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Easy Rawlins #13
Rose Gold
Rose Gold is two colors, one woman, and a big headache.
In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara. If they don't receive the money, weapons, and apology they demand, "Rose Gold" will die-horribly and publicly. So the FBI, the State Department, and the LAPD turn to Easy Rawlins, the one man who can cross the necessary borders to resolve this dangerous standoff. With twelve previous adventures since 1990, Easy Rawlins is one of the small handful of private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called immortal. Rose Gold continues his ongoing and unique achievement in combining the mystery/PI genre form with a rich social history of postwar Los Angeles-and not just the black parts of that sprawling city.
In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara. If they don't receive the money, weapons, and apology they demand, "Rose Gold" will die-horribly and publicly. So the FBI, the State Department, and the LAPD turn to Easy Rawlins, the one man who can cross the necessary borders to resolve this dangerous standoff. With twelve previous adventures since 1990, Easy Rawlins is one of the small handful of private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called immortal. Rose Gold continues his ongoing and unique achievement in combining the mystery/PI genre form with a rich social history of postwar Los Angeles-and not just the black parts of that sprawling city.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2014
256 people are currently reading
2306 people want to read
About the author
Walter Mosley
203 books3,894 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 329 reviews
September 6, 2016
If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. The very idea that Walter Mosley has been exploring the world of protagonist Ezekiel Rawlins for the past quarter century without losing steam is a true wonder. The fact that these stories are based decades in the past, and still manage to maintain a tangible sense of believability for both its period and characters is a testament to this author’s brilliance. I’ve always been intrigued by how intensely Mosley speaks on the African-American condition of that time without alienating readers of other races. These stories allow for a blunt examination of society, without painting Mosley as angry or racist, but rather as an unfiltered realist.
As in the case with prior books within the Rawlins Mystery series, Rose Gold thrusts our LA based street sleuth into another pot of boiling trouble. Hot on the trail of a former boxer turned political radical, and the daughter of a high-powered arms dealer, every law enforcement agency in Los Angeles has the P.I. in their sights. Series regulars such as, Mouse, Rawlins’ oldest and deadliest friend surface along the way as well as other reoccurring characters from previous installments. I imagine that Mosley must possess a data base complete with bios on each, accessible whenever the need arises to reinsert one within a narrative.
Although Mosley’s career has taken many twists and turns genre wise, the Easy Rawlins franchise is what put him on the map. For a moment there, it seemed as if he’d done away with the character that made him famous. There are some obvious parallels between Leonid McGill, the latest detective from the mind of this prolific author, though there is only one Easy Rawlins. Like many other fans of the series, some of the books speak more to you than others. To date, Little Scarlett sits atop the heap in my mind. That being said, I’d have to place Rose Gold somewhere in the top three.
As in the case with prior books within the Rawlins Mystery series, Rose Gold thrusts our LA based street sleuth into another pot of boiling trouble. Hot on the trail of a former boxer turned political radical, and the daughter of a high-powered arms dealer, every law enforcement agency in Los Angeles has the P.I. in their sights. Series regulars such as, Mouse, Rawlins’ oldest and deadliest friend surface along the way as well as other reoccurring characters from previous installments. I imagine that Mosley must possess a data base complete with bios on each, accessible whenever the need arises to reinsert one within a narrative.
Although Mosley’s career has taken many twists and turns genre wise, the Easy Rawlins franchise is what put him on the map. For a moment there, it seemed as if he’d done away with the character that made him famous. There are some obvious parallels between Leonid McGill, the latest detective from the mind of this prolific author, though there is only one Easy Rawlins. Like many other fans of the series, some of the books speak more to you than others. To date, Little Scarlett sits atop the heap in my mind. That being said, I’d have to place Rose Gold somewhere in the top three.
February 14, 2015
Easy Rawlins needs money. Again. This guy can't get a break. Sometimes I wish that this series would just end where Easy acquires a bunch of money, sends Feather off to a good school overseas, retires from running the streets, settles down on farmland out in Ventura somewhere with Bonnie and tend crops on his farm all day. He definitely deserves it. But nope, them's the breaks. Easy seems destined to roam the streets of Los Angeles as a private dick. Money trouble always seems to creep up on him. This time his rental properties need city-required repairs and his adopted daughter Feather has been invited to go to an expensive Ivy prep school. The LAPD stops by his new house just in time to offer him a heap of money to help locate a kidnapped UC Santa Barbara coed that might just turn out to be a Patty Hearst situation.
I'm starting to feel more and more now that Mosley should end this series soon. No, not really, I'd miss Easy too much! But it at least needs an overhaul. It's suffering from what befalls so many other detective series: stale plots. The plots are starting to get repetitive. The last book, Little Green: An Easy Rawlins Mystery, was also pretty forgettable for this same reason. This new novel lost any tension it might've had pretty early on, after you discover that there's not much danger. It's disappointing because I think that a Patty Hearst-style kidnapping would be ripe for an engaging story. The series needs to be shaken and spiced up a little bit, the way Mosley did in the great installment Cinnamon Kiss, where Easy had something to really fight for. But, Mosley's great writing, the highly-readable main character, and his motley cast of friends and colleagues introduced in previous novels, are enough to keep me going, despite the yawn-inducing plot.
