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Easy Rawlins #15
Blood Grove
"Master of craft and narrative" Walter Mosley returns with this crowning achievement in the Easy Rawlins saga, in which the iconic detective's loyalties are tested on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California (National Book Foundation)
It is 1969, and flames can be seen on the horizon, protest wafts like smoke though the thick air, and Easy Rawlins, the Black private detective whose small agency finally has its own office, gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. The young man comes to Easy with a story that makes little sense. He and his lover, a beautiful young woman, were attacked in a citrus grove at the city’s outskirts. He may have killed a man, and the woman and his dog are now missing. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes how damaged the young vet is from his war experiences—the bond between veterans superseding all other considerations.
The veteran is not Easy’s only unlooked-for trouble. Easy’s adopted daughter Feather’s white uncle shows up uninvited, raising questions and unsettling the life Easy has long forged for the now young woman. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart.
Blood Grove is a crackling, moody, and thrilling race through a California of hippies and tycoons, radicals and sociopaths, cops and grifters, both men and women. Easy will need the help of his friends—from the genius Jackson Blue to the dangerous Mouse Alexander, Fearless Jones, and Christmas Black—to make sense of a case that reveals the darkest impulses humans harbor.
Blood Grove is a novel of vast scope and intimate insight, and a soulful call for justice by any means necessary.
It is 1969, and flames can be seen on the horizon, protest wafts like smoke though the thick air, and Easy Rawlins, the Black private detective whose small agency finally has its own office, gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. The young man comes to Easy with a story that makes little sense. He and his lover, a beautiful young woman, were attacked in a citrus grove at the city’s outskirts. He may have killed a man, and the woman and his dog are now missing. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes how damaged the young vet is from his war experiences—the bond between veterans superseding all other considerations.
The veteran is not Easy’s only unlooked-for trouble. Easy’s adopted daughter Feather’s white uncle shows up uninvited, raising questions and unsettling the life Easy has long forged for the now young woman. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart.
Blood Grove is a crackling, moody, and thrilling race through a California of hippies and tycoons, radicals and sociopaths, cops and grifters, both men and women. Easy will need the help of his friends—from the genius Jackson Blue to the dangerous Mouse Alexander, Fearless Jones, and Christmas Black—to make sense of a case that reveals the darkest impulses humans harbor.
Blood Grove is a novel of vast scope and intimate insight, and a soulful call for justice by any means necessary.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2021
711 people are currently reading
2972 people want to read
About the author
Walter Mosley
203 books3,896 followersWalter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 432 reviews
June 22, 2021
Walter Mosley is one of my favourite writers, and I have read and loved the entire PI Easy Rawlins series, and hotly anticipating this, his latest. I have never listened to any of the audios of the books, and after listening to this, narrated perfectly by Michael Boatman, I know I have been missing out. This was a sheer bliss of a atmospheric experience, as 1969 in the United States and Los Angeles is evoked with all its social and political turbulence, amidst the background of the Vietnam War, protests, and where near on everything comes down to race and money, according to Easy. A shell shocked, unstable young white Vietnam vet, Craig Killian, drops into Easy's office, plagued by his recent actions at a blood orange grove, where he stabbed a black man assaulting a white woman.
Easy himself is a vet of WW2, and it's their bond as vets that makes him take what he instinctively knows is going to be a troubling case, and he is not wrong. In a complex investigation, he keeps stumbling over dead bodies as he negotiates his way through the dark underbelly of LA, encountering the impoverished, the rarified milieu of the rich and powerful, mobsters, missing money, deadly femme fatales and more. A highly protective father to his adopted daughter, Feather, he has worries when her blood family Uncle Milo, a hippie, is intent on getting to know her. A whole plethora of recurring characters are there to help Easy, Mouse obviously, Fearless Jones, Charcoal Joe, Christmas Black etc..
The language, as always with Mosley is to be savoured, and the audio lent it an added vibrancy. The sense of historical time and place has an authenticity underpinned by impressive research of the period. Easy, the PI and father, has now hit the 50s in terms of age, a charismatic character dispensing wisdom, his are the perfect eyes with which to see the America of this time, and its a sorry state of affairs that the racial injustice of this time seems so little changed in our present times. There are major developments in the characters of Mouse and Jackson Blue that surprise Easy, Mouse has become a reader and the genius that is Jackson is no longer the famed coward he used to be. As always, a superb read (okay, listen), the characterisations are stellar, if you have never read the series, you are missing out, and I highly recommend the audio. If I can get hold the audios of the other books, I am definitely going to be listening to them.
Easy himself is a vet of WW2, and it's their bond as vets that makes him take what he instinctively knows is going to be a troubling case, and he is not wrong. In a complex investigation, he keeps stumbling over dead bodies as he negotiates his way through the dark underbelly of LA, encountering the impoverished, the rarified milieu of the rich and powerful, mobsters, missing money, deadly femme fatales and more. A highly protective father to his adopted daughter, Feather, he has worries when her blood family Uncle Milo, a hippie, is intent on getting to know her. A whole plethora of recurring characters are there to help Easy, Mouse obviously, Fearless Jones, Charcoal Joe, Christmas Black etc..
The language, as always with Mosley is to be savoured, and the audio lent it an added vibrancy. The sense of historical time and place has an authenticity underpinned by impressive research of the period. Easy, the PI and father, has now hit the 50s in terms of age, a charismatic character dispensing wisdom, his are the perfect eyes with which to see the America of this time, and its a sorry state of affairs that the racial injustice of this time seems so little changed in our present times. There are major developments in the characters of Mouse and Jackson Blue that surprise Easy, Mouse has become a reader and the genius that is Jackson is no longer the famed coward he used to be. As always, a superb read (okay, listen), the characterisations are stellar, if you have never read the series, you are missing out, and I highly recommend the audio. If I can get hold the audios of the other books, I am definitely going to be listening to them.
