Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Walter Mosley’s latest installment in the Easy Rawlins series, Farewell, Amethystine, is a masterful blend of noir and historical fiction that transports readers to the gritty streets of 1970s Los Angeles. This time, Easy Rawlins, the ever-resilient private investigator, finds himself entangled in a web of deceit, nostalgia, and danger.

The novel opens with a gripping scene: Easy, now in his fifties, is driving through the countryside with a corpse in the trunk and a loaded .38 in his pocket. This sets the tone for a story that is as much about the past as it is about the present. Easy is approached by Amethystine “Amy” Stoller, a sultry young woman who wants him to find her missing ex-husband, Curt Fields. 

Mosley’s writing is as sharp as ever, capturing the essence of a time and place with vivid detail. The dialogue crackles with authenticity, and the characters are richly drawn, each with their own secrets and motivations. Easy’s journey is an emotional odyssey that explores themes of race, identity, and redemption. 

One of the standout aspects of Farewell, Amethystine is how Mosley seamlessly weaves historical events and social issues into the plot. The backdrop of 1970s America, with its racial tensions and political upheavals, is not just a setting but a character in its own right. 

Farewell, Amethystine is a worthy addition to the Easy Rawlins series. It’s a novel that not only entertains but also provokes thought and reflection. Mosley’s ability to blend mystery with social commentary makes this a must-read for fans of the genre. Whether you’re a longtime follower of Easy Rawlins or new to the series, this book is sure to leave a lasting impression.

FAREWELL AMETHYSTINE
Walter Mosley
Mulholland Books
336 pp.
$30.00

The title gives it away.

In all previous 15 books about Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, dozens of beautiful women pass through the pages. None of them get more than a few chapters, however, and few of them make it to the end of the book with Easy. It’s no surprise, then, that somewhere near the end of the book, Easy says FAREWELL AMETHYSTINE. He has let us know what’s going to happen; he uses his mastery of the mystery genre to keep the reader interested in how it’s going to happen.

It all starts when Amethystine steps across the threshold of Easy’s office into his heart. She wants him to find her ex-husband Curtis ;he wants to stay in touch with her. He takes the case even though he thinks she isn’t telling him everything. Easy sets off to find the guy. In the process, he is so moved by Amethystine that he is rocked by flashbacks to lost loves, past desires. Through memories and dreams, Mosley reveals new information about Easy’s past.

When Easy finds the husband, he’s dead. He tries to get his only friend on the police force, Melvin Suggs, to help him, but Suggs is being blackmailed by someone who has information that would put his wife away for good. Easy takes on his buddy’s case as well. Before long he finds himself where no black man in 1970’s Los Angeles should be—mixed up with “…cops, career criminals and strangers.” He extracts Fearless Jones, another Mosley character, from jail to help him deal with thugs. He also has to use his get-out-of-jail-alive card from Police Captain Anatole McCourt. Mosley adeptly weaves the two plots together, keeping us in the dark, but keeping us reading comfortably. It’s all about the money, and after five bodies in seven days, Easy knows whodunnit. He also knows he has to say FAREWELL AMETHYSTINE.

As always, Mosley puts everything into a social context, His books are as much about the place of a black man in society as they are about the mystery. As he moves through his carefully constructed world—thriving detective agency, a salary twice that of the average Angeleno, a beautiful house for his family—Easy still carries himself as a man who’s “…lived half a century under the weight of second-and third-class citizenship.” He still moves with the “…fear comprised of four hundred years of experience crushed down into fifty short years of life.” Social commentary, fascinating characters, good plot and great writing make this 16th Easy Rawlins adventure an excellent read. Without question, Mosley is not just the best African American mystery novelist, he’s one of the best American novelists period.

Mr. Mosley is a mystery readers guru! This is my first read of the series. I've seen the movie Devil in a Blue dress but didn't read the book. I was worried that because of this I wouldn't be able to follow Farewell, Amethystine but I was wrong. I enjoyed that the story took place in a time that allowed the story to be told beautifully and not be marred by modern technology. I'm an Easy Rawlings fan now and I plan to go back to read the other books.

I've read several of Mosley's more recent books, but "Devil in a Blue Dress" is the only Easy Rawlins novel I'd read before "Farewell, Amethystine." I considered trying to read the entire series before diving in, but realized that was impractical. It also would not have allowed me to discover "Farewell, Amethystine" stands on its own just fine. I enjoyed re-meeting characters that still existed somewhere in my imagination, but I didn't need to know their backstories to be drawn into this story. Actually, what struck me most was the entire story being told as memory, as Easy's backstory. Mosley's ability to write in the past tense, to tell a story long past, and still create dramatic tension and a sense of urgency is impressive. Occasionally I found myself distracted by this but only because I kept wondering if this is how the other Easy Rawlins books are structured and was curious to find out.

