Part of Easy Rawlins, book 3
First published 2002
Easy Rawlins wants to stay retired from detective work. He has a wife and child now in 1956 Los Angeles. The police ignore two murdered black girls in his neighborhood. Easy refuses when they finally ask for his help. He knows the streets better than any cop, but those days are behind him. Then a white college student dies the same way. The police change their approach. They threaten to jail Easy's best friend unless he cooperates. Easy has no choice. He walks back into the midnight world of Watts. He must trace the mind of a killer who strikes across racial lines. The case forces him to navigate between two worlds that rarely intersect. Easy discovers that solving murders means risking everything he has built with his family.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Los Angeles, Watts
Period: 1956
320 pages · Paperback · Atria Books
Content warnings: racism, violence