Cinnamon Kiss
Walter Mosley
Little, Brown, Sep 2005, $24.95
ISBN: 0316073024

In 1968 Los Angeles, with the Watts riot over but fresh in everyone's minds, Easy Rawlins needs money to take his beloved daughter Feather to the specialized Bonatelle Clinic in Switzerland; the cost is $35,000. At the Cox Bar, his pal Mouse suggests they hold up an armored vehicle, but after almost running over a mother with babies, Easy decides that is too dangerous an approach to gaining the money, especially since he is over the edge and fears everything will go wrong, and then his daughter will have nobody.

Instead he obtains work from a white friend, private investigator Saul Lynx, who gets him a job in San Francisco with mysterious sleuth Robert E. Lee, to locate two missing persons for $10K. Though expecting treachery, as no one outside of entertainment pays a black man with cash, Easy searches for wealthy attorney Axel Bowers and his assistant lover, Cinnamon Cargill, who have vanished.

The easy Rawlins late 1960's tales, are some of the best historical suspense thrillers on the market over the past few years. CINNAMON KISS is a terrific tale, that once again showcases the lot of a black man in 1968 California, while providing a deep light on the period. Easy is fabulous, struggling to send his beloved child to Europe for treatment that is not available in L.A. If you have not read his adventures, you are missing a treat, because his escapades are enlightening and entertaining.