One of the wonderful things about the story being set in the past is it allows Mosley to tell a classic, hard-boiled PI story without distractions of modern technology. The elimination of pay phones is the worst thing to happen to PIs in a long time! I keep trying to decide which of Mosley's protagonists I enjoy the most, and my conclusion is whichever one is currently taking me down dark alleys and into sweaty bedrooms while trying to do the right thing and stay alive.

Thank you to the publisher, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this eBook. After reading “Farewell, Amethystine,” I can’t wait to catch up on my Easy Rawlins reading while waiting for Walter Mosley’s next book.

I am a huge Easy Rawlins fan, so I was ecstatic to read this new installment. Farewell, Amethystine follows Easy through a couple of mysteries and murders that are interconnected. The story starts when Amethystine hires Easy to find her missing ex-husband. What follows is a convoluted story about gamblers, criminals, murderers, and a double cross. Unexpectedly, Easy’s heart becomes involved. Meanwhile, Melvin and Mary are involved in a blackmail plot. As usual, Mosley is a great storyteller. He interweaves Easy’s teenage relationship with Anger into present thoughts and actions. The pace for the story is medium. You will still enjoy this story even if it is your first Easy Rawlins book. However, keep in mind that it does happen in the late sixties.
For Easy Rawlins fans: Mouse only makes a brief appearance. However, we get a good dose of Fearless. Melvin and Mary are also mixed up in the drama. You also get updates about Feather and Jesus.

It was a dark and stormy night. Steam rolled off the Los Angeles street like smoke from one of Groucho Marx’s cigars. It was a night not fit for a human being, but there I was. I was waiting. Waiting for a package. I opened my overcoat and checked my piece. It was still intact, unlike my nerves. I began humming a song, “Bird on a Wire,” because that’s how I felt — like I was high above the street, shaking like a leaf. Suddenly, he appeared. The courier. He had my package; I was sure of it. I slid up to him smoothly as he reached into his overcoat and pulled out a book.

“What is this?” I demanded, pointing at the book.

“What? You don’t even say, ‘Hello, my friend?” he said.

“Are you?”

“Are you what?”

“A friend?”

He sighed, tucked the package into the crook of his arm, and shook out a cigarette from a pack he was carrying. He offered one to me. I declined. I’ve been off the cancer sticks for nearly two years and wasn’t about to start up with that habit again: one that could get me killed.

“So let me ask you again,” I said, pointing to the package. “What is this?”

The courier tossed the rectangle from his free hand and I barely caught it in mine, wet and slippery from the damp. I looked at the gift closely. It was a book by Walter Mosley.

“It’s the new Easy Rawlins book,” said the courier.

“What’s it about?”

The courier sighed and took a drag.

“Set in 1970, the story follows Easy as he is hired to look into the missing ex-husband of an employee of the woman who owns his business and his house.”

“And?”

“And what? Easy starts to investigate but comes to find out that a police officer he’s friends with has gone missing, too. Can the two cases be linked?”

I sighed and scraped the muddy pavement with my shoe. Up above, a streetlight fluttered to life giving me a better view of the courier. He had a scar on his left cheek, as though someone wanted to carve a question mark into him but didn’t finish the job. His trench coat was brown to match the buzz cut of his hair. He had the tiniest suggestion of a mustache.

“Another thing,” the courier said. “The client that hires Easy for the job is Black, but her ex-husband who is missing is white.”

“That’s bound to be a complication,” I suggested.

“It is,” he replied.

I looked at him and looked at the book cover and then back at the courier again.

“So, I guess the question is, is the book any good?” I asked.

The courier scratched at his skull with the hand fingering the smoke and seemed to sigh and cough on the spot, as though he couldn’t make up his mind as to which action he wanted to fulfill.

“Aren’t you goin’ to read the thing and find out for yourself?” he asked.

“I like to know what I’m getting myself into,” I countered.

The courier sighed and shrugged his shoulders, as though he were suddenly uncomfortable in his skin.

“I’ll keep this relatively short,” said the courier. “The book is fun. There’s a lot of entertainment to be had in these mystery yarns. There’s also a bit of subtext in the read as to how it’s like to be a Black man with a sizeable reputation for getting into trouble during the Vietnam Era.”

“But what’s not so good about it?” I enquired.

The courier looked at me as though he wanted to take back the book and throw it squarely right at my head.