I'm starting to feel more and more now that Mosley should end this series soon. No, not really, I'd miss Easy too much! But it at least needs an overhaul. It's suffering from what befalls so many other detective series: stale plots. The plots are starting to get repetitive. The last book, Little Green: An Easy Rawlins Mystery, was also pretty forgettable for this same reason. This new novel lost any tension it might've had pretty early on, after you discover that there's not much danger. It's disappointing because I think that a Patty Hearst-style kidnapping would be ripe for an engaging story. The series needs to be shaken and spiced up a little bit, the way Mosley did in the great installment Cinnamon Kiss, where Easy had something to really fight for. But, Mosley's great writing, the highly-readable main character, and his motley cast of friends and colleagues introduced in previous novels, are enough to keep me going, despite the yawn-inducing plot.
June 11, 2019
This series just makes me happy. I am now almost caught up in the series with only one more story to go before I have to join everyone else waiting with baited breath for the newest Easy Rawlins story. As I've said before and will undoubtedly say many times more-Easy is one of my all time favorite characters.
This book also has one of my favorite quotes by a character: "Readin' a good book is like meetin' a girl you wanna get to know bettah. "... "You don't just have one talk and think you know her. If that was true there wouldn't be no need to get to know more; it wouldn't be worf it. Naw, man you wanna talk to that girl again and again. You remember her phone number and every time you talk you find out somethin' else. Same thing with a good book. You got to read that suckah again and again and still you findin' out sumpin' new every time." As a
re-reader myself I couldn't agree more!
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
This book also has one of my favorite quotes by a character: "Readin' a good book is like meetin' a girl you wanna get to know bettah. "... "You don't just have one talk and think you know her. If that was true there wouldn't be no need to get to know more; it wouldn't be worf it. Naw, man you wanna talk to that girl again and again. You remember her phone number and every time you talk you find out somethin' else. Same thing with a good book. You got to read that suckah again and again and still you findin' out sumpin' new every time." As a
re-reader myself I couldn't agree more!
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
June 20, 2019
Another solid entry in the Easy Rawlins series. Rose Gold summons the usual race relations issues of the '60s, it takes us all around "historic" Los Angeles, and stretches out to my stomping grounds of Santa Barbara. But this one also includes government intrigue, an unusual element in the Rawlins books that I've read so far. There is a touch of longwindedness herein, because of all the many plot lines Mosley strings together. Not all of them are exciting, but in general, this is a page turner.
February 3, 2023
Book 13
Walter Mosley has done it again. He turns a crime mystery into the most smoothest, engaging and detailed stories I have ever read.
Easy and mouse are my everything in this series. It's amazing how all the characters give you life. The personal relationships, the business relationships, the police officers, the criminals their families, and everyone in between has a role, and they are all good at what they do.
At the end of the Easy Rawlins gets the job done any means necessary, and I am here for it all.
Walter Mosley has done it again. He turns a crime mystery into the most smoothest, engaging and detailed stories I have ever read.
Easy and mouse are my everything in this series. It's amazing how all the characters give you life. The personal relationships, the business relationships, the police officers, the criminals their families, and everyone in between has a role, and they are all good at what they do.
At the end of the Easy Rawlins gets the job done any means necessary, and I am here for it all.
August 1, 2014
Walter Mosley has written another terrific Easy Rawlins mystery. This one is set in the turbulent 60's era: Black Power, hippies, getting high, and the rebellion of youth against The Man. As for the title, Rose Gold is the nickname used for Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a wealthy arms manufacturer.
Easy Rawlins, a black detective already well known to the LAPD, is who they go to help find Rose. Maybe she has been kidnapped by a Black Power anarchist, or just maybe she is in on the plot and is trying to extort money from her dad and his company. The Special Assistant to the Police Chief, Roger Frisk, a little shady himself, comes to Easy's house on a Sunday afternoon. It is pretty clear that Easy does not have much of a choice on whether or not he'll take the case. This case needs to stay out of the news and Easy is instructed to talk to no one except Tout Manning, Frisk's assistant.
Lots to ponder on that case, including the real story on the Black Power anarchist...Easy remembers him when he was trying to make it in professional boxing. And several of Easy's friends and acquaintances need his help in resolving the complications in their lives. One is being black-mailed, another has a white woman friend whose mixed race pre-school age son has been kidnapped. Her black husband has recently died and he was estranged from his family.
The only police officer Easy trusts is on leave and in trouble with the higher ups, according to Special Assistant Frisk. Easy needs his help but Suggs is wallowing in his misery, missing the girl friend who has gone missing. That would be the girl he arrested for passing counterfeit money before he started dating her, thus his troubles with the bosses. Easy promises to find the girl if Suggs will sober up and help him with resolving the other cases.
Mosley's prose is a pleasure to read. He weaves a many stranded mystery and brings it all to an exciting and satisfactory conclusion. Easy Rawlins is one clever and capable detective, and it is pretty easy to imagine Denzel Washington as the confident detective in the movie version...it's a role he has played before in the film version of Mosley's earlier, The Devil In the Blue Dress.
I read a pre-publication digital copy courtesy of edelweiss. Thanks for the pleasurable opportunity!
Easy Rawlins, a black detective already well known to the LAPD, is who they go to help find Rose. Maybe she has been kidnapped by a Black Power anarchist, or just maybe she is in on the plot and is trying to extort money from her dad and his company. The Special Assistant to the Police Chief, Roger Frisk, a little shady himself, comes to Easy's house on a Sunday afternoon. It is pretty clear that Easy does not have much of a choice on whether or not he'll take the case. This case needs to stay out of the news and Easy is instructed to talk to no one except Tout Manning, Frisk's assistant.
