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Little Scarlet
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
by Walter Mosley


6.5

based on 18 reviews
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based on 6 votes
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Cinnamon Kiss

Easy Rawlins returns to solve a mystery set amid the flames of the hottest summer L.A. has ever seen. A man was wrenched from his car by a mob at the 1965 Watts riots' peak and escaped into a nearby apartment building. Soon afterward, a redheaded woman known as Little Scarlet was found dead in that building - and the fleeing man is the obvious suspect. But the man has vanished. [Little, Brown]

Little, Brown, 320 pages
07/05/2004
$24.95

ISBN: 0316073032

Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Tom Sinclair

There's a feverish intensity to this one that doesn't let up, with racial and sexual conundrums piling up like so much tinder on the protagonist's overheated emotions.

Kirkus Reviews

The real strength of Easy's narrative, though, is his unflinching recognition that in working with the police, he's crossing the same border that's driven his brothers and sisters to violence.

Library Journal Michael Rogers

Beyond the backdrop of the riots, the question of color is intricately and masterfully woven into the fabric of the story without overwhelming the mystery. [1 June 2004, p.108]

Los Angeles Times Thomas Curwen

Indignation, ferocity, excoriation scorch the pages of Little Scarlet like a fiery sermon, powerful for its nuance, poignant for its humanity and all the more compassionate for coming from the heart and mind of Easy Rawlins.

Publishers Weekly

Fierce, provocative, expertly entertaining, this is genre writing at its finest.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Margaret Cannon

This is, quite simply, the best novel in the best series by one of the best crime novelists writing.

USA Today Tatiana Siegel

Little Scarlet works so well because it operates on two distinct levels: as a compelling cat-and-mouse game and as a dead-eyed examination of the injustices inherent in racism.

Wall Street Journal Tom Nolan

But just as notable is the way this book...shows a gifted storyteller extending an oeuvre not with safe and formulaic work but with a provocative, chance-taking tale as fresh as a debut novel.

Washington Post John Burdett

Watts was part of a mighty revolution that changed America and perhaps the world. I would have liked Rawlins to experience more directly for us the sheer psychological rawness of that time, which Mosley prefers to elicit from third parties.

The Guardian Duncan Campbell

Little Scarlet is the ninth of Easy's adventures, and admirers of Walter Mosley's spare prose and understated observation will be pleased to hear that it is among the sharpest and richest.

New York Review Of Books Richard Eder

Owing to the richness of Easy's character, Little Scarlet makes the previous volumes, for all their pungency and street smarts, seem almost like practice efforts.

Booklist Bill Ott

Mosley remains a master at showing his readers slices of history from the inside, from a perspective that is all those things history usually isn't: intimate, individual, and passionate. [1 May 2004, p.1516]

Boston Globe Renee Graham

A stellar addition to this superb series, Little Scarlet is graced with deep pathos and power.

Chicago Sun-Times Gary Dretzka

Rawlins being Rawlins, he finds some entertaining ways to take full advantage of this newfound freedom.

Daily Telegraph Susanna Yager

It is a forceful statement as well as an intriguing mystery.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Little Scarlet... does a thoughtful, effective job of making that sense of racial outrage pivotal to its murder plot.

The New York Times Book Review Marilyn Stasio

Although turning the investigation into a personal quest helps Easy resolve his feelings of rage..., his repetitive ruminations on race and identity drag down the action and put a chokehold on Mosley's normally free-flowing narrative style.

The Onion A.V. Club Keith Phipps

Logic dictates that formula should have taken over by now, but while Mosley relies on familiar elements -- particularly appearances from a rich and ever-growing supporting cast -- he always finds new ways to propel the series, most of which have little to do with clues or sleuthing.

The average user rating for this book is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dave J gave it a10:
Great book!!! This was a entertaining murder mystery set during the difficult racial tensions of the '60's. I think I'll send a my copy to Edgar Ray Killen now that he has the rest of his life in jail.

Darrell N gave it a7:
This book is an enjoyable and easy-to-read murder mystery. However, nothing really intriguing happens until almost halfway through the book. The pace is leisurely for a crime caper. Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, is a low-tech gumshoe who uses relationships rather than weapons or gadgets to solve the mystery. Easy is a very likeable protagonist. The drama comes from his attempts to navigate through the racial antagonism and mistrust during the mid-1960’s Watts riots in South Central L.A.

Dee S gave it a10:
I agree. Lil Scarlett is one of the best books written in 2004.

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Little Scarlet An Easy Rawlins Mystery by Walter Mosley

Little Scarlet
An Easy Rawlins Mystery
by Walter Mosley