Six Easy Pieces

Easy Rawlins #8

by Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley's bestselling and award-winning novels -- from Gone Fishin' to Devil in a Blue Dress, named one of the "100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century" by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association -- have endeared him to legions of readers from a U.S. president to everyday people who can't get enough of Easy Rawlins.

Now from the bestselling and award-winning writer comes Six Easy Pieces. The beloved Ezekiel Rawlins now has a steady job as senior head custodian of Sojourner Truth High School, a nice house with a garden, a loving woman, and children. He counts the blessings of leading a law-abiding life, but is "nowhere near happy." Easy mourns the loss of his best friend, Mouse. Though Easy tries to leave the street life behind, he still finds himself trading favors and investigating cases of arson, murder, and missing people. People who can't depend on the law to solve their problems seek out Easy.

A bomb is set in the high school where Easy works. A man's daughter runs off with his employee. A beautiful woman turns up dead and the man who loved her is wrongly accused. Easy is the man people turn to in search of justice and retribution. He even becomes party to a killing that the police might call murder.

Six of the seven stories in Six Easy Pieces were published in reissued Washington Square Press editions of the Easy Rawlins mysteries Gone Fishin', Devil in a Blue Dress, A Red Death, White Butterfly, Black Betty, and A Little Yellow Dog. A seventh, "Amber Gate," is newly published here, making this new Walter Mosley classic a must-have for all fans of great fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, African American, Detective, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Walter 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.

Reviews

[Tracy P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mosley's Six Easy Pieces is a most impressive compilation of seven fresh and explosive Easy Rawlins short stories.

All throughout we are provided with previously unknown details about several of the main characters in the series. I actually re-listened to several because they were that good.

Narrator M.E. Willis's performance is nothing short of exemplary. What makes him a special standout for me is the way he voices (my fav. character) "Mouse." Willis makes him sound exactly how I imagine him speaking while reading the books. A rare treat. Kudos.

[Monica **can't read fast enough** · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every single story in this collection! These short stories moved Easy's journey along although they aren't full length stories. I am so glad that I didn't skip this collection and move on to the next full length book-it definitely would have been a mistake!

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[Lawrence Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked Five Easy Pieces...

...this isn’t the expanded version. It’s Walter Mosley writing six rich and poignant stories and making it all look absolutely effortless.

[Cheryl James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Easy Rawlins and all of the great detective work that he does but i am not a fan of short stories. Each hour is a individual story and that did not set well with me. Easy did his job in each story but it was a little overwhelming for me.

The best thing to me was that his best friend mouse is not dead after all😊

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories featuring Mosley's signature creation, all enjoyable and engrossing in their own right, working as both a composite novel and a means to write Rawlins out of the cul de sac Mosley had seemingly written him in to; each story laying more foundation, emotional, social and familial, for what will seemingly be a new era for Easy's Research and Delivery business.

The major problem I have with mystery/noir short story collections featuring the same protagonist is that it stretches the boundaries of credulity, just how many friends can come to your detective and ask for help with dead bodies in a short space of time? And Six Easy Pieces is no different.

[Cornapecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

En su día, hace ya mucho, mucho tiempo, leí la decena de libros de Easy Rawlins que habían sido publicados en castellano. Recuerdo que, como mucha gente por aquel entonces, llegué a ellos gracias a la película protagonizada por Denzel Washington basada en el primer libro de la serie, El demonio vestido de azul. Me gustó la película y me gustaron aún más los libros. Ezequiel "Easy" Rawlins era un personaje muy atractivo, un negro que sobrevivía a base de inteligencia y coraje en la racista América de los años 50 y 60. Se ganaba la vida actuando como una suerte de detective sin licencia que solucionaba muchos problemas en el seno de la comunidad negra de Los Angeles, casos que la policía blanca no podía, o simplemente no le interesaba, resolver.

Easy era duro de pelar, sabía moverse en el filo de la ley y tenía un particular sentido del honor. Además, Walter Mosley lograba mostrarnos toda la crudeza y la dificultad de la vida de aquellos que debían lidiar con el racismo y el desprecio de la sociedad WASP americana, sin ser pesado ni meterse en sermones.

