Walter Mosley is as prolific as he is successful. The last one of his books I read was named, Down the River onto the Sea, which won a bunch of awards and was touted as a prime example of his genius. I thought it was a terrible book, and when I decided to review one of his most recent Easy Rawlings books, I was a little worried I was going to dislike this one as well. The last thing I wanted to do was trash Walter Mosley in print. Thankfully, I can say that if you like private detective fiction, Blood Grove is a great read.

Set in 1969 Los Angeles, Blood Grove follows Easy Rawlings as he tries to solve a hypothetical murder which ends up being a lot more complicated than it appears. Yes, I wrote “hypothetical murder” because the client, a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD, isn’t sure if he actually killed anyone and basically wants Easy Rawlings to find out. What follows is classic Mosley, smooth writing voice, an orchestra of characters of mostly the street hustler/working girl/mobster variety, a mix of cops and federal agents; some racist, some grudgingly decent, and the day to day life of being a black man in 1960s California.

Plus there were some pot smoking hippies, but can you really write a book about the 60s without hippies?

Walter Mosley writes beautifully, and Easy Rawlings is the kind of character who is a joy to follow. The plotting was excellently done even if I felt like some opportunities for action were missed. The actual action parts maybe could have been described a little better, and some sections of the book and characters felt like they could have been cut, but so what, it’s the digressions and the out of this worldness (Easy lives in an elevated valley development reached by funicular and guarded by Sicilians) that make the book fun.

My Take: Read It.