“Well, I’d reckon that it suffers from the usual trappings of hardboiled stories,” he said. “By the end of the book, it’s kind of hard to follow what’s going on because of all the double and triple crosses. Things that may make sense on the page, but hardly would come across as realistic in real life.”

The courier licked his lips and added, “But did I say that the book was fun?”

“You did,” I said. “Thank you. I’m sure I’ll give this a read.”

With that, the courier shuffled his feet back towards the way he came, evaporating into the smog and smoke of that dank Los Angeles night. I tucked the book into my trench coat, mindful of not getting it wetter than it already was. I had determined that there were a great deal of books out there that were like Farewell, Amethystine. However, reading just one more book like it couldn’t be the most egregious of sins. No, the most egregious of sins involved a bottle of brandy and the bullet-shaped hole I’d left in the head of a previous courier. This man tonight had gotten off lucky.

I turned and walked. Walked down the cold, desolate, uncaring streets of the City of Lost Angels. I was determined to find a reading nook, a local watering hole where I could wet my whistle and settle down for a good read. It was the perfect night for such a scholarly activity. Maybe I could hire a prostitute to read the book to me. There were far worse ideas I could come up with and I knew of a good brothel out on the Sunset Strip. I fingered the collar of my coat and began to walk, began to dream, began to think of all the ways I could squeeze my satisfaction out of my latest acquisition. This was the stuff that warmed the heart of this constant reader, and I squinted and walked on into the din of the mist that obscured the moon. It was a dark and stormy night.

This is my first book by Walter Mosely, although I've been familiar with his Easy Rawlins books through others. Farewell, Amethystine is the latest installment in the series and provides an interesting introduction for me.
Since I had never read anything by Mosely, there were plenty of times I knew that I was missing background information and characters. Nevertheless, I liked Easy Rawlins, his strong family dynamic, and his friendships.

The novel opens in the 1970's with many references of a time gone by that amused me. From mentions of songs and incidents, to Easy's reminiscences of his role in WWII, to the lack of cell phones, the small details give atmosphere.

Easy is now 50 and beset with two cases at once. Amethystine Stoller comes to him for help in finding her ex-husband and Easy's friend with the LAPD Mel Suggs is also out of contact and in trouble. Easy has his hands full.

If I can find time, I might want to try the first book in this classic series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books
Private Investigator. June 4, 2024. Print Length: 333 pages.

Mosley once again guides us through a version of Los Angeles history through the lens of Black PI, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. Set in 1970, we have Easy at age 50, somewhat settled in the domestic life of raising kids, and most intent on keeping a roof over his family's head. When he takes on the case of finding beautiful Amethystine Stoller's missing husband, we sense from the very beginning that Easy's involvement with Amethystine will lead to hijinks, physical jeopardy, and, an emotional toll that will test Easy's mettle. All of this happens and more. Mosley is a fantastic writer, and ultimately it isn't about the plot so much as the line by line brilliance of his descriptions, the realness of his characters, and the vast knowledge of the human condition that he uncovers within the framework of a novel. He's a national treasure. Easy Rawlins is one of crime fiction's eminent figures. And Farewell, Amethystine is a welcome addition to the series. Highly recommended.

In the 16th and least of the Easy Rawlins novels, the celebrated Walter Mosley places his Los Angeles gumshoe in the year 1970, a promising era and backdrop. There is a femme fatale or several, a cartel of crooked gamblers, and some single-dimensional LAPD coppers who interfere with and eventually develop a grudging respect for our protag. This is paint-by-numbers stuff, and Mosley seems bored with it. His half-hearted effort to provide context is to note when Joe South sings “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” on the AM car radio. Otherwise, the reader might feel hopelessly stuck in traffic in a slow-moving DeSoto approaching the intersection of Spillane and Gores.

This instalment sees Rawlins at age 50, with a loving adopted family, a small group of supportive and boisterous employees at his PI firm, and a private, luxurious home in the L.A. hills provided by a grateful client. As a man will do at his half-century, he tends to flash back to memories of childhood, World War II, family, lessons learned the hard way, and all those past loves. This tendency, along with an unwieldy over-supply of pointless characters and plot side-trips, makes this an undisciplined and melancholy exercise.

Mosley’s 2020 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters means his body of work has been acknowledged on the highest levels. Therefore, he’s entitled to a rare flub. This one is just that. There’s every reason to expect Mosley and Rawlins to return to form next time. I appreciate NetGalley providing an advance reviewer copy.

Walter Mosley does it again with this fantastic addition to the Easy Rollins series. Well written, with a fabulous ending I can’t recommend it enough!

