LT counts this as # 4 of the works in the narrative voice of Easy Rawlins. LT catalogues novels in the mystery genre, and some shorter novellas as works; it depends on the writer and the cataloguing volunteer.
This novel was published in 1994. It was set in 1961 in Los Angeles.
I read the 2002 paperback edition published by Washingon Square, which published the all first 6 novels, each with a short story. LT counts the Washington Square publication as work #4+ in Easy Rawlins series. The 6 stories publishd this way were catalogued a work, when Washington Square assembled the 6 short stories, and one further story, all set in 1960s, Six Easy Pieces(2003), which LT counts as work # 8 in the Easy Rawlins series. ( )

Hard hitting and mostly unforgiving, Moseley has Easy Rawlins hunting for a woman from his past in early 1960's LA. The racism is jarring and the life violent but ER navigates his world and mostly keeping his sense of honor. I thought of Chandler and Phillip Marlowe. Not as clean writing and a different LA and man but a worthy comparison. The only critique is that I sometimes had a hard time keeping up w who was who in this one. Look forward to the next ER mystery. ( )

Black Betty finds Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins, down on his finances and renting a house in a neighborhood away from those who know him. He can not escape his origins, though, and a photograph of a beautiful woman he knew when a boy in Houston and two hundred dollars in the hands of Saul Lynx, who is working for a man looking for Elizabeth Eady, Black Betty set him out on a chase. Rawlins' chases usually end in some kind of violence and often death; this one is no exception. Easy nearly kills a white store owner in the desert who thinks he is in danger of being robbed by a black man then finds blood and a single molar of Betty's half brother, Marlon. The search for Betty leads to a white family filled with fear and hate. In the course of the events of the novel, Easy is stabbed in the back with an ice pick. The trauma of removing the pick from Easy's back restores Jesus (Juice) ability to talk. That plus Easy's ability to help a dying friend Martin Smith and his friend Mouse at the same moment, gives Easy a little relief from all the earlier mayhem.

Whoa, Black Betty, bam-a-lam. ( )