, bars and barber shops ...more

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Sep 27, 2013 Melki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: noir, what-the-devil, crime-fiction

She's a real humdinger and I like 'em like that.
Shorty Long and William "Mickey" Stevenson

The story of a man hired to find a mysterious woman is an old one and it takes a special writer to make it seem fresh and exciting. I think Mosley has succeeded here with his first Easy Rawlins mystery. There are twists and turns a-plenty and interesting characters/suspects add to the fun.

Rawlins is a richly-drawn, complex character. A WWII vet, he has been screwed around enough in the past to stay alert. H ...more

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Oct 04, 2016 Alex rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Bingers of Luke Cage on Netflix

Shelves: noir, 2016

"That girl is the devil," says Easy Rawlins of his femme fatale: "She got evil in every pocket." And that's why I love noir.

Walter Mosley has such a natural feel for the tropes of noir that I didn't realize he'd written it in 1990, instead of 1948 when it's set. Here's your twisty plot, your dangerous woman, your breathless prose. The major difference is that it's all black. (Chester Himes pioneered African American noir with 1957's A Rage in Harlem, which is an awesome book.)

The law generally p ...more

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Nov 20, 2018 Trudie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, read-harder-2018

Ahhhh hmmmm well.
I read this book, insofar that the pages were turned but if I am honest nothing was really being absorbed. This was the reading equivalent of elevator music while my mind was busy solving the riddles of Blood Meridian .
I must apologise to Walter Mosley because this book didn't get a fair shake of the dice really.

It is also true I might not be the most appreciative reader of hardboiled LA noir. The convoluted plots make my eyes glaze over and all the bad men begin to blur. I do ...more

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Jul 21, 2020 Bill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, african-american, 4-star, california, historical-fiction, read-in-2020

It's 1948, the war's been over for a few years, and ex-GI Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins has a house in Watts that he's very proud of, but he's just been fired from his job at the Champion Aircraft plant for not being willing to kiss his boss's butt the way he thinks a black man should, and the mortgage payments are going to be a problem. So it makes sense for him to take the job his bartender friend Joppy lines up for him, tracking down a beautiful white woman who likes to hang out at black jazz clubs ...more

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Mar 13, 2014 Becky rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, historical-fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, ww2, 2014, the_south, reviewed

It's so funny how things kind of fit together sometimes. I downloaded this audiobook during a BOGO sale from Audible just because I liked the reader's voice and it sounded like an entertaining story, but then I didn't think too much of it. I then proceeded to listen to an audiobook about the way that slavery was continued though WWII (just called something else). After finishing that, I decided to go for Devil in a Blue Dress, though I didn't really consciously think of how that would tie into w It's so funny how things kind of fit together sometimes. I downloaded this audiobook during a BOGO sale from Audible just because I liked the reader's voice and it sounded like an entertaining story, but then I didn't think too much of it. I then proceeded to listen to an audiobook about the way that slavery was continued though WWII (just called something else). After finishing that, I decided to go for Devil in a Blue Dress, though I didn't really consciously think of how that would tie into what I'd previously read. It just happened to happen that way that this book also dealt with racism and bigotry.

I really enjoyed the story though, and it's one of those stories that lingers in my mind. Easy is such a vivid character to me, and I loved him. I loved his pride in his house, his pride in himself and his sense of morality (and how that sometimes lapsed), and the way that he struggled with his place in society. I also loved Mouse, and Easy and Mouse's relationship. Mouse is a force of nature, and he just has this way about him that communicates very clearly that this is not a man to be fucked with. I loved seeing their relationship through Easy's eyes, and how uncomfortable he was with Mouse's unpredictability and volatility, but at the same time valuing and counting on this man's friendship and loyalty. It was nuanced and intriguing, and I really want to see more of their relationship. It all just worked for me.

What didn't work for me was how the women in the story were portrayed, and how they used sex to get what they want out of men, and life. I guess with Daphne I can accept it, because sex and sexuality and manipulation all seem to be integral parts of her character - but with Coretta, it seemed gratuitous and unnecessary.

