Little Scarlet: An Easy Rawlins Novel by Walter Mosley Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Little Scarlet: An Easy Rawlins Novel
Book Review: Starts slow, but worth sticking with.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the first Easy Rawlins novel I've read, and while several of the other reviews here suggest that it is not the best of the lot - nor the best one to start with - I found it interesting. Mosley has an eye for detail and a knack for describing it. His characters are vivid, and he builds an interesting story. The book's weakness, in my opinion, was the very thing that other reviewers have praised: it spends too much time and energy describing the place and time it is set in, and Rawlins' internal musings on the life experiences of black Americans in that era. Once you get past that, however, Little Scarlet is a decent mystery.
(One minor nitpick: one of the main characters is named Harold, and about 10% of the times he is mentioned his name is given as Howard. This resulted in my stumbling over a sentence more than once. Better proofreading would have eliminated this problem!)
Book Review: Simply Great
Summary: 5 Stars
Once again Walter Mosley has written a spectacular novel that trancends the traditional mystery genre with it's searing depiction of being black in America. Set immediately after the Watts Riots in Los Angeles, Easy is asked by the police to help find the murderer of a young black woman believed to be killed by a white man she helped escape the chaos of the riots. This is a series not to be missed for any lover of great American literature, and one of the best in the series.Book Review: A touch confusing at times but otherwise excellent
Summary: 4 Stars
Walter Mosley has a knack of telling about life as it is for the black man. He doesn't sensationalise their plight in the 20th century in his books, simply tells it like it was at certain periods in that century.
This book takes place in 1965 in the aftermath of the Watts riots in LA and sees Easy Rawlins on the case of finding the killer of a young black woman.
I found that the mystery itself was a touch confusing and not Mosley's best, but the surrounding issues of racism and the historical feel of the book was worth my time reading it.
Recommended reading.
Book Review: Better Than a Kiss.
Summary: 5 Stars
I work at an independent bookstore and have access to advance reading copies of forthcoming books. I was able to get an ARC of Walter Mosley's most recent book 'Cinnamon Kiss' before it was released and so I read it before I read 'Little Scarlet' in paperback. Let me go on record that I really enjoyed 'Cinnamon Kiss' (see my review), but 'Little Scarlet' is a far better book. I like the idea that the entire story is set in and around Los Angeles, rather than all over the map. The Mosley really takes his time building plot and characterization. And above all else he really delves into the tension that existed during the days after the Watts Riots finally ended. Because of the way Mosley writes the book, the reader wants to nail the killer almost as much as Easy wants to get him off the streets. Familiar faces appear throughout the story, like old friends you have been waiting to see again.
If you like a well-plotted murder mystery with plenty of social commentary, you should read this book. You won't be able to put it down.
Book Review: Little Scarlet, Solid Mosley
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the third Mosley novel I've read over the years, and it's my favorite. It's a lean, tight crime novel, sure, but it's also a poignant novel of the African-American experience. It takes the Watts riots as a jumping off point and interweaves a story of our troubled American racial situation. There are moments in this when Mosley's Easy says things that cut to the heart of black disenfranchisement and anger.
At times - if you're a white reader - you may baulk at some of the things Easy says and thinks. But trust that his words are not lightly written. Consider him to be the black friend you may never have had across the dinner table from you. He may say things you don't like, but before you disagree too vociferously think it through. Mosley is an important writer, and he gets at some very fundamental aspects of what it means to be black (and white) in this country. He's not perfect. He's not a genius. He can, however, challenge readers willing to be challenged. You'll be better off for having read him. No doubt about that.
I don't think you can escape the larger significance of Mosley's work and/or of Easy's ruminations, but you can still enjoy this as a crime novel. That's the magic this author has come near to perfecting. I want to make sure I mention that. This is a novel about tracking down a murderer that turns out to be a serial killer. But, in true Mosley form, the reason he became a serial killer relates to the overarching vision of this author as a social critic. Enjoy this, and learn from it too.