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janefstevens's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I honestly find the plot too hard to follow....but the characters are intriguing and the setting is very real....
duparker's review against another edition
4.0
Great character and story. The portrayal of the city and era is an interesting side aspect that is really well done. Highly enjoyable series.
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
I had trouble following the plot of Black Betty, although it could be because I put it down partway through for a bit. I enjoyed it nonetheless. Rawlins is such a compelling character, and the cast of characters that make up his world are so realistic.
tittypete's review against another edition
3.0
Easy Rawlins has to find another woman just like in Devil in a Blue Dress. But this time she's super black instead of passing for white. But a lot of the problems still come from rich white guys humping them and feeling embarrassed. There's a good amount of humping in this book which makes it fun. Black Betty used to hump everybody back in Houston when Easy was a youngster. Now she's out in LA humping her boss. A bunch of people get killed. Turns out because her boss humped her till she had kids. There are some shady real estate developers in the story too but they're kind of a side plot. There's another side plot about Easy's friend mouse wanting to kill people who narced on him and sent him to prison. Everything gets sorted out kinda and Easy decides not to detect anymore.
saroz162's review against another edition
4.0
Reading these in publication order, this is easily the best Easy Rawlins book yet. The earlier three books are based around the richness of description and authentic voice that Mosley provides his historical world - to great effect - but the "mystery" aspect was hard to follow in the first two, and the third, White Butterfly, is made up of two concurrent plotlines that sometimes seem like they belong in different books. Black Betty also has two plotlines, but they are much more sympathetic to each other; crucially, the "mystery" ends up affecting Easy just as much as his troubles at home.
There's also a cool, classic noir vibe to this one - you can see a lot of Raymond Chandler in it - and it unravels at a good pace, without overwhelming the reader with exposition too badly toward the end. So far, this is the Easy Rawlins novel I would put in the hands of a new reader first.
There's also a cool, classic noir vibe to this one - you can see a lot of Raymond Chandler in it - and it unravels at a good pace, without overwhelming the reader with exposition too badly toward the end. So far, this is the Easy Rawlins novel I would put in the hands of a new reader first.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
Such a good detective series with entertaining plot and interesting characters. Try to space out the books a bit so I don't run out of books to read so soon! Highly recommend this series one of the better detective novels!
lgpiper's review against another edition
3.0
This was the second of the Easy Rawlins' books I'd put on hold back in August, but only got access in May. The third book I sent back because a bunch of other long-term holds also became available suddenly. This tale was somewhat convoluted, and was a bit difficult to follow.
Easy's wife, Regina has left him, taking their daughter, Edna with her. Easy is living with Jesus (Juice) whom he picked up a while ago and a young daughter, Feather, whom he acquired at the end of the previous book. He is approached by a white detective, who is working for a rich family who would like Easy to track down their "servant", "Elizabeth" or Betty, who left them at the same time that the head of the household died. It seems that "Elizabeth" was essentially a member of the family. Easy well remembers Betty from another time. He had a massive crush on her when she was a rather alluring young woman who "liked" men, while he was a young, adolescent waif. He would follow her around.
Next thing you know, some rogue cop is beating the crap out of Easy. The rogue cop seems to have some connection with the family lawyer, who initially hired the private eye who then hired Easy. Then bodies start piling up, and the cops keep trying to implicate Easy. He has to untangle some rather strange family relationships along the way.
Well, sorry for the pathetic description, but this was a GoodRead. Oh, and by the way, Easy was much less of an asshole in this book that he was in the previous one. Much closer to my memories from the books I'd read a few years back.
Easy's wife, Regina has left him, taking their daughter, Edna with her. Easy is living with Jesus (Juice) whom he picked up a while ago and a young daughter, Feather, whom he acquired at the end of the previous book. He is approached by a white detective, who is working for a rich family who would like Easy to track down their "servant", "Elizabeth" or Betty, who left them at the same time that the head of the household died. It seems that "Elizabeth" was essentially a member of the family. Easy well remembers Betty from another time. He had a massive crush on her when she was a rather alluring young woman who "liked" men, while he was a young, adolescent waif. He would follow her around.
Next thing you know, some rogue cop is beating the crap out of Easy. The rogue cop seems to have some connection with the family lawyer, who initially hired the private eye who then hired Easy. Then bodies start piling up, and the cops keep trying to implicate Easy. He has to untangle some rather strange family relationships along the way.
Well, sorry for the pathetic description, but this was a GoodRead. Oh, and by the way, Easy was much less of an asshole in this book that he was in the previous one. Much closer to my memories from the books I'd read a few years back.
mrswythe89's review against another edition
4.0
I find Mosley's books very entertaining and easy to read. I'm still not sure what to think of his treatment of gender, but I should think he's a lot better on women than other writers of noowah, and he's a LOT better on race.
I recognised the structure of this story -- millions of things happening to an increasingly stressed out, bleedy dude who is cynical but secretly wants to do good -- from pretty much all of Terry Pratchett's Watch books. Vimes is a noir detective! How funny that I might never have realised this.
Ooh, and the ending of this book was impressive!
I recognised the structure of this story -- millions of things happening to an increasingly stressed out, bleedy dude who is cynical but secretly wants to do good -- from pretty much all of Terry Pratchett's Watch books. Vimes is a noir detective! How funny that I might never have realised this.
Ooh, and the ending of this book was impressive!
annaavian's review against another edition
2.0
Apart from [b:Devil in a Blue Dress|37100|Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins, #1)|Walter Mosley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336545202l/37100._SY75_.jpg|1344080] all the books so far have been average at best and not nearly as good. There have been some similarities that Mosley keeps repeating from previous books but they don’t really add anything to the story or the main character himself. The plot feels messy with many new characters and troubles piling up which distracts the attention from the main goal that Easy is supposed to have. Halfway through the book I felt like we were wandering around the streets with no apparent direction in mind which made me lose interest.
4 books in and I’m starting to wonder if there’s a point in moving forward.
4 books in and I’m starting to wonder if there’s a point in moving forward.
axmed's review
3.75
“Oh, no,” she said. “Never go to the police.”
Renee had no butt to speak of, though she moved like she did.
Some light-colored people felt that it was their duty to the future generation to marry somebody as light as they were—or lighter.
She was trying to help my friend as if she were some kind of liberal but her attitudes were straight out of the plantation.
“That’s some girl you sent me, Easy. LaMarque’s nose open so wide it’s like t’bust.”
“She just a girl.”“A girl who know where her pussy is.” Etta always spoke her mind. That’s one of the ten thousand reasons I loved her.
“Could you handle it?”
“Hell yeah. I been knowin’ where my pussy is so long it might be gettin’ time to move.”
Renee had no butt to speak of, though she moved like she did.
Some light-colored people felt that it was their duty to the future generation to marry somebody as light as they were—or lighter.
She was trying to help my friend as if she were some kind of liberal but her attitudes were straight out of the plantation.
“That’s some girl you sent me, Easy. LaMarque’s nose open so wide it’s like t’bust.”
“She just a girl.”“A girl who know where her pussy is.” Etta always spoke her mind. That’s one of the ten thousand reasons I loved her.
“Could you handle it?”
“Hell yeah. I been knowin’ where my pussy is so long it might be gettin’ time to move.”