But otherwise, I really enjoyed following along with Easy while he got sucked into this web of craziness and intrigue and murder, and I'm definitely interested in continuing on with the series. It seems like there's quite a lot going on in Easy's little piece of L.A., and quite a lot that he has going on back home in Texas too, so there's a whole lot of possibilities for where it could go.
...more

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Jan 31, 2020 Cheryl James rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have been wanting to read this series for quite some time. I love the characters and their dialect. I am sure this is exactly how crime and criminals were protrayed back in the day. Even though things went bad in the end I love how the men spoke and hung out with each other. Money, women and power made them do crazy things. I look foward to reading the next 13 books!!

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Mar 07, 2020 B. P. Rinehart rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: un-decade-african-descent, reading-in-a-time-of-corvid

Good Rockin’ Tonight by Wyonnie Harris

"'That's just like you, Easy. You learn stuff and you be thinkin' like white men be thinkin'. You be thikin' that what's right fo' them is right fo' you. (view spoiler) And a nigger ain't never gonna be happy 'less he accept what he is.'"

To start things off, it is amazing that it took so long for a character like Easy Rawlins to come a Good Rockin’ Tonight by Wyonnie Harris

"'That's just like you, Easy. You learn stuff and you be thinkin' like white men be thinkin'. You be thikin' that what's right fo' them is right fo' you. (view spoiler) And a nigger ain't never gonna be happy 'less he accept what he is.'"

To start things off, it is amazing that it took so long for a character like Easy Rawlins to come along. To think that "crime noir" has existed as a genre for so long before we got a bonafide "homme noir" as a recurring protagonist. There have been many subversions/parodies of the crime noir/hard-boiled detective with black characters like the Chester Himes novels and the comic book character Luke Cage (who was created during the blaxploitation-era), but Easy Rawlins is from a different old. He's from the same neighborhood, but took a different path.

I've know of this story most of my life because I've always loved the movie adaptation of this novel that came out in 1995. Of course, the book gives you a more detailed world and it was interesting to see the extended backstory of the characters and Easy's though process. I liked that Mosley had a story to tell that was a little more than the mystery that is to be solved and that the book was commenting on more than plot. This book was a very masterful origin of the man who would become the detective. This is not the story of the man at full-strength as he spends the first-half of the book being the last one to know what's going on. After he starts to get the hang of things he advances the story to its conclusion and it feels well-earned.

This is my third mystery novel read and is as well written as the last two I have read (even though I knew what the mystery was before I read the book). I really liked Walter Mosley's prose style a lot and again his world-building was master-class. He showed what Isabel Wilkerson showed in The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration about how the tyrannical nature of the Jim Crow regime would lead almost an entire neighborhood of Houston Texas' Fifth Ward to transplant themselves to South-Central Los Angeles. This is a small world and a big one at the same time and this is the beginning of the exploration of it and all the dark, "noir" secrets that it holds.

Softly as in a Morning Sunrise by John Coltrane feat. McCoy Tyner - This song has nothing to do with the book, but Coltrane's long time pianist McCoy Tyner died the day I finished reading this book on March 6, 2020 so I'm just going to post this song that features a nice solo by him here. ...more

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Sep 28, 2013 Franky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: noir

Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress is several things: social commentary about race relations and prejudices during this time period, noir with voice-over from antihero, crime tale with twists, tension and suspense. There are also some uncomfortable themes scattered throughout. Money is also a recurrent theme, a prime motivator for many characters, and Easy falls prey to this lure as well.

Mosley does an effective job of making post-World War 2 Los Angeles come alive with realism and grittiness. Amid Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress is several things: social commentary about race relations and prejudices during this time period, noir with voice-over from antihero, crime tale with twists, tension and suspense. There are also some uncomfortable themes scattered throughout. Money is also a recurrent theme, a prime motivator for many characters, and Easy falls prey to this lure as well.

Mosley does an effective job of making post-World War 2 Los Angeles come alive with realism and grittiness. Amid the diversity of Los Angeles, we see antihero Easy Rawlings , as he returns from the war, struggling to claim his piece of the American Dream, even if it only to pay next month’s mortgage. We are pushed instantly into the first main conflict when Easy is given a seemingly straightforward task of finding the whereabouts of Daphne Monet. However, the man who requests this, Mr. Albright, is shady as they come, and Easy soon learns that the task at hand is more complex—and dangerous—than Easy would have imagined. Deceit, violence, chaos, and murder ensue. From Easy’s voice over, we follow his pursuit of this mysterious woman, as he goes through seedy places and characters. There are times when he questions why he even got involved in the first place,
but it seems as though once he is in, there is no other place to go.

