Little Scarlet

Little Scarlet

Rating

8.5

The Pequod Review:

Walter Mosley's prolific career has featured several different protagonist-led series, but my personal favorite is his Easy Rawlins mystery series. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is an African-American private investigator who lives in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and who frequently acts as a sort of go-between for the black community and the mostly-white police force. Little Scarlet is the ninth book in the series, and one of the best. It is set during the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riot and begins with the police asking for Rawlins's help with a murder investigation. The plot is an ok police/PI procedural, but Mosley uses the story to create some of his strongest characters and dialogue to date.