Lots to ponder on that case, including the real story on the Black Power anarchist...Easy remembers him when he was trying to make it in professional boxing. And several of Easy's friends and acquaintances need his help in resolving the complications in their lives. One is being black-mailed, another has a white woman friend whose mixed race pre-school age son has been kidnapped. Her black husband has recently died and he was estranged from his family.
The only police officer Easy trusts is on leave and in trouble with the higher ups, according to Special Assistant Frisk. Easy needs his help but Suggs is wallowing in his misery, missing the girl friend who has gone missing. That would be the girl he arrested for passing counterfeit money before he started dating her, thus his troubles with the bosses. Easy promises to find the girl if Suggs will sober up and help him with resolving the other cases.
Mosley's prose is a pleasure to read. He weaves a many stranded mystery and brings it all to an exciting and satisfactory conclusion. Easy Rawlins is one clever and capable detective, and it is pretty easy to imagine Denzel Washington as the confident detective in the movie version...it's a role he has played before in the film version of Mosley's earlier, The Devil In the Blue Dress.
I read a pre-publication digital copy courtesy of edelweiss. Thanks for the pleasurable opportunity!
October 30, 2016
Easy, Easy, Easy.....a smart yet sensitive man/Private Eye. No matter what the world throws at him during the 60s, he's still able to get to the truth.
There's something peculiar when 4 plainclothes policemen show up and assist you in moving into your new home. That's what happen and Easy knows there's something funny about the case they want him to take. There are too many missing pieces and his instincts are telling him to say no but he could use the money to pay for the repairs to his apartment buildings (a scam the police put together to squeeze Easy into taking the case).
Rosemary Goldsmith has supposedly been kidnapped by Bob Mantle, a washed up boxer. Easy learns the hard way about how willing a neighborhood is to protect their own against the police and informants.
As soon as he takes the case, he's hit with a few other cases that requires his type of skill. He needs to help a friend of Mouse's wife, Etta Mae, find the woman who kidnapped her bi-racial child and his friend, Detective Suggs has been suspended due to his relationship with a suspect...Easy is needed to find his girlfriend to get him out of his drunken stupor.
The book was slightly longwinded but the information and Easy's frame of mind needed to be understood in order to get the full picture. The plight of blacks in America during the periods in question throughout Walter Mosley books has come alive and narrated by an exceptional writer.
There's something peculiar when 4 plainclothes policemen show up and assist you in moving into your new home. That's what happen and Easy knows there's something funny about the case they want him to take. There are too many missing pieces and his instincts are telling him to say no but he could use the money to pay for the repairs to his apartment buildings (a scam the police put together to squeeze Easy into taking the case).
Rosemary Goldsmith has supposedly been kidnapped by Bob Mantle, a washed up boxer. Easy learns the hard way about how willing a neighborhood is to protect their own against the police and informants.
As soon as he takes the case, he's hit with a few other cases that requires his type of skill. He needs to help a friend of Mouse's wife, Etta Mae, find the woman who kidnapped her bi-racial child and his friend, Detective Suggs has been suspended due to his relationship with a suspect...Easy is needed to find his girlfriend to get him out of his drunken stupor.
The book was slightly longwinded but the information and Easy's frame of mind needed to be understood in order to get the full picture. The plight of blacks in America during the periods in question throughout Walter Mosley books has come alive and narrated by an exceptional writer.
November 5, 2014
No one can play those that underestimate him (and many do) like a game of chess the way Easy Rawlins does.
Walter Mosley's creation returns in this story set in the 1960's where protests against the vietnam war and other aspects of the counter-culture movement grab attention and headlines. In the midst of this Easy Rawlins (having recovered a bit from the near death experience addressed in the book that came before this one) has pretty much given up the private eye business as he and his family are moving into a new place. In the middle of this move he is approached by a cop named Roger Frisk who wants to hire Easy to look into the kidnapping of a woman from a wealthy, powerful, family named Rosemary Goldsmith (a sort fiction inspired version of Patricia Hearst) by a former boxer turned revolutionary named Uhuru Nolica and the "liberation party' he represents.
Easy's first inclination is to turn down the case but the money (and the thought that the people involved will pull him in whether he wants to be pulled in or not) , which he can use to both pay off some debts and pay for the prestigious private school his daughter Feather was accepted into, convinces him to knock around to see what he can find.
Truths are revealed to be lies and simple answers show layers of complication as Easy has to use his wits and a little bit of muscle when ugly truths are revealed and come gunning for him. Amazing prose (a Mosley staple), engaging subplots (including a fun "sub mystery" that seems out of place until you see how it connects to the main plot) and the well written "small moments" (especially when Easy interacts with his friends and family) makes this yet another gold star sleuth based entry.
Walter Mosley's creation returns in this story set in the 1960's where protests against the vietnam war and other aspects of the counter-culture movement grab attention and headlines. In the midst of this Easy Rawlins (having recovered a bit from the near death experience addressed in the book that came before this one) has pretty much given up the private eye business as he and his family are moving into a new place. In the middle of this move he is approached by a cop named Roger Frisk who wants to hire Easy to look into the kidnapping of a woman from a wealthy, powerful, family named Rosemary Goldsmith (a sort fiction inspired version of Patricia Hearst) by a former boxer turned revolutionary named Uhuru Nolica and the "liberation party' he represents.
Easy's first inclination is to turn down the case but the money (and the thought that the people involved will pull him in whether he wants to be pulled in or not) , which he can use to both pay off some debts and pay for the prestigious private school his daughter Feather was accepted into, convinces him to knock around to see what he can find.
