Entertainment, Books - Army Times

Mosley’s hero in ‘The Long Fall’ is easy to like

Fans of Walter Mosley’s intelligent, no-nonsense mysteries starring Easy Rawlins howled with dismay when the 10-book series, which began with “Devil in a Blue Dress,” ended in 2007 with “Blonde Faith.”

Mosley has just published “The Long Fall, Book 1” in a series that stars a new African-American protagonist. Fans won’t be disappointed.

Like Rawlins, McGill is an imperfect man living in an imperfect world, but he’s a fresh new character with his own personality. His story is more noir in tone.

McGill is a middle-aged criminal/detective looking for redemption, hoping to change “from crooked to only slightly bent.”

His re-invention takes a U-turn when he is hired to find four men, and they start turning up dead. He’s determined to find out who’s killing them and why someone is trying to kill him. He emerges as a man of tangible loneliness and a softening heart.

Like Rawlins, McGill is more tantalizing than the plot Mosley concocts around him. Still, “The Long Fall” is a well-written twists-and-turns story that runs up to a satisfying conclusion.