April 8, 2021
"There were at least a million stars out that night. Every minute or so you could see the trail of another fallen one. Thinking back on it now, I am reminded of the time when the night skies were ruled by distant suns."
You sit and you savor a Walter Mosley novel. It's all in the experience. It's all in the panoramic view of California's humanity of 1969. The country itself mulls over the rush of uncertain times felt by the young in the Vietnam years and by the old who still have the invisible scars buried deep from the previous wars.
Easy Rawlins, a Vet himself, is a Black private detective who chooses his clients with care. His reputation precedes him within the local community for his persistence and for his hardcore analytical skills. Easy takes us on a tour of the ins and out of Los Angeles and the sharp-edged people who populate it. His early beginnings were in New Iberia, Louisiana so he feels at ease with regular folk. But his worldliness was honed during his military service in France. Bottom line: Easy knows people and people think they know Easy.
It looked like a slow day watching the sun come through his office window. But the shadow of a man cast a long figure in the hallway. Anxious had to be this guy's middle name. Nervous and jittery, he introduces himself as Craig Killian. Easy sizes him up and realizes that Killian has just arrived back from Vietnam. He fidgets non-stop in the chair. But when his story spills out, Easy knows this case is gonna be heavy-duty.
Killian runs on with his story. He stayed at his cabin in the woods and in the wee hours he heard a woman's scream. Killian rushed to the scene where a man was accosting this woman. A struggle ensued and Killian stabbed the man. He was knocked out moments later. When he woke, no man and no woman. Nothing.
Easy knows that Killian must be suffering from PTSD, a condition not recognized or named in 1969 as it is today. But Killian's trauma seems real to Easy. He promises to look into the campsite and sift through any clues that he might find. A stretch for even Easy. And the task will take him face-to-face with some raw characters on every tier of the gameboard.
Walter Mosley develops characters like a talented artist on canvas. As readers, we feel the sting of their emotions and the cadence of their walk. Mosley slips them into his storylines reflecting the evil and the no-good to the rich and the well-connected. He does a fine job in the development of Easy's adopted daughter, Feather, and the complicated thread of her existence within this plot. There's a scene in a veterans' bar that leans heavy on the identifying factors of just who belongs and who doesn't. The focus being on how complicated the human experience is and what is actually valued by a society in the long run.
Blood Grove reads as a standalone. Don't fear the #15. Walter Mosley finds you a comfy seat at the table that is guaranteed to lock you in with its band of California grifters and its uneven terrain of life in 1969. Bravo, Walter Mosley. Bravo.
You sit and you savor a Walter Mosley novel. It's all in the experience. It's all in the panoramic view of California's humanity of 1969. The country itself mulls over the rush of uncertain times felt by the young in the Vietnam years and by the old who still have the invisible scars buried deep from the previous wars.
Easy Rawlins, a Vet himself, is a Black private detective who chooses his clients with care. His reputation precedes him within the local community for his persistence and for his hardcore analytical skills. Easy takes us on a tour of the ins and out of Los Angeles and the sharp-edged people who populate it. His early beginnings were in New Iberia, Louisiana so he feels at ease with regular folk. But his worldliness was honed during his military service in France. Bottom line: Easy knows people and people think they know Easy.
It looked like a slow day watching the sun come through his office window. But the shadow of a man cast a long figure in the hallway. Anxious had to be this guy's middle name. Nervous and jittery, he introduces himself as Craig Killian. Easy sizes him up and realizes that Killian has just arrived back from Vietnam. He fidgets non-stop in the chair. But when his story spills out, Easy knows this case is gonna be heavy-duty.
Killian runs on with his story. He stayed at his cabin in the woods and in the wee hours he heard a woman's scream. Killian rushed to the scene where a man was accosting this woman. A struggle ensued and Killian stabbed the man. He was knocked out moments later. When he woke, no man and no woman. Nothing.
Easy knows that Killian must be suffering from PTSD, a condition not recognized or named in 1969 as it is today. But Killian's trauma seems real to Easy. He promises to look into the campsite and sift through any clues that he might find. A stretch for even Easy. And the task will take him face-to-face with some raw characters on every tier of the gameboard.
Walter Mosley develops characters like a talented artist on canvas. As readers, we feel the sting of their emotions and the cadence of their walk. Mosley slips them into his storylines reflecting the evil and the no-good to the rich and the well-connected. He does a fine job in the development of Easy's adopted daughter, Feather, and the complicated thread of her existence within this plot. There's a scene in a veterans' bar that leans heavy on the identifying factors of just who belongs and who doesn't. The focus being on how complicated the human experience is and what is actually valued by a society in the long run.
Blood Grove reads as a standalone. Don't fear the #15. Walter Mosley finds you a comfy seat at the table that is guaranteed to lock you in with its band of California grifters and its uneven terrain of life in 1969. Bravo, Walter Mosley. Bravo.
June 5, 2022
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Blood Grove is hard-boiled crime at its best. Walter Mosley's smooth and level-headed narrator is a Black private investigator in 1960s LA. Easy is, excuse my pun, easy to root for. While Easy is close friends with some not so morally upright individuals, his integrity and empathy set him apart from other hard-boiled PI. The mystery is intriguing if labyrinthine, and I enjoyed seeing how things would unravel. Easy's latest case is a knotty one. A young white veteran clearly suffering from PTSD claims he may or may have not killed a man who was attacking a young woman. Easy, who fought in WWII, feels sympathy towards this clearly traumatized young man and so begins his investigation.