Truths are revealed to be lies and simple answers show layers of complication as Easy has to use his wits and a little bit of muscle when ugly truths are revealed and come gunning for him. Amazing prose (a Mosley staple), engaging subplots (including a fun "sub mystery" that seems out of place until you see how it connects to the main plot) and the well written "small moments" (especially when Easy interacts with his friends and family) makes this yet another gold star sleuth based entry.
October 4, 2023
This time out, Easy Rawlins gets visited by four of LAPD’s finest to find a kidnapped woman. The family wants answers but when Rawlins starts finding them, the authorities want him to cease and desist his investigation. Of course our man doesn’t and after a few twists he finds the girl and gets a nice fat payday for his work. Definitely recommended
January 26, 2016
The mayor and the chief of police in LA want Easy Rawlins to investigate the disappearance and potential kidnapping of Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a prominent weapons manufacturer. They need Rawlins because he's black and think he will have a better chance of finding Bob Mantle, a black boxer-turned-revolutionary who has been seen with Rosemary in Los Angeles. Rose Gold is loosely based on Patty Hearst, and Easy does his usual great job of finding missing people. While I could deal with the other sideplot investigations, I thought that Easy's luck in finding key connections a little far fetched, but Walter Mosely always tells much about the state of the nation and race relations at that time through Easy's narrative.
January 13, 2015
I've been a Walter Mosley fan for a long time, particularly the Easy Rawlins novels, and this a very good one. Mosley is a strong, sometimes complicated, plotter, and he juggles several story lines here, but manages to weave them together well. Strong characterizations, terrific dialogue, and often very thoughtful. Reads like cream.
July 4, 2017
Okay so look.
I liked this one, but there was a moment when it kinda dipped for me, about the middle and I think it was because Mouse wasn't in this one. But when New Bob showed up and did his Mouse impersonation it sparked it up for me. I thought the mystery was self explanatory, and Easy did too, it was just getting all the players to play their parts and to get them all in the right place was the only way this was going to resolve itself.
3.25 stars
I liked this one, but there was a moment when it kinda dipped for me, about the middle and I think it was because Mouse wasn't in this one. But when New Bob showed up and did his Mouse impersonation it sparked it up for me. I thought the mystery was self explanatory, and Easy did too, it was just getting all the players to play their parts and to get them all in the right place was the only way this was going to resolve itself.
3.25 stars
May 30, 2020
This wine ages beautifully.
February 6, 2017
I will never forget seeing Denzel Washington in the movie, Devil in a Blue Dress. Thought it was one of the best films I'd ever seen. I then did some digging of my own. Learned that the movie was based on the book of the same name, by Walter Mosely. Ever since, I have been a devout fan, Devout.
ROSE GOLD is the 13th Easy Rawlins novel. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is an African American private investigator. The books take place between the 1940s through the 1960s. It is some of the best noir, gritty, hard-boiled stuff on bookshelves.
Little by little Easy has done alright. A hard worker, he's saved up money, and takes care of his family. When not solving cases, he has a number of rental properties that he owns. He is a man of the people. Tough, and fearless, he has a heart of gold. Unfortunately, those in the know have no problem taking advantage of Easy's position.
When Easy's properties start failing inspections, and fees begin piling up, the timing couldn't be any worse. He is in the middle of moving, taking his family a few blocks away, into something a little bigger, a little better. With his money tied-up, he's forced to work on the rental repairs himself. But there is a time limit to get all of the work done.
So when Roger Frisk, assistant to the LAPD chief of police, shows up offering Easy work, and the promise of making the fines disappear, he has no choice but to see what's what. Turns out college student, Rosemary Goldsmith, is missing. She hasn't been seen on campus in weeks. It could be she took off, or quite possibly that she's been kidnapped. Foster Goldsmith, Rose's father, is the owner of Goldsmith Armaments. With a constant threat of war, Goldsmith's business in weaponry does very, very well.
Thing is, Frisk isn't hiring Easy to find Rose. He wants Easy to track down ex-boxer Robert Mantle. For a large paycheck, and his rental properties vanishing, all Easy needs to do is tell Frisk where Mantle is. That's it. Nothing more.
Except, nothing is ever as it seems, nor is anything that easy. The saying is, "If it sounds too good to be true . . . "
I said it earlier, I will mention it one more time. I am a devout fan of Walter Mosely and his writing. Thing is, as much as I want to recommend this book to you . . . I almost can't. Do yourself a favor. Go back to the beginning. Start with DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS. Experience each of the Easy novels in order. So much happens in each tale, and carries on into the next book. (Can someone pick up Rose Gold and read it without having read the first in the series? Sure. Absolutely. It's just, me? Personally? I wouldn't recommend it. Do yourself a favor. Submerge yourself in Mosely's writing. If you like crime drama, noir, and solid characters . . . You don't want to miss out on someone I consider one of today's best crime novelists.
Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series
and The Vaccination Trilogy
ROSE GOLD is the 13th Easy Rawlins novel. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is an African American private investigator. The books take place between the 1940s through the 1960s. It is some of the best noir, gritty, hard-boiled stuff on bookshelves.
Little by little Easy has done alright. A hard worker, he's saved up money, and takes care of his family. When not solving cases, he has a number of rental properties that he owns. He is a man of the people. Tough, and fearless, he has a heart of gold. Unfortunately, those in the know have no problem taking advantage of Easy's position.
