Re: RARA-AVIS: Devil in a Blue Dress

Mari Hall (found.dead.in.texas@airmail.net)
Mon, 13 Apr 1998 08:46:54 -0500 Frank D wrote:
>=20
> Hi, Gang,
>=20
> Having finished Walter Mosley=92s DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, I thought I=92=
d better
> make a few comments before the rest of you move on, leaving me eating d=
ust.
> I enjoyed the book a lot, although there were a few weaknesses, imho.
> Nonetheless I was left feeling that I wanted to read more Mosley.
>=20
> Early on there were two things that struck me. Easy is ruminating on th=
e
> differences between Houston and L.A. Easy=92s black community in Housto=
n had
> time to sit on the porch and greet people as they walked by. In L.A.
> everyone is busy making money and had no time to barbecue. After Easy m=
eets
> DeWitt Albright, he becomes uneasy (no pun intended). E is not accustom=
ed to
> going into the white community except for his job at the aircraft compa=
ny.
> There=92s the scene where Easy is going to DeWitt Albright=92s house: "=
I wanted
> to know what color the house was. I wanted to know what made jets fly a=
nd
> how long sharks lived. There was a lot I wanted to know before I died."=
Good
> stuff!
>=20
> I was reminded of my own experience in going into the black community i=
n the
> mid-60s. Rumor was that there was terrific southern cooking at a place
> called Mack=92s Island Cafe in the "Central Area," the 60s euphemism fo=
r the
> black community. I was working at Seattle Central Community College at =
the
> time and we had many black students and several black teachers. So I fe=
lt
> fairly comfortable with black people. I called the cafe and asked if th=
ey
> would welcome some white folks. They were most welcoming and my wife an=
d I
> and another couple went for supper one evening. We were treated like ro=
yalty
> and the food was incredibly good. The folks seated around us were pleas=
ant
> to us. As we left to go to our cars some other black people saw us and
> rather loudly wanted to know "Who said those white folks could come dow=
n
> here?" Well, here we go, I thought. Just then a black foursome came out=
of
> the cafe and headed off any trouble. "You boys just get on out of here.=
" So
> I could feel just a little bit of what Easy must have felt a lot. Thing=
s
> have changed a lot since the 60s. There=92s a place in Tacoma owned by =
some
> black folks that we frequent that often has as many white people as the=
re
> are blacks. Every time I=92m there I ask the owner when she=92s going t=
o open a
> place in Seattle.
>=20
> Mosley is good at leaving us hanging for unusual lengths of time. Early=
on
> Coretta is killed and Easy is hauled in by the police and grilled. Then=
it=92s
> a long time before we hear anything about Coretta, except that somewher=
e
> late in the book Easy says that he now knows who killed Coretta. How he
> figured it out, I=92ll be darned if I know. I don=92t remember any clue=
s
> pointing that way. Howard Green is another one. Brother to Frank Green,=
the
> provider of liquor, he=92s the driver for the perverted ex-mayoral cand=
idate,
> Matthew Teran. He=92s last heard of around p.26 and not again until p. =
145. I
> had to go back and skim through the book to remember who he was. He pro=
bably
> deserved it, though. He walked out on Billy Holiday. Now who would walk=
out
> on Lady Day?
>=20
> I have a little trouble with Easy being saved by Mouse, not once, but t=
wice.
> I recently had the same problem with Robert O. Greer=92s novel about th=
e black
> bail bondsman and bounty hunter in Denver. Twice his protagonist is sav=
ed
> from incredible situations by someone else. Does anyone else have this
> problem? Or is it just me? The second time Mouse saved Easy I was wroth=
,
> wanting to know how the heck Mouse knew where Easy even was. But within=
a
> few pages he told me how it was that he knew and my blood pressure subs=
ided.
> I=92m still not certain how Easy figures out the involvement of Junior =
Fornay
> and Joppy.
>=20
> Mouse is truly an amoral character. He shows no hesitancy is shooting
> people, once in the leg to let the victim know what=92s happening and t=
hen for
> real. And Easy=92s comment about the murder victims is telling: "the pa=
per
> hardly ever reported a Negro murder. And when they did it was way in th=
e
> back pages." This certainly doesn=92t seem to be the way it is any long=
er.
>=20
> This was a good choice for reading and I=92m probably the last mystery =
reader
> in the world who had not read Mosley. I enjoyed it.
>=20
> I have to tell you. You folks have mentioned so many writers new to me =
that
> it may be a long while before I get back to Mosley. But that=92s all ri=
ght.
> Keep =91em coming.
>=20
> Cheers, Frank
>=20
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Who can follow an act like this (Frank's comments)? They are just
spot-on. I like Moseley also. I would like to see what Frank's comments
are regarding GONE FISHING since this is sort-a the prequel to DIABD
--=20
whose DOROTHYL nom is Kate Warne the ex-Pinkerton in
The Woman With the Rose Tattoo by Mari Hall
See y'all at Bouchercon 29 in Philly Oct.1-4
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