Throughout the course of the novel, we encounter big and small crime bosses, racist and incompetent policemen, prostitutes with hearts of gold, and Femme Fatales. Mosley's commentary on race, sexism, inequality, corruption, war, and violence felt at times all too pertinent to our own times (showing how some things change, and some things don't). I found Easy's unflappability reassuring and the inclusion of his home life (such as his bond with his daughter) made him all the more endearing.
Not only does Easy's narration have style but the crackling dialogues and vivid descriptions (“If a smile had a sound his would have been a death knell.”) make for some spectacular reading material. Also, for those wondering whether you have to read the previous novels in order to be able to appreciate this one, I, personally, did not have any trouble 'catching' on to things. Mosley doesn't reiterate the events that occurred in the previous novels but he gives us an idea of who's who.
If you are a fan of Raymond Chandler, Dennis Lehane, or if you, like me, loved S.A. Cosby's Blacktop Wasteland you should definitely read this.
“Life is one long side street with about a million crossroads, Sorry used to tell me when I was a boy. Every hour, sometimes every minute, you got to make the choice which way to go. Some of them turns don’t matter but don’t let that fool ya. The minute you start to think that one way is just like t’other, that’s when the shit come down.”
Blood Grove is hard-boiled crime at its best. Walter Mosley's smooth and level-headed narrator is a Black private investigator in 1960s LA. Easy is, excuse my pun, easy to root for. While Easy is close friends with some not so morally upright individuals, his integrity and empathy set him apart from other hard-boiled PI. The mystery is intriguing if labyrinthine, and I enjoyed seeing how things would unravel. Easy's latest case is a knotty one. A young white veteran clearly suffering from PTSD claims he may or may have not killed a man who was attacking a young woman. Easy, who fought in WWII, feels sympathy towards this clearly traumatized young man and so begins his investigation.
Throughout the course of the novel, we encounter big and small crime bosses, racist and incompetent policemen, prostitutes with hearts of gold, and Femme Fatales. Mosley's commentary on race, sexism, inequality, corruption, war, and violence felt at times all too pertinent to our own times (showing how some things change, and some things don't). I found Easy's unflappability reassuring and the inclusion of his home life (such as his bond with his daughter) made him all the more endearing.
Not only does Easy's narration have style but the crackling dialogues and vivid descriptions (“If a smile had a sound his would have been a death knell.”) make for some spectacular reading material. Also, for those wondering whether you have to read the previous novels in order to be able to appreciate this one, I, personally, did not have any trouble 'catching' on to things. Mosley doesn't reiterate the events that occurred in the previous novels but he gives us an idea of who's who.
If you are a fan of Raymond Chandler, Dennis Lehane, or if you, like me, loved S.A. Cosby's Blacktop Wasteland you should definitely read this.
October 30, 2021
Classic detective story filled with plot twists
A long time fan of Walt Mosley, Easy Rawlins in one of my favorite characters having been introduced to him with "Devil in the Blue Dress". Being that its the 15th story with the character, Easy has been a PI for years with a rather large circle of friends; so many its hard to keep track. But like all good detective plots this one grows crazier with each chapter. What first seems like a simple case of finding someone, Easy finds himself in a labyrinth whose twists and turns seem endless. Murder, armored car theft, strippers, children, etc. its anything but simple. As he slowly unravels the puzzle, momentum simmers and eventually comes to a boil. Paced perfectly, its anything but predictable which is why Mosley's skill at crime stories are always a pleasure, though its his unique characters and names that make him stand apart. Worth reading if you enjoy detective stories of a different sort.
A long time fan of Walt Mosley, Easy Rawlins in one of my favorite characters having been introduced to him with "Devil in the Blue Dress". Being that its the 15th story with the character, Easy has been a PI for years with a rather large circle of friends; so many its hard to keep track. But like all good detective plots this one grows crazier with each chapter. What first seems like a simple case of finding someone, Easy finds himself in a labyrinth whose twists and turns seem endless. Murder, armored car theft, strippers, children, etc. its anything but simple. As he slowly unravels the puzzle, momentum simmers and eventually comes to a boil. Paced perfectly, its anything but predictable which is why Mosley's skill at crime stories are always a pleasure, though its his unique characters and names that make him stand apart. Worth reading if you enjoy detective stories of a different sort.
July 9, 2022
I recently read Walter Mosley's collection of short stories, The Awkward Black Man. One of my Book Club friends, appalled that I had not previously read Mosley, brought me this novel to further explore his work. And I am so glad she did.
A true hardboiled detective story, Mosley uses Easy Rawlins to explore the social injustice for black Americans in 1969 Los Angeles while leading me on the dizzying course of solving a well plotted mystery.
After being harassed by the police for driving a Rolls Royce while black, I see the emotional toll that these repeat traumas have taken on Easy.
"The whole process took about half an hour. If I added up all the half hours the police security forces, MPs, bureaucrats, bank tellers, and even gas station attendants had stolen from my life, I could make me a twelve-year-old boy versed in useless questions, meaningless insults, and spite as thick as black tar."
Easy is a superbly drawn character. I see him as a father, a friend, a cultivator of roses, a private detective, and a veteran. He strives to create a safe stable environment for his daughter and loved ones while helping the people in his community avoid prison and death. He uses the connections he has developed over the years almost like a super power to support him in his endeavors. Mosley's secondary characters are finely crafted as well, and he is nimble in showing their complex motivations. His prose is impressive--descriptive and polished.