When Easy's properties start failing inspections, and fees begin piling up, the timing couldn't be any worse. He is in the middle of moving, taking his family a few blocks away, into something a little bigger, a little better. With his money tied-up, he's forced to work on the rental repairs himself. But there is a time limit to get all of the work done.
So when Roger Frisk, assistant to the LAPD chief of police, shows up offering Easy work, and the promise of making the fines disappear, he has no choice but to see what's what. Turns out college student, Rosemary Goldsmith, is missing. She hasn't been seen on campus in weeks. It could be she took off, or quite possibly that she's been kidnapped. Foster Goldsmith, Rose's father, is the owner of Goldsmith Armaments. With a constant threat of war, Goldsmith's business in weaponry does very, very well.
Thing is, Frisk isn't hiring Easy to find Rose. He wants Easy to track down ex-boxer Robert Mantle. For a large paycheck, and his rental properties vanishing, all Easy needs to do is tell Frisk where Mantle is. That's it. Nothing more.
Except, nothing is ever as it seems, nor is anything that easy. The saying is, "If it sounds too good to be true . . . "
I said it earlier, I will mention it one more time. I am a devout fan of Walter Mosely and his writing. Thing is, as much as I want to recommend this book to you . . . I almost can't. Do yourself a favor. Go back to the beginning. Start with DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS. Experience each of the Easy novels in order. So much happens in each tale, and carries on into the next book. (Can someone pick up Rose Gold and read it without having read the first in the series? Sure. Absolutely. It's just, me? Personally? I wouldn't recommend it. Do yourself a favor. Submerge yourself in Mosely's writing. If you like crime drama, noir, and solid characters . . . You don't want to miss out on someone I consider one of today's best crime novelists.
Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series
and The Vaccination Trilogy
November 23, 2014
This is standard Mosley fare, and he keeps the story tight and swift. Also, he closed this one well, which we can't always say about Mosley endings. Lot's of intrigue in this mystery, sprinkled with the ever present commentary of the times, 1967 and the plight of African-Americans in Easy's Los Angeles, CA.
Easy is working on a supposed kidnapping of Rosemary Goldsmith, but things aren't always as simple as they seem. There is also a missing person that is apparently being framed by the LAPD, who is somehow connected to the rich Rosemary. Hmmn, well you know it is going to take Easy Rawlings to sort all this out. And the sorting out makes this a very good and pleasurable read.
Easy is working on a supposed kidnapping of Rosemary Goldsmith, but things aren't always as simple as they seem. There is also a missing person that is apparently being framed by the LAPD, who is somehow connected to the rich Rosemary. Hmmn, well you know it is going to take Easy Rawlings to sort all this out. And the sorting out makes this a very good and pleasurable read.
November 4, 2016
Always a pleasure to read Mosley and Ez Rawlins.
I imagine if I liked wine or beer this book would be like sitting on my back porch watching the sun go down on a balmy day after a long day of physical work.
Mighty Fine.
Many series play themselves out in the first three or so novels. Not the Rawlins series. This work has managed to stay fresh, which is high praise indeed.
I imagine if I liked wine or beer this book would be like sitting on my back porch watching the sun go down on a balmy day after a long day of physical work.
Mighty Fine.
Many series play themselves out in the first three or so novels. Not the Rawlins series. This work has managed to stay fresh, which is high praise indeed.
June 22, 2022
*3.5 stars.
"Maybe my life needed a screen door" (29). *There's an idea. Keep all the pests out, but allow in the breeze.
"It sounded like the first line of the second paragraph in a cheap romance novel" (49).
"If I wanted my way I had to accept their hatred" (80).
"Maybe my life needed a screen door" (29). *There's an idea. Keep all the pests out, but allow in the breeze.
"It sounded like the first line of the second paragraph in a cheap romance novel" (49).
"If I wanted my way I had to accept their hatred" (80).
January 8, 2015
Walter has written more about the plight of being non-white in urban America than any other author that comes to mind. His Easy Rawlins novels focus on Los Angeles during the 1950's and 1960's. Easy is a private investigator who usually works (often in a barter arrangement) for other downtrodden souls. It is a world where trust is often a more significant currency than money. Easy's ability to read people and tailor the level of violence to the situation often mean the difference between life and death.
When Rawlins no longer was the best vehicle for Mosley's musings on race, power, and poverty, Easy ran off a mountain road into oblivion. But wait! Mosley discovered more he wanted to say, and in Little Green, he brought Ezekiel Rawlins back from the dead. In Rose Gold, we have the usual racist L.A. police force, the majority of black adults hanging on to subsistence by their fingernails and the growing hippie culture of disaffected youth.
PLOT ALERT
There are a lot of changes going on for Easy and his family, friends and associates. He is still recovering from his accident. He is still unsure about his relationship with Bonnie. He is being asked by his adopted daughter, Feather, to discuss how she came to live with him and what her parents were like. The story opens on Moving Day, and we learn how that works for many residents of Los Angeles County. Easy, after the events in Little Green, has decided to move to a safer location.
While moving into his new place, he is approached by the higher levels of the L.A. Police to do some investigation of a man in the black community who may have some connection to the disappearance of a white teenage girl. He does so reluctantly, knowing how difficult it is to say no to the police and still function in the community, and an envelope with thousands of dollars is a powerful inducement.
