Charcoal Joe
An Easy Rawlins Mystery

Quotes

"Though the year is flower-powered 1968, or 20 years removed from the life-threatening scuffles of Devil in a Blue Dress, life is no less easy for a black man in L.A. to 'pass from white dreams into black and brown realities'...As ever, Easy finds a way to rise above such circumstances — and the heartbreak of losing Bonnie to a marked-for-death African royal who needs her more than he does — and cling to his sense of decency."
— Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Tribune


"I'd know that voice anywhere. It's the seductive drawl and lowdown dirty laugh of Walter Mosley's mellow private eye, Easy Rawlins. And he's talking his way through another case in Charcoal Joe...because he isn't ashamed to declare himself 'a man of strategy'— a man unfraid to lower his fists and use his brain."
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"Picking up where his last adventures in Rose Gold left off in L.A. in the late 1960s, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins finds his life in transition...Between his new company, a heart that should be broken but is not, a whole raft of new bad guys on his tail, and a bad odor that surrounds Charcoal Joe, Easy has his hands full, his horizons askew, and his life in shambles around his feet."
—Criminalelement.com

"In the course of the Rawlins novels, Mosley has explored the evolution of Los Angeles over several decades, from the post-war period to the political and social changes that occurred in the 1960s...Mosley’s most recent novel with Rawlins at its center is set in the late 1960s. Rawlins has set up a small office with two fellow gumshoes, and he quickly becomes immersed in an intricate case involving an ambiguous underworld fixture, an ambitious young scientist, a book written in a mysterious language, and a pile of missing money. Fearless Jones also puts in an appearance, and Mosley adds a few literary nods, including a Franz Kafka homage and an ongoing discussion of William Styron’s then-contemporary novel The Confessions of Nat Turner."
—Tobias Carroll, Signature



"Picking up where his last adventures in Rose Gold left off in L.A. in the late 1960s, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins finds his life in transition...Between his new company, a heart that should be broken but is not, a whole raft of new bad guys on his tail, and a bad odor that surrounds Charcoal Joe, Easy has his hands full, his horizons askew, and his life in shambles around his feet."
—Readincolour.com


"In his 14th Easy Rawlins mystery (after Rose Gold), Mosley returns to L.A. in the late 1960s, with its racial unrest and discrimination...The story continues with more deception, murders, and violence. Like peeling an onion, Easy uncovers the truth one layer at a time...Mosley's exciting and profound mysteries with their poetic prose and historical clarity fascinate readers because Easy moves so smoothly among different worlds. His latest will please his many fans." 
 — Jerry P. Miller, Library Journal
 

"In Charcoal Joe, this series’ army of followers will happily recognize the case as the mere backdrop for Easy’s emotionally charged story, insightful lens into L.A.’s 1960s streets, and always-impressive mental acrobatics."
—Booklist

"[Charcoal Joe] is a must for Easy Rawlins fans and anyone who appreciates fresh, powerful prose.
 —Publishers Weekly [Starred]

“Fasten your seat belts. It's time for another simmering tour of Los Angeles, this time in 1968, with Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins serving once more as the unwilling guide. Read Mosley…for his matchless ability to present mosaic worlds in which even the most minor characters arrive burning with their own unquenchable stories.”
—Kirkus Reviews