Lucky Bob Moyer: He’s already read No. 17 in the Easy Rawlins mystery series. And lucky us: He’s written a review for the rest of us.
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer
GRAY DAWN. By Walter Mosley. Mulholland Books. 336 pages. $29.
They’re all here.
In this 17th episode in the life of Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, Walter Mosley has packed the pages with everybody who is anybody in the stories we have heard so far. He hasn’t brought them together just to fill up a good plot, however. Mosley always has more than a murder mystery in mind. He lets us know in a foreword exactly what he intends with this collection of well-wrought characters: “Easy’s experiences and his world have slipped far enough into the past that, it is possible, many will not understand the reason for his fictional existence. Easy and his friends exist to testify about a volatile time in black and therefore American, history.” Gray Dawn reminds us of what these people represent in 1970s California.
They are heroes, who ” …face mouths and doors that utter the words Whites Only,” who get up when beaten down, who strive and thrive in the face of adversity. There’s Fearless Jones, “urban warrior” who is always ready to be Easy’s bodyguard; Mouse, longtime friend and a criminal even criminals are afraid of, who always has Easy’s back; Paris Minton and Jackson Blue, “…IQ prodigies, both of whom can understand anything that has been written or postulated;” and Amethystine Stoller, who survives when the odds are steady against her, and ends up by Easy’s side. These are just a few of the characters who make an appearance.
The greatest hero, of course, is Easy Rawlins himself, “…a man who has learned how to open any door, either physical or conceptual.” At the top of the story, Easy has money in the bank, a house on an L.A. mountaintop, and a successful detective agency. When a roughshod client comes in to ask him to find his “aunt,” Easy doesn’t believe his story, but, surprising himself, takes the case. In a short time, his investigation leads to a house with three dead bodies and a traumatized little girl who won’t let go of his leg. Somebody wants something the woman has. That somebody attacks Easy’s home, bringing Fearless Jones into the action. Fearless leads Easy to the thug and brings about a ceasefire. Easy then finds another body, as well as the woman he’s been looking for. Her real identity is a surprise to both Easy and the reader, who has heard about but never met her in any of these pages. She has a surprise for Easy as well. While tracking down the piece of paper at the heart of this intricate plot — he needs Jackson Blue’s help to find out what it’s all about — Easy helps the first female detective in his agency with her first case, and pulls his adopted son out of a dilemma with the federal drug agency. Once again, justice is served without the help of any judge or any court, and Easy and friends all survive for another chapter.
Once again, Easy has reminded us of a history “…almost from another dimension, a place, a series of events that have not happened for the keepers of the official history of this country, this world.” Once again, Mosley has made yesterday’s story speak to us today. Both Easy fans and first-time readers will enjoy the way he does it.