The plot then takes off and the run isn't linear. Easy finds himself dealing not with one person or problem but with a handful that he must juggle without dropping any or he could become the victim. As he puts it: "I was like the guy with the sack of corn, the goose, and the fox trying get across the river in a boat that could only take two passengers at a time." We greet recurring characters: Jewelle, Jackson Blue, Mouse, EttaMae Harris, and Melvin Suggs. And some new ones including Art Sugar and Redbird. Mix murder, mayhem, lies, cons, with social commentary, and you have a mostly satisfying new chapter for this detective series.
When Rawlins no longer was the best vehicle for Mosley's musings on race, power, and poverty, Easy ran off a mountain road into oblivion. But wait! Mosley discovered more he wanted to say, and in Little Green, he brought Ezekiel Rawlins back from the dead. In Rose Gold, we have the usual racist L.A. police force, the majority of black adults hanging on to subsistence by their fingernails and the growing hippie culture of disaffected youth.
PLOT ALERT
There are a lot of changes going on for Easy and his family, friends and associates. He is still recovering from his accident. He is still unsure about his relationship with Bonnie. He is being asked by his adopted daughter, Feather, to discuss how she came to live with him and what her parents were like. The story opens on Moving Day, and we learn how that works for many residents of Los Angeles County. Easy, after the events in Little Green, has decided to move to a safer location.
While moving into his new place, he is approached by the higher levels of the L.A. Police to do some investigation of a man in the black community who may have some connection to the disappearance of a white teenage girl. He does so reluctantly, knowing how difficult it is to say no to the police and still function in the community, and an envelope with thousands of dollars is a powerful inducement.
The plot then takes off and the run isn't linear. Easy finds himself dealing not with one person or problem but with a handful that he must juggle without dropping any or he could become the victim. As he puts it: "I was like the guy with the sack of corn, the goose, and the fox trying get across the river in a boat that could only take two passengers at a time." We greet recurring characters: Jewelle, Jackson Blue, Mouse, EttaMae Harris, and Melvin Suggs. And some new ones including Art Sugar and Redbird. Mix murder, mayhem, lies, cons, with social commentary, and you have a mostly satisfying new chapter for this detective series.
November 2, 2014
Walter Mosley is back with another absorbing, attitude-laced, Easy Rawlins saga, taking place in the 1960’s. A honcho in the LA Police Dept. offers Easy a small fortune to find Rose Goldsmith, a Patty Hearst-like figure whose father is an international armaments manufacturer. Rose has disappeared along with a group of radicals who are believed to have killed cops and committed crimes. Rose is reportedly in the company of an African American agitator who calls himself Uhuru Nolice, but who is actually a local ex-boxer named Robert Mantle.
This assignment provides the opportunity for Easy to reconnect with the one white cop that he trusts, Melvin Suggs. Suggs, unfortunately, is in trouble with the LAPD, for having fallen in love with a woman that he had arrested for passing bogus $100 bills. With Sugg’s help, Easy pursues one lead after another, while trying to keep a promise to Mantle’s mother to bring Mantle back alive and perhaps prove his innocence, despite Mantle being the subject of “shoot on sight” instructions from the Police Department.
While this is the main plot of the story, there are sufficient subplots and other activity to provide us with a rich portrait of Rawlins’ personal and family life and of life generally on the African-American side of the racial and economic class divide in 1960’s LA. For many people in that time and place, Moving Day happened all too frequently. In this episode, though, change is in the air and Easy Rawlins keeps moving forward in the direction of a higher social and economic status.
This assignment provides the opportunity for Easy to reconnect with the one white cop that he trusts, Melvin Suggs. Suggs, unfortunately, is in trouble with the LAPD, for having fallen in love with a woman that he had arrested for passing bogus $100 bills. With Sugg’s help, Easy pursues one lead after another, while trying to keep a promise to Mantle’s mother to bring Mantle back alive and perhaps prove his innocence, despite Mantle being the subject of “shoot on sight” instructions from the Police Department.
While this is the main plot of the story, there are sufficient subplots and other activity to provide us with a rich portrait of Rawlins’ personal and family life and of life generally on the African-American side of the racial and economic class divide in 1960’s LA. For many people in that time and place, Moving Day happened all too frequently. In this episode, though, change is in the air and Easy Rawlins keeps moving forward in the direction of a higher social and economic status.
November 1, 2014
I've missed too many of Walter Mosley's books in the last few years. I'm glad I didn't miss this one. Last year in Little Green East Rawlings had awoke from a coma after hurtling off a cliff. He's back in the game now, has just moved to a bigger house with his adopted daughter, Feather. He and Brenda seem to be back on track, and perhaps Brenda will be ready to give the relationship another chance. On "Moving Day" LAPD detectives knock on his door and make him an offer he can't refuse. Help us find a missing heiress. We'll give you $2000. The city has already nitpicked through inspections of several of his rental units finding unexpected "problems." However, they'll give him time to fix those problems if he helps them. Of course he accepts the offer. Along the way, though, he does fix a couple of other problems - like making sure the police don't pin a murder and robbery rap on a kid whose biggest problem is that he believes in his own make believe world. I always enjoy Mosley. His writing is clear, concise and beautifully fluid. I love how he describes his characters by the way they are dressed as well as they way they hold themselves. If you haven't read any books in this series, they take place in the Los Angeles of the 60's - in this case 1967. When one of his characters, an FBI agent, talks about the abduction of a white woman, Easy asks what if it was a black woman. No reply. It's 1967 after all. However, it illuminates today's racial divide and, sadly, demonstrates that things really haven't changed as much as they should have by now.
