Devil in a Blue Dress cover art

Devil in a Blue Dress

An Easy Rawlins Mystery

Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Devil in a Blue Dress

Written by: Walter Mosley
Narrated by: Michael Boatman
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.51

Buy Now for $27.51

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.©2002 Walter Mosley (P)2009 Audible, Inc. Fiction Hard-Boiled Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Noir Private Investigators Thriller Detective
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What the critics say

  • Audie Award Winner, Mystery and Suspense, 2010
  • Top 100 Mysteries of All Time (Mystery Writers of America)
  • 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century (Independent Mystery Booksellers Assn.)

"Richly atmospheric....Devil in a Blue Dress honors the hard-boiled tradition of Hammett/Chandler/Cain in its story line and attitude, but Mosley takes us down some mean streets that his spiritual predecessors never could have.... A fast-moving, entertaining story written with impressive style." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins, a young, tough black veteran living in 1948 Los Angeles, only wants respect and enough money to pay his mortgage. When fired from his factory job, however, he undertakes some paid errands for a shady white mobster who wishes to locate a light-haired, blue-eyed beauty. As Easy plumbs his usual hangouts for clues, he relays information to the mobster, runs afoul of the police, meets the mysterious woman, discovers a murder, then investigates in self-defense. An unusually refreshing protagonist...talented prose, and evocative, realistic descriptions of speech, manners, and social life make this an exceptional and welcome addition." ( Library Journal)

What listeners say about Devil in a Blue Dress

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Distracting Hard-boiled Detective Story

'Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins' is a struggling black WWII veteran in the late 1940s with connections to minor players in the Los Angeles criminal underground. Essentially out of desperation, he agrees to help find a missing 'Miss Daphne Monet'.. kickstarting a career as a semi-amateur Private Eye.
Author Walter Mosely provides a startlingly realistic look at palpably gritty postwar urban negro life - a unique 'Noir' reality for use in in detective fiction (the setting is intriguing). Unfortunately, the plot itself - various crooks double-crossing each other - is uninteresting.. and Moseley's focus on the hopeless mundanity of his characters' reality (jobless, alcoholic, promiscuous, hassled by racist neighbors/cops) render the "mystery" a mere sideline, anyway. This book reads more like 'Historical Fiction' than a 'Private Investigator' story.

On the positive side, the narration from TV/Film actor Michael Boatman is outstanding. True, some of his voice-acting is questionable (his performance is certainly imperfect), but Boatman's reading is emotive and professional.. well above average.

Altogether, this book merits a disappointing 5 stars out of 10. If you can get it as a 'Plus' selection, it's a reasonable recording to play in the background while you go about your business.. but spending a Credit on it would be debatable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Damn fine!

This is a great story, introducing great characters and narrated very well. I was hesitant to try an audiobook but this was a top dust pick!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

good

I listened to this one as part of my effort to read through a 50 Essential Mystery list. The narration was very good, for the record. As was everything else. I loved the writing style, the characters were well developed, and what a great, hard-boiled plot.
There've been a few books I've read recently that felt like work, even if I did like them. This was not work. It was an enjoyable read.
I'll keep an eye out for more books in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very much worth the listen

This is a very good story. The writing put me in the thick of things and made the story thoroughly enjoyable. Not quite sure why, but this is my first book by Walter Mosley and it will definitely not be the last. I can't wait to immerse myself in the next book in the series, 'The Red Death'.

The narration by Michael Boatman is excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Seminal Work, a Great Performance!

Mosely's introduction of Easy Rawlins spins the classic noir in a great new direction, splitting the difference between Hammett and Ellroy. Michael Boatman delivers a fantastic reading. You can _feel_ this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Can’t believe it took me so long to read this!

I look forward to giving this an annual listen/read. One of the best books from the American Cannon thats for sure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful