Devil in a Blue Dress

An Easy Rawlins Mystery

By: Walter Mosley

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Hear more of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins mysteries.

©2002 Walter Mosley (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• 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)

The Mouse..

I Loved the movie. And love the book even more.I dig EZ..but Mouae is MY FAVORITE Character. I will be reading and listening to the next in the series. Thanks Walter.& Michael Boatman.*This is my 3rd time listening 🤭🙃🥰

great novel, but WOW! performance!

_Devil in a Blue Dress_ receives five stars from me. The characters, the plot, the asides--are all great bits of literature, and I enjoyed it all.

This was an audiobook read by Michael Boatman. How about a wow for that guy! I love the voices he choose for the characters. They were rich in variety. His interpretation of the characters, and the narrator is excellent. I enjoyed his work and will buy a book narrated by him again.

The book. OK, I'm a late bloomer on Mosley, and that is my loss. The writing is great. I love the way he gave us background on Easy throughout the novel. The plot is not straight forward by not direct either. It moves as a mystery should. I also enjoyed how the novel starts out with one "mystery" and changes as the novel progresses. I loved how Easy isn't a detective at the beginning but kind of falls into.

Recommended: yes. I will be reading the next as well.

A real page turner

Loved the characters and storyline. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

M-O-U-S-E!

Mouse steals the show in the book as he did played by Don Cheadle in the movie (Don's portrayal was absolutely brilliant!).

a must read

Even though I have seen the movie im reading all of the easy books all over again remembering why I fell in love with the series. the narrator is great too

Enjoyable read

I really enjoyed getting to know Easy and travel back in time ... to a world that was new to me ... I enjoy film noir, but , it is slated . This is a proud and human African American man’s man living in a real world with all the limitation present during that period . The side characters flushed out the setting and the period without being preachy or over the top . I too loved his home and felt pride of ownership for and with him.. real people live in shaded and gray worlds only pretend or dull ones can see the world in black and white. Look forward to traveling with Easy as the series moves forward . As I listened I forgot it was fiction...this author wrote a nuanced and real person here. My heart felt for him in the bath scene .. and female character was not cardboard either . Thank you Mr. Mosley.

More than a mystery

If you could sum up Devil in a Blue Dress in three words, what would they be?

This is a story that is as much about how Easy Rawlins comes into being a private detective as it is about the mystery he gets wrapped up in. I loved hearing about his life and what motivates him.

Mildly Entertaining

Mildly entertaining but mostly boring. Slow pace. Narration was pretty good though. Gonna try a recent Moseley book before giving up on him. Heard such great things. Disappointed.

Brilliant narrator

This novel held my interest. Loved the story writing and I thought the narrator is very talented.

Nice history lesson

This was an interesting listen with many twists. But I found the setting - post-WWII California - even more entertaining.