The set up, and first half of the novel, was much more compelling to me than the second half, which seems to wander and become a bit convoluted. Easy is over his head in this deception game created by others, but he is quick to use his smarts and instincts to play the game as well. The uncovering of secrets and the big reveal didn’t quite have the impact that I’d hoped for, and Easy, while a serviceable main character, sort of flat-lines at some point, and never progresses beyond this.

I’m still glad to have read, as this novel is a different take on the genre, and a novel I’ve heard so much about. I would be interested to pick up another in the series, just to see where the story goes from here.
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Feb 18, 2018 Dorothy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mysteries, noir-mysteries

The writing of Walter Mosley harkens back to masters like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James Cain. The best of noir.

This book was Mosley's introduction of his character, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. We meet Easy in 1948, three years after the end of World War II. He is a black man who had been raised in Houston and he had joined the army to fight Nazis during the war. He spent much of it sitting behind a typewriter, but when he had the chance, he volunteered to go with Gen. George Patton's The writing of Walter Mosley harkens back to masters like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James Cain. The best of noir.

This book was Mosley's introduction of his character, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. We meet Easy in 1948, three years after the end of World War II. He is a black man who had been raised in Houston and he had joined the army to fight Nazis during the war. He spent much of it sitting behind a typewriter, but when he had the chance, he volunteered to go with Gen. George Patton's Third Army into the heart of Europe. He fought his way through the rest of the war, including at the Battle of the Bulge, and returned home to Houston, but like many African-Americans in the South during that period, he found the atmosphere stifling and chose to move on. In Easy's case, he moved to Los Angeles, along with many others from Houston's Fifth Ward. As we meet Easy, we find that many in his circle of acquaintances in LA are former Houstonians.

I felt an immediate empathy for Easy Rawlins because of the Houston connection. His descriptions of neighborhoods and streets were well-known to me. No doubt they've changed in the last seventy years, but they are still there. Moreover, there was the Patton's Army connection. My father, too, was in the Third Army and I grew up listening to stories about the Battle of the Bulge and the other lesser known battles that he fought in. As a result, Rawlins seemed very familiar to me.

Easy has just been fired from his job at an aircraft factory when we meet him. His white boss thought the uppity black man was not showing him sufficient deference. Without a source of income, Easy stands to lose the small house he is so proud of since he won't be able to pay the mortgage.

I loved Mosley's description of that little house and lot, because it revealed so much of Easy's character. He takes pride in the order that he keeps in the house and the care that he gives the plantings around the house - the fruit trees, the perennials with their bright blooms, even the pot of African violets on the porch. This is a man after my own heart.

So, Easy has to come up with a way to earn some money fast. He goes for a drink in a friend's bar and in walks fate in the portly form of a white man dressed all in white. It seems that Easy's friend has paved the way for this man to offer him a job. The two talk and the man offers him a substantial amount of money to find a woman. She is a blonde named Daphne Monet and she has a real penchant for black jazz clubs and, incidentally, for black men.

And just like that Easy Rawlins begins his career as a private investigator.

He soon finds himself knee deep in a web of lies and murder, harassed by the police and threatened by sociopathic villains. Easy is not a violent man and he feels himself a bit out of his depth and needing someone to watch his back. He phones home, to Houston, and gets in touch with the girlfriend of one of his former running buddies, Raymond "Mouse" Alexander. He's not sure if Mouse will get the message, but just in time, he does turn up.

Whereas Easy is a pacifist, Mouse does not shy from violence and he likes Easy well enough to be just the back-watcher he needs.

Just like those earlier noir novels, this one's plot winds and wriggles around like a snake in hot ashes. So many complications, so many interconnections, and so many lies. It soon becomes clear that virtually none of these characters, besides the protagonist himself, is to be trusted.

Mosley's writing is really excellent and truly did remind me of the best of the noir masters that I have read. It makes me really happy to know that he has produced thirteen (and counting) more of these Easy Rawlins tales. And they are all just sitting there waiting for me to enjoy! ...more

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Oct 16, 2020 Connie G rated it really liked it

Shelves: noir, african-american-experience, mystery, 20th-century-mystery-ideas

Ezekeil "Easy" Rawlins is an African American worker at an aircraft plant who has just been fired. He needs to pay the mortgage so he takes a job as a private investigator for a smooth white guy. He wants to locate femme fatale Daphne Monet who is fond of Easy's favorite jazz club. Easy has no idea that this job will pull him into Los Angeles' underworld, and eventually into a new career.