Easy's case is wrapped up among the dead bodies and some sense of justice.
Blood Grove is the fifteenth installment in the Easy Rawlins series. I am intrigued by his large cast of characters. I plan to go back and read the rest of these, over time, to learn more about Easy and his family and compatriots.
A true hardboiled detective story, Mosley uses Easy Rawlins to explore the social injustice for black Americans in 1969 Los Angeles while leading me on the dizzying course of solving a well plotted mystery.
After being harassed by the police for driving a Rolls Royce while black, I see the emotional toll that these repeat traumas have taken on Easy.
"The whole process took about half an hour. If I added up all the half hours the police security forces, MPs, bureaucrats, bank tellers, and even gas station attendants had stolen from my life, I could make me a twelve-year-old boy versed in useless questions, meaningless insults, and spite as thick as black tar."
Easy is a superbly drawn character. I see him as a father, a friend, a cultivator of roses, a private detective, and a veteran. He strives to create a safe stable environment for his daughter and loved ones while helping the people in his community avoid prison and death. He uses the connections he has developed over the years almost like a super power to support him in his endeavors. Mosley's secondary characters are finely crafted as well, and he is nimble in showing their complex motivations. His prose is impressive--descriptive and polished.
Easy's case is wrapped up among the dead bodies and some sense of justice.
Blood Grove is the fifteenth installment in the Easy Rawlins series. I am intrigued by his large cast of characters. I plan to go back and read the rest of these, over time, to learn more about Easy and his family and compatriots.
March 3, 2021
I’m lucky in that my job overseeing quality assurance at the Oreo production facility here gives me plenty of down time to read. I can periodically glance up from my book and check on the delicious sandwich cookies happily traveling down the conveyor belt and make sure everything is ok. That was until I cracked open Blood Grove, the newest Easy Rawlins detective thriller by Walter Mosley. I was sucked into this tale quicker than a peanut would get sucked into the trunk of a circus elephant. And I could not put it down. By the time I remembered my job ensuring our Oreo quality requirements and I managed to drag myself away from this riveting story I saw that horrible, horrible things had happened. Some cookies contained only several stacks of the chocolate wafers—no stuffing! Others were just a three inch high clump of delectable sweet crème filling! One monstrosity of nature had the bottom wafer the size of a manhole cover and the filling to match. It must have weighed over twenty pounds. None of the cookies fulfilled our quality requirements. None! Alarms were blaring and lights were flashing. All I could think was, “damn you Mr. Mosley for constructing such an addictive read. Damn you to helllllll!!!!” In this novel we go back to 1969 and black detective Rawlins is helping a traumatized fellow soldier recently returned from Vietnam. This soldier thinks he may have killed a man when stepping in to protect a woman he believed was being assaulted. Rawlins soon finds that there is more going on than he first thought, there are connections to the mob as well as to a recent armored car robbery. What trouble has Easy gotten himself into? And what trouble have I gotten myself into as well? The cookies in front of me were abominations, they were a violation of the very Nabisco oath I swore to uphold on my first day of employment and sealed in blood. I saw quadruple stuffed cookies. Quintuple stuffed cookies. Even octuple stuffed. Mankind was not meant to witness such horrors. Further down I even saw a row of several Fig Newtons—those are not even cookies, they are fruit and cake!!! The story of Blood Grove barrels ahead with a sense of urgency not unlike that giant Oreo which just rolled off the conveyor and smashed through the cinder block wall. Aside from Mosley’s riveting characters, and hard charging story, Blood Grove has a timely social message regarding the antagonism directed to people of color by those in power (such as the police) and the sense of helplessness they experience. Sadly this is still relevant even now several decades later. But I could not think of that, by now the alarms were announcing that the factory self-destruct initiative has been implemented and all must flee immediately or face certain immolation. I would recommend Blood Grove to anyone looking for an exciting and enjoyable book—just please, do not read it at work…
July 21, 2021
All that could have made this better is a stronger end. 9 of 10 stars
February 15, 2021
Walter Mosley returns us to the gritty world of Los Angeles noir in the fifteenth installment of the Ezekiel “ Easy” Rawlins series. The first book, Devil in a Blue Dress, was published in 1990 and takes place in 1948. Now it is 1969 and Easy is living in a very different world than he was in 1948. He inhabits a world of hippies, free love, the Vietnam war and domestic disturbances. These societal changes have not diminished the specter of race , poverty and class that have dominated Easy’s struggles for survival throughout
A young white Vietnam veteran, suffering from PTSD, approaches Easy with a bizarre story. He and his lady friend were attacked in an orange grove outside Los Angeles and the vet thinks he may have killed a man....but he is not sure! Easy recognizes that this story means trouble.Easy had fought overseas in World War 2 and feels a bond of brotherhood with this man because of their military connection. He promises to look into the incident, not expecting any result yet feeling obligated to make an effort.This promise thrusts Easy into a Byzantine labyrinth of circumstances that take him into poor black neighborhoods and rich white ones, constantly reflecting on the contradictions of American society while keeping vigilant to ensure his safety. He enlists many of his well known associates....Mouse, Fearless Jones, Jackson Blue, Christmas Black, and Jewel to help him.
The plotting of the novel moves along briskly and keeps the reader interested.But for me, the plot of a Rawlins novel is secondary to the observations, dialogue and atmospheric feel that Mosley creates. His plotting is a device that allows him to offer observations about society race and class.He brings to life the settings and voices of the residents of South Central and beyond, evoking the cadences of their not too distant migration from the South to find work during World War 2. In his series,Mosley has created a mosaic of an evolving Los Angeles from 1948 to 1969. No matter how many changes have occurred in that span, Easy reminds us that,” In America everything is about race or money or some combination of the two.”