Y, por alguno de esos extraños designios que guían a las editoriales españolas cuando editan libros originalmente escritos en otros idiomas, en España salieron una decena de libros pero se saltaron este, Siete Casos. El porqué habría que preguntárselo a ellos, pero era absurdo dejar este colgando en el medio de la serie. Hasta que casi veinte años después, llegó a España.

El libro en si es una colección de relatos, siete casos que un Easy semirretirado de la mala vida tiene que resolver por una serie de compromisos y deudas de amistad y porque, en el fondo, la calle le sigue atrayendo de forma fatal. Además tiene mucho interés para los seguidores de la saga porque averiguamos que le pasó a Mouse, el mejor amigo del protagonista y un psicópata asesino más peligroso que una piraña en un bidé. Sólo por eso ya merece la pena leerlo, si has seguido la historia de Easy.

Es un libro breve y escrito con el mismo estilo del resto de la saga, son relatos independientes pero que siguen el hilo temporal y van uno detrás de otro. Tal vez la resolución sea un poco apresurada en algunos casos, al ser relatos breves, pero me siguen encantado leer las andanzas de un no detective tan particular. Y además saldo una deuda que llevaba más de una década pendiente...

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is actually the weakest book in the series for me. One thing that makes Mosley's writing work is that you can always jump in and start reading any Easy Rawlins story, because he is careful to always have the character note who everyone he meets is and what his exact connection to them is. So, even if you've never read Devil in a Blue Dress, you'll know Jesus backstory, because it is covered time and again in every novel that comes after. Typically, this is a good thing. That isn't the case here. Mosley treats the 7 stories in this volume as if they're all taking place in 7 different books and covers the same ground time and again. As I also said, the adventures collected here are short and nowhere near as satisfying as the longer tales you'll find in Devil in a Blue Dress of White Butterfly. This doesn't make the volume bad and it would probably be perfect for new readers who wanted to check out the character, without investing too much into him, but the book just isn't as good as it could have been. The fact that of the 7 stories here, large parts of 6 of the stories have already been printed in various other books beforehand also hurts it. You basically buy this to read the last 10 pages or so of each of those 6 stories, plus a 7th story. Good to have in the collection and it does feature important development for Easy in regards to his life and relationships with certain characters, but it's nothing amazing.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six stories, six more reasons to admire WM.

[Arlene♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that was a good book of short stories. A perfect amount of go between from Bad Boy Brawly Brown to Little Scarlet.

[Amos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love me some Ezekiel Rawlins stories....and this collection has six! Each tale is self contained while simultaneously moving along the overall arch of "Easy" and his friends and families lives. Quite the enjoyable read.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second time reading "Six Easy Pieces." I felt a little bit lost the first time because I had read this out of order. So I suggest you read "The Little Yellow Dog" before S.E.P. if you are a fan of the series. If not, well, this book does hold it's own. Six easy Pieces is a collection of short stories. They follow along sequentially but each story begins by filling you in with as much of the back story as you will need to proceed. That back story is the climax of "The Little Yellow Dog." So if you want to avoid spoilers....

"Six Easy Pieces" is one of the better books in the series. I loved the short story format. I love the sense of time and place Mosley imparts. This is not the same time period as in his earliest books so we are meeting a slightly different Easy Rawlins. He is maturing and redefining himself. As for the mysteries, they are just commas in this process of self-inspection.

I also found more of the supporting characters sympathetic. In Easy's mellowing, the milieu he finds himself in is less sharply adversarial. Never-the-less, Easy still finds himself negotiating with the denizens of the "street". The sordid lives of other still seek him out for closure. Sweet or sour Easy delivers.

[Mysticpt · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason I never think I'm going to enjoy short stories as much as I sometimes do. This is a collection of very good short stories that have a real place in the Easy Rawlins universe, not filler material at all. This is a collection of seven stories that feature Easy in his Junior High janitor supervisor days and while each story is its own mystery, there are many personal threads carried over featuring many of the supporting characters in life and death situations. 4 + Stars

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

6 different short stories in the world of Easy Rawlins

[Jenell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading through this series and I was worried I would hate this one because it deviates from the traditional structure of a full length novel with 6 short stories instead. However, this was a really good collection of short stories. It felt like episodes of a TV series. I was engaged with each story and learned a bit more about the main characters and the historical context with each one. Looking forward to the next book.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a writer, I’ve been interested in reading more short story collections. I dove into Six East Pieces right after Bad Boy Brawly Brown, so imagine my surprise when I realized it’s written as a short story cycle! This went down smooth, I love the pacing, and the way you get 6 separate yet interlinked Easy cases all in one. The last one definitely packs a punch.

[reneeNaDaCherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six Easy Pieces: Easy Rawlins Stories

Any book featuring Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, true crime 🕵, and his side kick Raymond aka Mouse is a banger. It's my second time reading this book by author Walter Mosley. Loved it!

9/6/2021.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read by M.E. Willis. I found him to be as almost as good as Michael Boatman (Boatman does a slightly better job of differentiating voices in a conversation). Overall, this is a good selection of stories to fill in some blanks that crop up in later books. I made the error of reading #14 before reading this one, and it was confusing. So try to read the books in order.

[Nicholas Kotowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, wonderfully written. Easy Rawlins takes you on yet another emotional ride, and for those who want to read everything about one of the greatest series literary characters, you’re going to love everything in this story.

[Rodger Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 rounded up as this is an imperfect novel. As others note, all but one of the chapters began as short stories published as "extras" with prior books. Because of that, there is a good deal of redundant exposition that could have been resolved with tight editing. The writer and publisher didn't bother. The failure is tolerable because Walter Mosley has crafted a terrific main character and knows how to piece together an entertaining tale.

This book involves a lot of detective work for Easy Rawlins, ostensibly a supervisor of janitors at a public school. By the end of the book he's clearly making a transition to a new life though he's also cemented portions of his personal life that had caused him much grief. The fates of his marriage and oldest friendship are both addressed in this collection. Author Mosely also resolves some tensions at the school as one of the cases involves arson there.

I'm looking forward to the next book, which will presumably focus on a single case with much more plot development. The cases here are solved quickly with too little plot and almost no red herrings.

[Bob Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 2003. A collection of Easy Rawlins short stories. All exceptional. One of my favorites that year.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six easy pieces are some shorts that Walter Mosley wrote featuring Easy Rawlings. I just discovered Mosley and so glad I did. he is one good storyteller. Easy lives with his adopted children, throw aways that no one else wanted, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. Easy once a man of the "streets" only wants peace and to raise his children. He is head custodian of Sojourner Truth High School but his side job is helping people. It's 1964 and the President has been killed but Easy doesn't have the time to wonder. He has people to help and people to find. enjoy

[Laura Hoffman Brauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While technically this is a collection of short stories all featuring Easy Rawlins, they occur chronologically within the series, so it flows nicely. I always enjoy spending some time with Easy -- they are fun, fast reads and I really like his characters.

[Deliah Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, if you are an avid Walter Mosley fan of the Easy Rawlings series then this book which is a collection of six short stories about Easy will leave you very fulfilled. For starters, you get a great snapshot of Easy and his family and friends who become key players in other novels and the backstory primes you for future adventures.

The major thing I enjoy about Mosley’s books is his love of colors and how the titles conjure up what’s to come. In Smoke, a fire breaks out at the school where Easy is the supervising senior head custodian and he has to figure out who is behind it. Here Easy’s investigative skills are at work, maneuvering the streets of L.A. and solving crimes. Mosley continues to thread the drama from one short story to another In Crimson Stain, Silver Lining, Lavender, Gator Green and Gray-Eyed Death.
Overall, this is an excellent read!

Some of my favorite lines:
“I don’t know what he said, but I’m no criminal, and I haven’t been involved in any crimes,” I said. That wasn’t completely true, but it was close enough for Brown and I knew it. “It’s true that I’ve known some pretty bad men, women too. If you go out your door down here you’re likely to meet some bad folks, cain’t help that. But what your captain might have meant is that I used to be in the business of doing favors.”
“What kind of favors?
“People, black people, got all kinds of difficulties, you know that. A kid gets mixed up with the wrong crowd, a car goes missing. Calling the police, many times, just makes something bad that much worse. In that kinda situation I would come and give a little push. Nothing criminal. Nothing bad.”
“Like an unlicensed private detective.”
“Exactly like that. But you know I’ve been outta that business since coming to work at Truth.
Brown smooth out one side of his mustache with a long slender finger while he peered into my eyes. “Okay,” he said at last. “All right. What can I do for you?” I

[Ray Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Noir detective story in the tradition of Raymond Chandler but with an African-American twist. Easy Rawlins has progressively gotten ahead as the series proceeds. In this installment, Easy is working at Sojourner Truth Junior High and getting respect from his supervisors. He is also being called on out of respect by friends who need his talents as a detective.