In addition to being an exciting mystery with snappy dialogue, the book also shows the state of race relation ...more

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Jun 02, 2016 Anthony Vacca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

What a pleasant surprise it was that, after a shaky first half (this seems to be a reoccurring curse for first-time private-eye mystery writers across the decades), this novel revealed itself to be such an atmospheric and vital addition to what is unabashedly my favorite genre niche! Two of my favorite moments in Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely and the unfortunately fated video game masterpiece LA Noire (particularly "The Black Caesar Mission") feature our detectives taking quick detours ...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Toby rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: black-as-night

Raymond Chandler could probably be called the Grand Master of this style of genre fiction, his style and content leading the way for many pale imitators to follow. Walter Mosley's first Easy Rawlins book is perhaps better than any Chandler I've read.

I think the true test for me is the dialogue and there were times when I was imagining Bogart as Marlowe reading the part of Easy; surely there can be no higher praise for this genre?

What Mosley does better is to add the extra layers to the narrative ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 Carla Remy rated it really liked it

I appreciated that the main character is not (in this first book of the series, anyway) a detective. I love the suspense of mysteries, but I prefer stories about regular people, not professionals (there are exceptions to this). This was very good.

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May 18, 2018 Sara rated it really liked it

Shelves: racism, noir, erotic, mystery

I have no excuse for taking so long to read Walter Mosley. If you have even a passing interest in mystery novels someone at some point in your life has told you to read him. Possibly one of the most prolific writers (of quality) out there he "writes everyday" and sometimes produces two novels a year and he's dabbled in everything from play writing to science fiction to erotica. But he's perhaps best known for the "Easy Rawlins" mysteries the first of which is the very beautiful, haunting Devil i I have no excuse for taking so long to read Walter Mosley. If you have even a passing interest in mystery novels someone at some point in your life has told you to read him. Possibly one of the most prolific writers (of quality) out there he "writes everyday" and sometimes produces two novels a year and he's dabbled in everything from play writing to science fiction to erotica. But he's perhaps best known for the "Easy Rawlins" mysteries the first of which is the very beautiful, haunting Devil in a Blue Dress which was also turned into a film starring Denzel Washinton.

This book is gorgeous. It has a dark, sensual feel to it like the best classic noir movies. Its also a prime example of the journey being better than the destination. I confess to having no idea who's been murdered, why, or by whom and not really caring in the slightest. As this is the first Easy novel there are so many characters being introduced (about half of whom don't make it to the end) I think you can be forgiven for losing the forest for the trees.

This is a book of amazing moments. Mosley can really set the scene. There's amazing, smoky scenes in back alley bars where Lady Day is known to perform if she's in town and a fellow might find a job that pays the mortgage even if its not strickly legal. Hard boiled police rough up their suspects in dimly lit interrogation rooms. Men spin tales of the haunting devil in the blue dress who captures the hearts and loins of every man who meets her.

Easy is a fantastic character and narrator. He's a WWII veteran. A hero of the war with the soul of poet looking for respect and peace in a world that doesn't think he's entitled to either based solely on the color of his skin. He's the perfect anti-hero who does horrible things sometimes but who you can't help rooting for because he's so likable.

He lives in an equally beautiful, barbaric world that I wouldn't mind visiting again though it might be nice if the mystery was just a touch cleaner and easier to follow. ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
UPEP Reading Group : Week 6: Detective Fiction	1	3	Apr 05, 2019 09:21AM
Has anyone read this author?	5	34	Oct 29, 2018 08:57AM
Classic Trash: Devil ina Blue Dress: Finished (spoilers)	4	18	Jul 15, 2018 05:30PM
Classic Trash: Devil in a Blue Dress: In Progress (No Spoilers)	6	12	Jul 11, 2018 06:27AM
Raymond Chandler, Hammett and Mosley	2	21	May 27, 2015 04:36PM
2015 Reading Chal...: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley	1	18	Jan 25, 2015 04:39PM
should kids be in hard boiled books?	3	34	Dec 29, 2014 04:18PM

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About Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley

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Walter 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 numero ...more