"You know what? The bastard blows me out of the water. This guy writes Maine like Ardai writes New York. If you're not reading him, you don't know what you're missing." --Chris F. Holm, author of "The Collector" series, The Killing Kind, and Red Right Hand.

"A refreshingly new voice in noir." --Ed Kurtz, author of Nothing You Can Do and The Rib From Which I Remake the World.

"A glorious boilermaker of noir and East Coast gothic. The action is taut as a sprung snare and Bagley tightens the screws with every page." -- Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase and Blood Standard.




Friday, March 6, 2009

Devil in a Blue Dress

I just re-read Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress for the first time in about ten years. Know what? It floored me all over again. The narrative voice, the characters, the stark and violent depiction of postwar L.A. that is nevertheless shot through with small moments of peace...all made for a powerful debut that still holds up. I think I'll work my way through the whole series again.

7 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

Incredible book, incredible character, incredible period detail.

Jen said...

I've been reading a lot of Mosley myself lately. It's kind of ruined me for poorly written crime fic. I just can't go back...

Unknown said...

Mosley is one of the few writer's who can actually write period noir,(the other three are Abbott, Ellroy, and McDonald.) which so many folks attempt and fail. What do you think of him going contemporary with his new book/series?
BTW Mosley here in Phoenix at the end of the month.

Patrick Shawn Bagley said...

Haven't read his new book. I've mostly stuck to the Easy Rawlins series, though I did like ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED ALWAYS OUTGUNNED and RL'S DREAM.

Paul D Brazill said...

It's a wonderful book. An ex girlfriend met him at the Jazz cafe in London in the 90's. he was doing a reading with a three piece band. She said he was 'dead charming'.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's an excellent book. If you haven't checked it out, consider reading his This Year You Write Your Novel. I was kind of hesitant, as I've never had a problem putting words on paper and based on the title and the cover copy it struck me as a book for folks who keep telling themselves they'll write some day, but in the end there's a lot of good stuff in it.

Patrick Shawn Bagley said...

I've heard others praising Mosley's craft book, too. I could write a craft book: HOW TO SPEND FIVE YEARS AGONIZING OVER YOUR FIRST DRAFT. Watch that sucker fly off the shelves.