While there is lots of adventure and shadowy mystery, Easy is haunted by the loss of his best friend and frequent savior, Mouse. Things also take a turn at home when Easy's lover finds herself traveling with wealthy diplomats in her job as a stewardess.

This is a wonderful series. At it's root, it's just fun to be in Easy Rawlin's world. If you don't know the series, it's worth checking out. It is also worth noting that the stories don't carry over to the extent that order matters. Each book is absolutely satisfying in and of itself.

[John Devlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy Rawlins crime stories do a nice job of portraying the life of a black man in LA throughout the 1940's to 70's. Mosley never caves to making his stories bigger than they should be a la James Ellroy and his almost phantasmagoric expansion from the LA scene of the 50's to the Kennedy conspiracies of the 60's. Mosley deals w/the everyday, the routine, but by keeping the stories small he keeps the character anchored to reality, and we, the reader, are better for it.

[Theresa Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories featuring Easy Rawlins instead of the usual novel format-one of my favorite detective series.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six of the smoothest short sleuthing stories I ever read.

[Camille Innocent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. I love how Walter Mosely really gets into the black man's mind. Especially since I don't know what they are thinking.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reviewing mysteries because if one chooses not to give spoilers, they are necessarily short.

This volume consists of seven Easy Rawlins short stories, six of which were published in Washington Square Press reissues of the earlier Rawlins novels. In truth, however, this is really a slightly deconstructed novel. The stories all dovetail tightly in a single timeline, with issues carrying over from one to the next, though each one has a local mystery to give it a stand-alone story arc.

This takes place in the aftermath of the death of Easy's friend Mouse. Because EttaMae snatched his body from the hospital, Easy is hanging on to the idea that he didn't really die. He gets a phone call from a stranger asking where Mouse is, and that sets off a chain of events that goes through the whole volume.

I find these stories thoroughly entertaining, the pages turn easily, and there are great one-liners here and there. And there are paragraphs like this:

The Exchequer hotel and bar was a small building wedged between a lamp store and a hospital for the elderly. Lined out on the sidewalk were the aged inmates of that old folks' prison. They sat in wheelchairs and on benches, looking out over Melrose as if it were the river Styx. I turned my head now and again as I passed them, thinking that one day, if I made it through this life, I would end up like them: discarded and broken at the side of the road.

Take no notice of my being twenty years behind on my mystery serieses. That's typical in this household.

Recommended.

P.S. My students will ask, so, yes, there is one grimace. Probably an editor put it in.

[Tim Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mosley continues Easy Rawlins' exploits in a series of seven (which makes me wonder at the title) short stories. Now I know there are people out there who just don't like short stories and tend to skip them when the inevitable short story collection shows up in a long-running series. DO NOT do that with this one. Because, while these stories are short...a whole lot happens in them that effect the lives of Easy and his family and friends.

I'm not going to synopsize each of the stories. Suffice to say that they do tend to segue in to each other and they build as Easy tries to decide where he fits in to his life and the greater scheme of the world. He's found a woman he truly loves, but that is still a work in progress. Jesus and Feather are growing up fast and as the stories progress he wonders if he's doing all he should to be a role-model for them. He's still torn between his job as a custodian supervisor, which is honest but unfulfilling work, and the streets, which is dangerous but fulfilling...but does not set the example he wants to.

We also get the return of some old friends...some more unexpected than others. And again these folks move Easy toward a reckoning on how he's going to spend the remainder of his life.

Short stories are usually all plot. While each of these is a distinct "case" the thread is the mental journey that Easy slowly goes through as they progress. There's good and important stuff happening here in Easy's world and you don't want to miss it.