A young white Vietnam veteran, suffering from PTSD, approaches Easy with a bizarre story. He and his lady friend were attacked in an orange grove outside Los Angeles and the vet thinks he may have killed a man....but he is not sure! Easy recognizes that this story means trouble.Easy had fought overseas in World War 2 and feels a bond of brotherhood with this man because of their military connection. He promises to look into the incident, not expecting any result yet feeling obligated to make an effort.This promise thrusts Easy into a Byzantine labyrinth of circumstances that take him into poor black neighborhoods and rich white ones, constantly reflecting on the contradictions of American society while keeping vigilant to ensure his safety. He enlists many of his well known associates....Mouse, Fearless Jones, Jackson Blue, Christmas Black, and Jewel to help him.
The plotting of the novel moves along briskly and keeps the reader interested.But for me, the plot of a Rawlins novel is secondary to the observations, dialogue and atmospheric feel that Mosley creates. His plotting is a device that allows him to offer observations about society race and class.He brings to life the settings and voices of the residents of South Central and beyond, evoking the cadences of their not too distant migration from the South to find work during World War 2. In his series,Mosley has created a mosaic of an evolving Los Angeles from 1948 to 1969. No matter how many changes have occurred in that span, Easy reminds us that,” In America everything is about race or money or some combination of the two.”
Read
October 20, 2020I kept forgetting that this novel is set in the late 60s, because much of what Easy observes about race in America still rings true.
July 13, 2024
Readers of Mosley’s popular detective thriller series featuring Easy Rawlins will undoubtedly welcome getting reacquainted with his plethora of colorful characters in this 15th offering in the series. Unfortunately, this was my first foray into the series and I would have benefitted from starting at the beginning. While Mosley does provide readers with basic background so that this offering can be read as a standalone, it was obvious that I was missing the richness of his recurring characters.
Mosley has woven a complicated plot taking place in 1969 that involves a veteran from Vietnam with PTSD issues imploring Easy to discover whether he knifed and killed a man in a grove of blood oranges. He apparently thought he was coming to the aid of a young woman. No evidence of a murder was found the next day. But one thing leads to another and bodies DO begin to pile up. (Saying much more would include spoilers.)
Loved Mosley’s writing and fast-paced plot with multiple twists. But, next time I will start at the beginning of the series.
Mosley has woven a complicated plot taking place in 1969 that involves a veteran from Vietnam with PTSD issues imploring Easy to discover whether he knifed and killed a man in a grove of blood oranges. He apparently thought he was coming to the aid of a young woman. No evidence of a murder was found the next day. But one thing leads to another and bodies DO begin to pile up. (Saying much more would include spoilers.)
Loved Mosley’s writing and fast-paced plot with multiple twists. But, next time I will start at the beginning of the series.
January 31, 2021
I received an advance reader copy of this book to listen to in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.
**AUDIO COPY**.
Blood Grove is about a PI - Easy (Ezekiel) Rawlins set in 1960's America. Easy is working hard and juggling his investigative work along with his teenage daughter.
The narrator did a fantastic job narrating this book, especially with the amount going on within it. This book is jam packed with characters and a plot that isn't easy to keep tabs on.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to unfortunately. The characters all seemed quite one-dimensional and wooden and the plot was too all over the place. I didn't get the twist until about 3/4 of the way in which is great but I just felt the book was a little rushed and thrown together.
**AUDIO COPY**.
Blood Grove is about a PI - Easy (Ezekiel) Rawlins set in 1960's America. Easy is working hard and juggling his investigative work along with his teenage daughter.
The narrator did a fantastic job narrating this book, especially with the amount going on within it. This book is jam packed with characters and a plot that isn't easy to keep tabs on.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to unfortunately. The characters all seemed quite one-dimensional and wooden and the plot was too all over the place. I didn't get the twist until about 3/4 of the way in which is great but I just felt the book was a little rushed and thrown together.
February 21, 2021
Set in the late 1960s, Easy is chilling in his office when a troubled Vietnam vet, Craig, asks for his help in finding a man he thinks he stabbed to save a women in distress in a blood orange grove. Reminiscing about his own war years, Easy agrees to help, finding himself without much help. He gathers clues along the way, showing his usual skill of saying the right things to get information or in bringing along the exact right person to help. There is a significant crime in the background. As always, Mosely does a superb job describing the period and city, but the book moves along too slowly, with cameo appearances by all of Easy's posse: Mouse, Etta, Christmas Black, Jackson Blue, Fearless Jones, and his LAPD buddy. There is also some family drama for Feather.
May 13, 2021
What a compelling book! The setting and the dynamic interactions of the characters came through in every line .It is a time capsule of the atmosphere, movies , food and the good and bad of society in 1969 life In L.A. There was a lot of money to be made, but at a cost. The book, of course, was fantastic. It made me want to go out and buy a cartridge fountain pen. I also listened to the audio version,and the narration was just as perfect. If you listen to audio books, I highly recommend this one. If you are a "real book" person, I recommend it to you as well.
June 14, 2021
My first time reading this authors books. This was a very good read. Vividly crafted characters, unusual yet familiar places. Interesting.
May 1, 2021
When my Bookclub picked this one I was excited. I like Walter Mosley and hadn’t read Easy in a while. I was shocked to discover this is #15!
