Travel back to post-WWII LA with Easy Rawlins - a reluctant PI drawn into solving murders and other mysteries while fighting intolerance.
Los Angeles, late 1940s: a tough place for a black man meddling in police business. A down-on-his-luck WWII veteran turned PI, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins faces society’s demons (and his own) as he solves murders, searches for missing people, and confronts racism. Walter Mosley creates a conflicted hero and his times, capturing the ambiance and social realities. Rawlins is sarcastic, witty, and also a kind and loyal friend. He moves from being a victim of prejudice to a crafty survivor, helping others regardless of age, gender, or race.
Narrator Michael Boatman brings a conflicted hero fully to life. The accomplished actor gives equal dramatic treatment to the victims and the perps, as well as captures the characters - uptight white detectives, ghetto thugs, devious salty women, and sullen men - who factor into Easy’s cases and often unwittingly play a part in social evolution.
Devil in a Blue Dress, the novel that launched the series, was named to Mystery Writers of America’s list of the Top 100 Mysteries of All Time and as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, along with winning the 2010 Audie Award for Mystery and Suspense. Later installments have received acclaim and recognition: among them Charcoal Joe, Book 14, is an Earphones Award winner.
