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.

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I had to read this book for a class. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I would have stumbled upon it, instead of knowing the professors agenda that was being imposed on the subject matter.

Set in 1961 in Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins, a former private investigator who specializes in finding people that need to be found in the black community, is hired on to find an old acquaintance of his, Black Betty. Easy isn’t the only one who is looking for her. Betty was working as a house keeper for a wealthy family, whose patriarch was murdered—the same man who has fathered her children. As Easy is investigating, Betty’s family members start dying as he unveils a conspiracy involving the police.

There really wasn’t much that I liked about this novel. For one thing, the story and mystery were a convoluted mess. Also, I realize that being black in 1961 Los Angeles must have sucked with the racial inequality that existed, but the way the author handled it was like smashing the reader over the head with a sledgehammer. Every few pages, it was being brought up and after a while, I felt like saying, “I get it already.” Finally, any scene involving Easy’s children was so syrupy that it was tough to read. In the end, I didn’t particularly enjoy this novel and I would recommend skipping it.

Carl Alves – author of Conjesero ( )

I was going to read all Easy Rawlins novels from scratch. This is my fourth book, and it will be the last. It seems like it's going downhill. This book is weak, incoherent, uninteresting. I made a big effort to get to the end, which didn't captivate me neither. ( )

Easy looks for missing maid