I also think I stopped reading becaise...well this was a chore to read. Took by characters, random musings and tangents.
Not sore if because I skipped maybe 10 books in the series or what but this dragged to me.
Pros: I still love Easy Rawlings and like how he grew his family. Setting and timeframe. So interesting to read about. Great characters (except too many!)
I also think I stopped reading becaise...well this was a chore to read. Took by characters, random musings and tangents.
Not sore if because I skipped maybe 10 books in the series or what but this dragged to me.
Pros: I still love Easy Rawlings and like how he grew his family. Setting and timeframe. So interesting to read about. Great characters (except too many!)
February 21, 2021
The things ppl will do for Money
March 7, 2021
This is the 15th book in the Easy Rawlins series. As usual, once I cracked open the book I immediately fell into Easy's world of colorful characters and witty repartee. Set in 1969 Los Angeles not long after the Watts Riots the city is brimming with racial tension.. So when a Vietnam War Vet walks into Easy's office saying he may have killed a man - a Black man he witnessed fighting with a White woman - Easy's senses are heightened. He recognizes that the man is shell shocked and may not be giving him the most reliable information. But as a veteran himself he empathizes with him and takes the case anyway.
Easy has aged well over the series and carries with him a certain kind of wisdom that he is able to draw from when everything turns sideways. He also has a host of old friends like Mouse, Jackson Blue and Fearless .that he can call upon who make their appearances here.
Blood Grove is crime noir at its finest. Mystery readers will love the fast-paced action. Literature lovers will enjoy the language and social commentary.. Blood Grove is another win for Walter Mosley and anyone who is lucky enough to get their hands on this book.
Easy has aged well over the series and carries with him a certain kind of wisdom that he is able to draw from when everything turns sideways. He also has a host of old friends like Mouse, Jackson Blue and Fearless .that he can call upon who make their appearances here.
Blood Grove is crime noir at its finest. Mystery readers will love the fast-paced action. Literature lovers will enjoy the language and social commentary.. Blood Grove is another win for Walter Mosley and anyone who is lucky enough to get their hands on this book.
July 27, 2021
I’m glad that I read “Blonde Faith” before I read the latest Easy Rollins novel, BLOOD GROVE. It’s been so long since I read an Easy Rollins book that the recurring characters — Christmas Black, Jackson Blue, Jesus, Feather, etc. — everyone in fact except for Easy and Mouse, were only vague memories. In “Blonde Faith”, these characters are described in detail. In BLOOD GROVE, they made only cursory appearances.
The first half of BLOOD GROVE was a five-star read, but then it meandered to such a degree that it ended up, for me, a four-star read. Plot has never been Mosley’s strength; it’s his characters and dialogue that are so great. But this novel has three femme fatales that I kept confusing with each other (two are white and one is black, but they all speak and act identically).
Still all Mosley novels are definitely worth reading, if only for the richness of the dialogue.
Addendum: In BLOOD GROVE, Mouse is discovered (by Easy) reading a book. Changes are occurring!
The first half of BLOOD GROVE was a five-star read, but then it meandered to such a degree that it ended up, for me, a four-star read. Plot has never been Mosley’s strength; it’s his characters and dialogue that are so great. But this novel has three femme fatales that I kept confusing with each other (two are white and one is black, but they all speak and act identically).
Still all Mosley novels are definitely worth reading, if only for the richness of the dialogue.
Addendum: In BLOOD GROVE, Mouse is discovered (by Easy) reading a book. Changes are occurring!
July 28, 2021
Easy Does It
Review of the Mulholland Books audiobook edition (February 2021) released simultaneously with the Mulholland Books hardcover
[3.5]
Blood Grove is a return after several years to Mosley's regular detective character Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, who started out as a scuffling WW2 ex-army vet desperate for work in late 1940s Los Angeles in Devil in a Blue Dress (1990). This latest book is set in the world of 1969's LA with the memories of the 1965 Watts riots still not forgotten. Easy has established himself well in this world with an official detective agency, an extended family and a comfortable house and lavish car (a payment for a previous case).
Although the client, a Viet War vet, is introduced early, the case takes a considerable time to get moving as Mosley revisits Easy's backstory and regular characters in a leisurely fashion. The puzzle of the case is that the shell-shocked Viet War vet may have a memory of knifing someone or may instead just be having PTSD flashbacks to combat. Easy gradually unravels a trail that leads back to an apparent heist with a falling out between heist crew members. There is, of course, a mysterious femme fatale who is central to the case.
I'll confess that I did find the convoluted story a bit hard to follow in audio format, and would suggest that a hard copy format might be preferable.
The narration by veteran actor Michael Boatman (who has narrated most of the Rawlins novels) was excellent though.
I listened to Blood Grove thanks to the Audible Daily Deal on June 12, 2021.
Review of the Mulholland Books audiobook edition (February 2021) released simultaneously with the Mulholland Books hardcover
[3.5]
Blood Grove is a return after several years to Mosley's regular detective character Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, who started out as a scuffling WW2 ex-army vet desperate for work in late 1940s Los Angeles in Devil in a Blue Dress (1990). This latest book is set in the world of 1969's LA with the memories of the 1965 Watts riots still not forgotten. Easy has established himself well in this world with an official detective agency, an extended family and a comfortable house and lavish car (a payment for a previous case).
Although the client, a Viet War vet, is introduced early, the case takes a considerable time to get moving as Mosley revisits Easy's backstory and regular characters in a leisurely fashion. The puzzle of the case is that the shell-shocked Viet War vet may have a memory of knifing someone or may instead just be having PTSD flashbacks to combat. Easy gradually unravels a trail that leads back to an apparent heist with a falling out between heist crew members. There is, of course, a mysterious femme fatale who is central to the case.