Mosley does it again. I believe Mosley could write these mysteries in his sleep. That’s not to say it’s easy, but he has mastered his personal formula and in the end it all seems to make for an engaging and enjoyable read.

In this one, Amethystine is the lovely damsel whose husband has gone missing. She is pointed in the direction of Easy Rawlings, and enlists him to get the answers to questions she didn’t even know to ask. Easy gets to work and along the way, the usual cast make appearances in this whodunit. The dangerous Raymond ”Mouse” Alexander and the equally hazardous Fearless Jones. Though Mouse remains scarce in this one, Fearless is fully on board providing muscle and gnarly assistance. This tale takes a winding road with a few paths leading to dead-ends, but it’s all in service to the Mosley formula. Part of which is to keep the story engaging, even, especially when things seem implausible.

All this adds up to another win for Easy, and Mosley continues to keep us entertained.

I am biased, I LOVE Walter Mosely he can do no wrong.

I thoroughly enjoy following Easy through any situation Mr. Mosely decides to put him in. I've never grown more attached to a fictional character in my life. I root for Easy, and this story did no disappoint 10/10

Cant wait to hear the VA bring my favorite fictional uncle to life

Easy Rawlins, African American, thriving private detective, is on a case to find the missing husband of a woman who somehow triggers memories and feelings that will not stop. The setting is 1970s Los Angeles, an interesting time and place. A large cast of characters is introduced making it tough to differentiate the bad from the good guys . What seemed like an ordinary case is anything but as Rawlins must figure out who can be believed and trusted.

I’m a newbie to Mosley and Rawlins and found myself losing pieces of this story as it unfolded. My interest started to wane and never returned. Perhaps Farewell, Amethystine isn’t the right starting point for this well known series. What I do know is that I didn’t feel connected to the plot or characters.

My thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Publication date is June 4, 2024. If you’ve been following this series, I expect you will enjoy it more than I did.

1970 Los Angeles and Watts. As usual with his character Ezekiel “ EASY” Rawlings there are multiple shady characters who help him out and numerous “ blind alleys” which make it an interesting read. The best parts of the book involve his interactions with his family and his comments about a black man living in that era in Los Angeles. And then there is Ameysthtine “Amy “ Stoller- the beautiful black young woman who initially brings Easy into the case and for whom he develops romantic feelings. Lots of characters lots of sub-plots but I must admit I didn’t like the final chapters. Everything gets “tied up” and explained but to me it seemed rushed and inconclusive particularly so between Amy and Easy. It’s Walter Mosley so it’s good but I’ve enjoyed several of his other books more.

Another winning Easy Rawlins mystery! It's now January 1970 and Easy is hired to find a missing husband. Of course, it all goes sideways and Easy is caught in the middle of things. The usual cast of supporting characters are here and welcomed. It's interesting to read this and then an earlier title in this series to see how Easy's character has grown over the years. Readers of this series will not be disappointed with the latest title..

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced peek. I would definitely buy the hardcover copy when it is released and read it again and post more reviews.

Nobody does it better.
Walter Mosley creates complex, memorable characters.
He devises labyrinthine plots.
He has a complex, admirable moral code.
And, his novels are almost impossible to put down.
This was the first Easy Rawlins book I’ve read in a few years and I wondered why I waited so long to return to the work of this masterful writer.

An effortless read by a master. Clean, sparkling prose, memorable new and recurring characters, and a plot that glides along.

As a mystery, it's maybe only good; the twists and reveals aren't huge or surprising, and Easy has a knack for knowing someone new to solve each problem as it comes up... subsequently not really solving many problems himself.

But Mosely is a student of the world, and a poet philosopher. I could nitpick on the lack of real sense of era -- it's 1970, but the culture barely registers beyond an obligatory reference to hippies here, Vietnam there -- but his larger observations about America are, as always, funny and brutal.

What is it about writers and endings these days? The last several books I've read just seem to stop. I turn the last page expecting more and am greeted with end papers. Sure, the plot got tied up (or at least explained), in the last few pages, but then Mosley just runs out of words. Unfortunate, as the rest of the writing is quite good and Mosley fans will certainly enjoy riding along with Easy Rawlins again. (Am I the only one who can't read Easy without hearing Dental Washington in my head? Although there's certainly nothing wrong with that.). If you haven't read Easy Rawlins before, this probably isn't the one to start with, but otherwise recommended reading.

To read Walter Mosley, is to immerse oneshelf in a culture that is unique for many of us. Easy Rawlins is a wonderful character who teaches about minority life in mid-centry L.A. as he naviagates his reality. This novel does not disappoint. There is mystery, a host of unusal characters,
the on-going threat of danger for Easy, and lots of mystery. Recommended......