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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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BLOOD GROVE

Walter Mosley

In BLOOD GROVE, Mosley's infamous detective Easy Rawlins is back, with a new mystery to solve on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California.
Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los Angeles.

But when Easy is approached by a shell-shocked Vietnam War veteran- a young white man who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a white woman from a black man- he knows he shouldn't take the case.

Though he sees nothing but trouble in the brooding ex-soldier's eyes, Easy, a vet himself, feels a kinship form between them. Easy embarks on an investigation that takes him from mountaintops to the desert, through South Central and into sex clubs and the homes of the fabulously wealthy, facing hippies, the mob, and old friends perhaps more dangerous than anyone else.

Set against the social and political upheaval of the late 1960s, BLOOD GROVE is ultimately a story about survival, not only of the body but also the soul.

Widely hailed as "incomparable" (Chicago Tribune) and "dazzling" (Tampa Bay Times), Walter Mosley proves that he's at the top of his game in this bold return to the endlessly entertaining series that has kept fans on their toes for years.

Walter Mosley is one of America's most celebrated and beloved writers. A Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, he has won numerous awards, including the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA's Lifetime Achievement Award, and several NAACP Image Awards. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. His short fiction has appeared in a wide array of publications, including The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, Los Angeles Times Magazine, and Playboy, and his nonfiction has been published in The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and The Nation. He is the author of Down the River unto the Sea and Trouble Is What I Do, among other novels. He lives in New York City.
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Published 2021-02-02 by Mulholland Books

Comments

In the 15th outing for his iconic private detective, Easy Rawlins, Mosley once again chronicles a part of America rendered invisible - and overpowered - by whiteness. The book is set in 1969, with Rawlins on the verge of 50, still struggling with professional and romantic and familial conflicts in a Los Angeles about to be beset by the berserk. Read more...

From his first appearance in 1990's 'Devil in a Blue Dress,' Detective Easy Rawlins turned the Black presence in crime fiction on its ear. And while his creator, Walter Mosley, went on to write more than 50 books across numerous genres, Rawlins is the greatest contributor to Los Angeles' literary culture and its native son's repute. Read more...

Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television has just closed a deal to develop and produce a television series adapted from the Easy Rawlins series. Mosley will executive produce with Amblin Television co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey ("The Americans, "Haunting of Bly Manor"), Mosley's producing partner Diane Houslin for their company B.O.B FilmHouse, Inc., and "Resident Evil" producer Jeremy Bolt of JB Pictures. Read more...

Like his influences Hammett, Chandler and Himes, Mosley wants readers to be immersed in the chaos of evil. The ability to simultaneously keep us readers in confusion and in thrall marks Mosley - winner of the National Book Foundation's 2020 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters - as a mystery master... The central mystery in "Blood Grove" - as in all the Easy Rawlins books - is as much about the brazen contradictions of American society as it is about what happened in that orange grove one night. But that mystery turns out to be pretty gripping too. Read more...

Walter Mosley will soon receive the prestigious National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, presented by Edwidge Danticat. "Mosley is a master of craft and narrative, and through his incredibly vibrant and diverse body of work, our literary heritage has truly been enriched," said David Steinberger, chair of the NBA board of directors, in the release. "From mysteries to literary fiction to nonfiction, Mosley's talent and memorable characters have captivated readers everywhere, and the Foundation is proud to honor such an illustrious voice whose work will be enjoyed for years to come."

UK: Orion ; Spain: RBA

Mosley's authorial superpower remains his razor-sharp perception. Through Rawlins, who operates from his corner of Los Angeles, Mosley speaks to the nation's current ills, to the effect that Blood Grove feels more like Rawlins seeing into the future than Mosley writing about the past... This novel is more than a simple mystery meant for entertainment; it and its serial predecessors advocate for the Black hero in literature and in life... Read more...

Mosley's long-running Easy Rawlins series only grows in power and relevance when seen through the lens of America's most recent struggles with racism... Mosley's inimitable rat-a-tat prose style is in full force here, and he keeps his passionate commitment to social issues right up front. A worthy addition to a nonpareil series. Read more...

Walter Mosley's Los Angeles detective, Easy Rawlins, has always invited comparisons to the original hard-boiled Southern California gumshoe, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe - but never more so than in 'Blood Grove,' Mosley's 15th and latest installment in his series... Both Chandler and Mosley amply reward readers with the beauty of their prose and with the world views of their iconic heroes, men of honor struggling to do right in an unjust world. For Marlowe, that meant trying to earn an honest living and stay alive in the corrupt, cultural wasteland of late 1930s to 1950s Los Angeles. For Easy Rawlins, it has meant trying to do the same with the added complication of being a Back man in race-torn, post-World War II Los Angeles. Read more...