I'll confess that I did find the convoluted story a bit hard to follow in audio format, and would suggest that a hard copy format might be preferable.
The narration by veteran actor Michael Boatman (who has narrated most of the Rawlins novels) was excellent though.
I listened to Blood Grove thanks to the Audible Daily Deal on June 12, 2021.
October 3, 2020
Easy Rollins, the black Los Angeles detective, had a visit from a young war veteran suffering from PTSD. The young man claimed that he had been camping in an orange grove outside LA when he hear a woman screaming nearby. He discovered that the woman was tied to a tree and being abused. So the man stepped in to help and ended up tussling with the abuser. He claims he stabbed the abuser with that man’s gun and then was knocked out. The young man came to and discovered that he was alone with no sign of the woman or her abuser. The young man wanted to hire Easy to find out if he had killed the abuser.
The detective was not sure whether he believed the veteran’s story but the man suggested that Easy contact his mother. After meeting the mother, Easy sets off to investigate and discovered several recently murders. They included the young veteran and several of his associates.
This well crafted mystery will keep the reader interested until the solution at the very end. The author also uses the book to describe the plight of black men in the racist society of Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Some would say that not much has changed in the last 50 years.
The detective was not sure whether he believed the veteran’s story but the man suggested that Easy contact his mother. After meeting the mother, Easy sets off to investigate and discovered several recently murders. They included the young veteran and several of his associates.
This well crafted mystery will keep the reader interested until the solution at the very end. The author also uses the book to describe the plight of black men in the racist society of Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Some would say that not much has changed in the last 50 years.
February 13, 2021
I typically enjoy the Walter Mosley books I read. This, however, was not one of those books. It felt as if the author was fulfilling a contractual obligation rather than even attempting to craft an entertaining story. Disappointing.
January 29, 2021
It's not often I read the 15th book in a long-running series before I read any of the previous releases, however here I am!
Blood Grove by Walter Mosley centers around Easy (Ezekiel) Rawlins, a hard-boiled Private Investigator juggling fatherhood to his teenage adopted daughter with his investigative work. The book is set in 1969 in sun-soaked LA with all of the racial tension you might expect.
Thankfully despite Easy's significant backstory, I didn't feel at all disadvantaged picking up this book without having read the others. While I could tell there was a lot of additional detail and nuance I had missed out on, Mosley did a great job of providing enough context to ensure I wasn't completely lost.
In the beginning I was confused by the constant references to characters ethnicities. It was only when I put together the timeframe and the location that it started to make more sense - of course a black PI in the late 60's would have been painfully aware of everyone's race. Call it self-preservation or an occupational hazard - the man would have needed to be all over it.
I enjoyed the breezy writing style but I had some trouble connecting to the other characters. Despite clearly giving some effort to create a historically accurate account of the racial tensions of the day, the characters all felt a little one-dimensional. The hippie uncle. The bombshell. The business-like and aloof secretary. However it's possible this was a symptom of missing some vital pre-reading in the previous books.
I struggled with the complicated plot, too. There was a *lot* going on, with a lot of characters coming in and out. I didn't pick the twist straight away which is always a plus, but I didn't feel any satisfaction at the culmination of the action. I enjoyed the passages involving Feather (Easy's step-daughter) the most, perhaps an indication that I should go back to the beginning and start the books in their chronological order.
There's no doubt Mosely is a talented writer. The pages came to life with colour and movement almost instantly, and I appreciated the strong and nuanced central character of Easy.
The narration was solid with great use of tone and cadence. I feel the audiobook has an advantage over the written version due to the great delivery.
All in all this was a solid detective mystery. I came away with an appreciation for Mosley's work and his extensive fan base that have supported 15 Easy Rawlins tales (and counting).
Blood Grove by Walter Mosley centers around Easy (Ezekiel) Rawlins, a hard-boiled Private Investigator juggling fatherhood to his teenage adopted daughter with his investigative work. The book is set in 1969 in sun-soaked LA with all of the racial tension you might expect.
Thankfully despite Easy's significant backstory, I didn't feel at all disadvantaged picking up this book without having read the others. While I could tell there was a lot of additional detail and nuance I had missed out on, Mosley did a great job of providing enough context to ensure I wasn't completely lost.
In the beginning I was confused by the constant references to characters ethnicities. It was only when I put together the timeframe and the location that it started to make more sense - of course a black PI in the late 60's would have been painfully aware of everyone's race. Call it self-preservation or an occupational hazard - the man would have needed to be all over it.
I enjoyed the breezy writing style but I had some trouble connecting to the other characters. Despite clearly giving some effort to create a historically accurate account of the racial tensions of the day, the characters all felt a little one-dimensional. The hippie uncle. The bombshell. The business-like and aloof secretary. However it's possible this was a symptom of missing some vital pre-reading in the previous books.
I struggled with the complicated plot, too. There was a *lot* going on, with a lot of characters coming in and out. I didn't pick the twist straight away which is always a plus, but I didn't feel any satisfaction at the culmination of the action. I enjoyed the passages involving Feather (Easy's step-daughter) the most, perhaps an indication that I should go back to the beginning and start the books in their chronological order.
There's no doubt Mosely is a talented writer. The pages came to life with colour and movement almost instantly, and I appreciated the strong and nuanced central character of Easy.
The narration was solid with great use of tone and cadence. I feel the audiobook has an advantage over the written version due to the great delivery.