July 18, 2022
Easy Rawlins is back and he's got his mojo back, too! One of the better recent books in this series--it has seemed at times as though Mosley's tired of the character, but he seems to have been inspired on this occasion. Easy is investigating a very complex mystery, with a lot of side quests and subplots, involving a young, black ex-boxer, seemingly turned revolutionary, and the wild daughter of an arms manufacturer. Has she, as the police claim, been kidnapped by Bob Mantle, now going by the moniker of "Uhuru Nolice," or is she a willing participant in his current crime spree, which Easy is having a hard time finding any stories or information about in the papers? Mosley does such a good job here of writing about Los Angeles in the 60s and the hippies and politics that were beginning to stir at the time. This twisty mystery was just what I needed and, I think, just what Easy and his creator needed, too, to get back on track. I was disappointed not to have the next book in the series to hand to begin reading immediately once I finished this one. Excellent novel!
September 13, 2014
I started reading this series a lot of years ago and have enjoyed all of them except one. This one was really first-rate! Easy has a lot going on this time. As the book begins he's moving to a new house when the LAPD shows up with an odd request. Seems Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of an uber-wealthy weapons manufacturer, has been kidnapped, maybe by a Black Power anarchist....or has she? Her family & the cops are keeping it under wraps and the cops want Easy's help with the case. Things don't smell right and when the Feds show up, all bets are off. Meanwhile, Etta Mae, Easy's friend Mouse's wife, shows up with her white friend whose child has been taken. The woman was married to a black man who has recently died and he was estranged from his family. And his friend Jewelle is being blackmailed. Not much Mouse in this one (he's one of my favorite characters!), but with all that's going on in this one you don't have much time to miss him! RECOMMEND!
October 1, 2014
One of my favorite things is reading an author that I've grown to know so well that reading their books gives me this comforting sense of familiarity and homecoming. Walter Mosley, and especially the Easy Rawlins series, does that for me.
November 29, 2017
I’ve read a smattering of Easy Rawlins mysteries over the years, but had not read any for quite a while until I read “Charcoal Joe”, the book after “Rose Gold” in the series. It was obvious from “Charcoal Joe” that things have changed drastically from the Easy books early in the series – there is quite an extended family of characters and Easy has money. And, as he repeats in “Charcoal Joe”, he got it in the Rose Gold case. So I had to read “Rose Gold” to see where that money came from, as it seems to be a key for future books in the series.
“Rose Gold” is your typical Easy Rawlins mystery. Easy gets hired to handle a case (think Patty Hearst) and figures out a way to charge some additional people for the same result. He does some horse trading for help and information. And he interacts with plenty of his “posse” from earlier books. I found this one OK, not great, but better than many mysteries out there. You do figure out where the money came from, but from this book it doesn’t seem like a lot of money – Easy doesn’t make a big deal out of it like he does in the next book, where it is a big influence on Easy’s behavior.
“Rose Gold” is your typical Easy Rawlins mystery. Easy gets hired to handle a case (think Patty Hearst) and figures out a way to charge some additional people for the same result. He does some horse trading for help and information. And he interacts with plenty of his “posse” from earlier books. I found this one OK, not great, but better than many mysteries out there. You do figure out where the money came from, but from this book it doesn’t seem like a lot of money – Easy doesn’t make a big deal out of it like he does in the next book, where it is a big influence on Easy’s behavior.
February 14, 2017
This book takes place in and around Los Angeles during the Vietnam war. Easy Rawlins is hired/blackmailed into searching for an heiress and her black boyfriend by the assistant to the chief of police of Los Angeles. In the course of this search, Easy calls in lots of favors and ends up solving several other mysteries. The sheer number of characters and these side mysteries made me feel like I needed to take notes to keep up. That made this a difficult read for me. Also, there was a lot of politics, racial prejudice and racial violence. I had a very hard time relating to this because it is so outside my experience.
That said, the mysteries were good and the book grabbed and held my attention. It reminded me a lot of a "Lew Archer" or "Sam Spade" mystery.
That said, the mysteries were good and the book grabbed and held my attention. It reminded me a lot of a "Lew Archer" or "Sam Spade" mystery.
March 15, 2020
I'm a little sad that I only have one more Easy Rawlins to read.
September 26, 2014
I was first introduced to Mosley when a magazine article named the Easy Rawlins' books as favorites of Bill Clinton, who was president at the time. Curious, I picked one up, and have been a fan ever since.
I love the classic detective stories of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. Reminiscent of those protagonists, Easy Rawlins works the mean streets of Los Angeles. But, Mosley's hero is a black man struggling against the prejudices of mid-Century America. He has many of the characteristics of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade:
. . . he isn't afraid of a fight;
. . . he has a weakness for a pretty woman and is unstintingly chivalrous;
. . . he has a very strong, but very personal, moral code; and
. . . he believes there are more important things in life than money.
But, he is also somewhat unique in the PI world---he is a family man and has a very tender spot for his children. It is the complexity and contradictions present in the man that make the series so strong and this new addition to the series, ROSE GOLD, such a pleasure to read.
The story is fast-paced and complex but the most interesting aspect of it for me is to be witness to the daunting insults and crushing racism that a man like Easy faced every day of his life. Smart and philosophical, but not formally educated, every time he stepped out of his home he had to be prepared to be challenged, questioned, insulted or disrespected. To create a character that can maintain their dignity and sense of purpose in the midst of this is impressive.
