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Devil in a Blue Dress

An Easy Rawlins Mystery

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Devil in a Blue Dress

Written by: Walter Mosley
Narrated by: Michael Boatman
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About this listen

 Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just 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 Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.©2002 Walter Mosley (P)2009 Audible, Inc. Crime Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Hard-Boiled Literary Fiction Mystery Noir Private Investigators Thriller Detective
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What the critics say

  • Audie Award Winner, Mystery and Suspense, 2010
  • Top 100 Mysteries of All Time (Mystery Writers of America)
  • 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century (Independent Mystery Booksellers Assn.)
"Richly atmospheric....Devil in a Blue Dress honors the hard-boiled tradition of Hammett/Chandler/Cain in its story line and attitude, but Mosley takes us down some mean streets that his spiritual predecessors never could have.... A fast-moving, entertaining story written with impressive style." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins, a young, tough black veteran living in 1948 Los Angeles, only wants respect and enough money to pay his mortgage. When fired from his factory job, however, he undertakes some paid errands for a shady white mobster who wishes to locate a light-haired, blue-eyed beauty. As Easy plumbs his usual hangouts for clues, he relays information to the mobster, runs afoul of the police, meets the mysterious woman, discovers a murder, then investigates in self-defense. An unusually refreshing protagonist...talented prose, and evocative, realistic descriptions of speech, manners, and social life make this an exceptional and welcome addition." ( Library Journal)
All stars
Most relevant
'Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins' is a struggling black WWII veteran in the late 1940s with connections to minor players in the Los Angeles criminal underground. Essentially out of desperation, he agrees to help find a missing 'Miss Daphne Monet'.. kickstarting a career as a semi-amateur Private Eye.
Author Walter Mosely provides a startlingly realistic look at palpably gritty postwar urban negro life - a unique 'Noir' reality for use in in detective fiction (the setting is intriguing). Unfortunately, the plot itself - various crooks double-crossing each other - is uninteresting.. and Moseley's focus on the hopeless mundanity of his characters' reality (jobless, alcoholic, promiscuous, hassled by racist neighbors/cops) render the "mystery" a mere sideline, anyway. This book reads more like 'Historical Fiction' than a 'Private Investigator' story.

On the positive side, the narration from TV/Film actor Michael Boatman is outstanding. True, some of his voice-acting is questionable (his performance is certainly imperfect), but Boatman's reading is emotive and professional.. well above average.

Altogether, this book merits a disappointing 5 stars out of 10. If you can get it as a 'Plus' selection, it's a reasonable recording to play in the background while you go about your business.. but spending a Credit on it would be debatable.

Distracting Hard-boiled Detective Story

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This is a great story, introducing great characters and narrated very well. I was hesitant to try an audiobook but this was a top dust pick!

Damn fine!

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I listened to this one as part of my effort to read through a 50 Essential Mystery list. The narration was very good, for the record. As was everything else. I loved the writing style, the characters were well developed, and what a great, hard-boiled plot.
There've been a few books I've read recently that felt like work, even if I did like them. This was not work. It was an enjoyable read.
I'll keep an eye out for more books in the series.

good

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This is a very good story. The writing put me in the thick of things and made the story thoroughly enjoyable. Not quite sure why, but this is my first book by Walter Mosley and it will definitely not be the last. I can't wait to immerse myself in the next book in the series, 'The Red Death'.

The narration by Michael Boatman is excellent.

Very much worth the listen

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Mosely's introduction of Easy Rawlins spins the classic noir in a great new direction, splitting the difference between Hammett and Ellroy. Michael Boatman delivers a fantastic reading. You can _feel_ this one.

A Seminal Work, a Great Performance!

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I look forward to giving this an annual listen/read. One of the best books from the American Cannon thats for sure.

Can’t believe it took me so long to read this!

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