Farewell, Amethystine: An Easy Rawlins Mystery

Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins tackles a multilayered missing persons case in the wistful 16th installment of Mosley’s bestselling series (after Blood Grove). When Amethystine Stoller walks into Easy’s L.A. office looking for her ex-husband, Curt—a forensic accountant who got mixed up with mobsters running a crooked casino—Easy agrees to help track him down. The case unsettles the PI, stirring up feelings he initially dismisses as a powerful desire for Amethystine. Before long, however, he’s plunged into a labyrinth of memories about lost loves and his rough Houston childhood. Eventually, Curt turns up dead, and Easy reaches out to his only ally on the LAPD, Melvin Suggs, for help. Melvin is on the run from corrupt senior officers on the force, and the more Easy hears about his friend’s plight, the more he wonders if it’s connected to the same mob operations that got Curt killed. As in previous entries, the twists and turns of the investigation take a back seat to Easy’s emotional journey, and Mosley sheds keen light on the difficulties of navigating life in America as a Black man. This far into the series, though, Easy’s all-but-guaranteed investigative success drains the narrative of some of its dramatic tension. Still, Mosley’s fans will enjoy themselves. Agent: Gloria Loomis, Watkins/Loomis Agency. (June)