So, for me the story line (although strong) is secondary. As I read the book, I am seeing the ease and privilege of my life through someone else's eyes. Mosey is not preaching; he is entertaining and subtly educating and he has a tremendous gift for doing that.
I love the classic detective stories of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. Reminiscent of those protagonists, Easy Rawlins works the mean streets of Los Angeles. But, Mosley's hero is a black man struggling against the prejudices of mid-Century America. He has many of the characteristics of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade:
. . . he isn't afraid of a fight;
. . . he has a weakness for a pretty woman and is unstintingly chivalrous;
. . . he has a very strong, but very personal, moral code; and
. . . he believes there are more important things in life than money.
But, he is also somewhat unique in the PI world---he is a family man and has a very tender spot for his children. It is the complexity and contradictions present in the man that make the series so strong and this new addition to the series, ROSE GOLD, such a pleasure to read.
The story is fast-paced and complex but the most interesting aspect of it for me is to be witness to the daunting insults and crushing racism that a man like Easy faced every day of his life. Smart and philosophical, but not formally educated, every time he stepped out of his home he had to be prepared to be challenged, questioned, insulted or disrespected. To create a character that can maintain their dignity and sense of purpose in the midst of this is impressive.
So, for me the story line (although strong) is secondary. As I read the book, I am seeing the ease and privilege of my life through someone else's eyes. Mosey is not preaching; he is entertaining and subtly educating and he has a tremendous gift for doing that.
maybe
August 23, 2014Description: Rose Gold is two colors, one woman, and a big headache.
In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara. If they don't receive the money, weapons, and apology they demand, "Rose Gold" will die—horribly and publicly. So the FBI, the State Department, and the LAPD turn to Easy Rawlins, the one man who can cross the necessary borders to resolve this dangerous standoff. With twelve previous adventures since 1990, Easy Rawlins is one of the small handful of private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called immortal. Rose Gold continues his ongoing and unique achievement in combining the mystery/PI genre form with a rich social history of postwar Los Angeles—and not just the black parts of that sprawling city.
4* Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins #1)
4* Little Scarlet (Easy Rawlins #9)
In this new mystery set in the Patty Hearst era of radical black nationalism and political abductions, a black ex-boxer self-named Uhuru Nolica, the leader of a revolutionary cell called Scorched Earth, has kidnapped Rosemary Goldsmith, the daughter of a weapons manufacturer, from her dorm at UC Santa Barbara. If they don't receive the money, weapons, and apology they demand, "Rose Gold" will die—horribly and publicly. So the FBI, the State Department, and the LAPD turn to Easy Rawlins, the one man who can cross the necessary borders to resolve this dangerous standoff. With twelve previous adventures since 1990, Easy Rawlins is one of the small handful of private eyes in contemporary crime fiction who can be called immortal. Rose Gold continues his ongoing and unique achievement in combining the mystery/PI genre form with a rich social history of postwar Los Angeles—and not just the black parts of that sprawling city.
4* Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins #1)
4* Little Scarlet (Easy Rawlins #9)
June 5, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for a review. Here is my review:
This somehow got overlooked in my TBR stack and I am SO SORRY that it did, because I LOVED it!! Easy Rawlins is always a good read and this one was no exception. His observations of the everyday life of black Americans in the real world is very eye-opening, especially in these current days of unrest across our Nation.
Rose Gold (Rosemary Goldsmith) has been kidnapped, but no one knows it. Two high-level police officers visit Easy at his home and hire him to find her, refusing to tell him who is paying, but offering a large sum of money. Easy, who is in some financial difficulty, accepts the job, but is soon lost in the missing details. Her father will not even admit she has been kidnapped, her mother is hiding out somewhere, and the man the police are charging is probably innocent of the whole thing.
Easy works through the case with the help of his friends, some of them not exactly law-abiding, and finally finds the truth and returns Rose Gold to her family. This is not a spoiler, because his journey to the truth is the whole story
This somehow got overlooked in my TBR stack and I am SO SORRY that it did, because I LOVED it!! Easy Rawlins is always a good read and this one was no exception. His observations of the everyday life of black Americans in the real world is very eye-opening, especially in these current days of unrest across our Nation.
Rose Gold (Rosemary Goldsmith) has been kidnapped, but no one knows it. Two high-level police officers visit Easy at his home and hire him to find her, refusing to tell him who is paying, but offering a large sum of money. Easy, who is in some financial difficulty, accepts the job, but is soon lost in the missing details. Her father will not even admit she has been kidnapped, her mother is hiding out somewhere, and the man the police are charging is probably innocent of the whole thing.
Easy works through the case with the help of his friends, some of them not exactly law-abiding, and finally finds the truth and returns Rose Gold to her family. This is not a spoiler, because his journey to the truth is the whole story
September 26, 2014
I have been a Walter Mosley and Easy Rawlins fan since reading Mosley’s first novel shortly after it was published. He wasn’t the first author to set crime and mystery novels in vintage Los Angeles but he’s definitely one of the best at it. He makes the entire city come alive in his novels, and Easy Rawlins is a character I could read about forever. So you know it was a no brainer for me to pick up Rose Gold, which also takes place during a period near and dear to my heart, the late 1960’s. Even if you’re not yet an Easy Rawlins fan or haven’t read his other Easy Rawlins novels, Rose Gold will work well as a stand-alone read. Also if you know about Patty Hearst’s kidnapping or if you just like a good mystery then check this one out at http://popcornreads.com/?p=7747.
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