All in all this was a solid detective mystery. I came away with an appreciation for Mosley's work and his extensive fan base that have supported 15 Easy Rawlins tales (and counting).
February 29, 2024
Book 15
This series of 15 books has been everything to me. I started this journey several years ago. I am so glad I took the time and dedication to listen to this series on audio.
This book, as all the other books, was very interesting and entertaining. Easy Rawlins is still the most coolest detective in my world.
I feel like I personally know Easy , Mouse, Jackson Blue, Feather, Jose, Charocal Joe, Bonnie, Jewel, and all the other characters in the series.
Walter Mosley has given us a masterpiece of a series, and I was here for it.
Sure Denzel, started my interest with Devil in a Blue Dress, but you did the work, and all that followed, and for that, I thank you.
Now, I see there is a new book added to this series, book 16,
"Farewell, Amethystime" coming out soon. I can't wait to get more of Easy Rawlins.
Take care, Walter Mosely, until next time stay safe in these streets!!
This series of 15 books has been everything to me. I started this journey several years ago. I am so glad I took the time and dedication to listen to this series on audio.
This book, as all the other books, was very interesting and entertaining. Easy Rawlins is still the most coolest detective in my world.
I feel like I personally know Easy , Mouse, Jackson Blue, Feather, Jose, Charocal Joe, Bonnie, Jewel, and all the other characters in the series.
Walter Mosley has given us a masterpiece of a series, and I was here for it.
Sure Denzel, started my interest with Devil in a Blue Dress, but you did the work, and all that followed, and for that, I thank you.
Now, I see there is a new book added to this series, book 16,
"Farewell, Amethystime" coming out soon. I can't wait to get more of Easy Rawlins.
Take care, Walter Mosely, until next time stay safe in these streets!!
February 15, 2025
The fifteenth book in the Easy Rawlins Private Detective series. This is my first to read. I had high hopes for this series especially because of all the high praise for his large body of work.
The series is not for me though. I don’t care for the writing manner at all. Reminds me too much of Raymond Chandler novels. Every sentence, phrase, thought paragraph, is a wisecrack and it is so constant throughout the book that it is aggravating. I don’t intend to waste any more money on one of these books.
The series is not for me though. I don’t care for the writing manner at all. Reminds me too much of Raymond Chandler novels. Every sentence, phrase, thought paragraph, is a wisecrack and it is so constant throughout the book that it is aggravating. I don’t intend to waste any more money on one of these books.
April 2, 2021
RTC
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
January 17, 2022
Hanging with "Easy" Rawlins is always time well spent!
3 "Who-Dunnit" Draped Stars
3 "Who-Dunnit" Draped Stars
April 13, 2022
Shamefully this was my first Mosley but it won’t be the last. A twisty and completely entertaining crime novel with great characters.
February 28, 2022
Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlin's stories have been some of my favourite crime fiction for a number of years. I've always enjoyed the sense of a community forged through the adversity caused by poverty, institutional and overt racism with a cast of larger than life characters (all with fantastic names) and snappy dialect dialogue. Now, in the 14th outing we find Easy living on Easy Street in Los Angeles and although many of the characters make cameo appearances none of them do much to impact the plot progression and seemed to be given outings just to remind the reader of their existence. Alongside this the sense of threat that pulsed through the early novels is largely missing; Easy finds himself in trouble, Easy makes a phone call, Easy's well placed friend resolves the problem. The dialogue still snaps and crackles on occasion but the plot progression is labyrinthine and the constant single paragraph biographies of the visiting characters and the repetitious returns to Easy's WW2 battles are frankly tedious. Sadly, it might be time for Easy to retire to his castle on a hillside and tend to his roses in the tower.
March 28, 2021
Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins books are usually very well done. A finely constructed plot, great pace and interesting characters. This edition to the series, mostly due to plot, fell somewhat flat, and was, for me, disappointing.
Rambling and convoluted, it veered off plot so many times I lost the train of the story. More often than not I kept wondering what this book was actually about. So many threads were introduced it was like the plot was fraying and Mosley kept trying to weave it back together.
For me, the characters were the redeeming part. Colorful and quixotic, they made the book interesting. Many of them didn't really drive the plot forward, in any measurable way, but they made reading it a little less of a chore.
The book is entertaining enough, if you can ignore all the side ramblings that lead nowhere like dead end streets.
Rambling and convoluted, it veered off plot so many times I lost the train of the story. More often than not I kept wondering what this book was actually about. So many threads were introduced it was like the plot was fraying and Mosley kept trying to weave it back together.
For me, the characters were the redeeming part. Colorful and quixotic, they made the book interesting. Many of them didn't really drive the plot forward, in any measurable way, but they made reading it a little less of a chore.
The book is entertaining enough, if you can ignore all the side ramblings that lead nowhere like dead end streets.
November 3, 2023
I think this is a book that happens in the 1960s although it was published in 2021! For some reason I had a hard time following the story in this particular book, although I continue to enjoy the main character and the writing, and the characterization that is found throughout the book.
There is a lot of bloodshed in this book. And the main character is subject to a reasonable amount of brutality simply because he is a black man. But he is a good guy with a young daughter, and some decent values. Just happens to be mistakenly labeled frequently for being black.
This book is much later in the series the many that I have read, but the setting in the book really does not seem much different than the earlier books.
There is a lot of bloodshed in this book. And the main character is subject to a reasonable amount of brutality simply because he is a black man. But he is a good guy with a young daughter, and some decent values. Just happens to be mistakenly labeled frequently for being black.
This book is much later in the series the many that I have read, but the setting in the book really does not seem much different than the earlier books.
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