Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 22, 1992 TAG: 9203220269
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO BOOK PAGE EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Walter Mosley is on a roll.
His first novel, "Devil In a Blue Dress" was well received in 1990. Now he has followed it with "A Red Death," an equally strong and vivid look at life within the black community of Los Angeles in the early 1950s.
As the novel begins, Mosley's protagonist, Easy Rawlings, is in trouble with the IRS. He thought he had hidden the windfall he came across in the first novel by using dummy corporations to invest it in apartments. Not even the tenants know that he owns the buildings. But an evil tax man named Lawrence has found him out.
Easy is saved, in a way, when an FBI agent offers to intercede. He thinks that Easy, a World War II vet with combat experience, might be just the man to find out what the famous socialist Chaim Wenzler is up to at the First African Baptist Church. The resulting plot is as tricky and convoluted as any you'll find. I'm not at all sure I understand everything that happened but that's unimportant. The traditional mystery elements are the least important part of the novel.
Mosley knows how to create characters who come to life on the page. Mouse, from the first novel, is back and even more dangerous and unpredictable than he was before. His wife, Etta Mae, is trying to leave him. Easy has always been more than a little in love with her himself. Then she asks if she and her son can stay with him.
The descriptions of settings and historical detail all have the solid ring of authenticity. Most of us never knew or can't remember what it was like in that world at that time, but I have to believe that Mosley has done his research and talked to the people who do remember. From the clothes people wear to church, to the sights and tastes of the bars where they drink, to the complex politics of the times, Mosley gets it right.
Also, even though it's usually true that you can't judge a book by its cover, the fine jacket art by Hugh O'Neill and John Jenks is an excellent reflection of the contents.
by CNB