Preview
  • Charcoal Joe

  • An Easy Rawlins Mystery
  • By: Walter Mosley
  • Narrated by: Michael Boatman
  • Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (974 ratings)

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Charcoal Joe

By: Walter Mosley
Narrated by: Michael Boatman
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Publisher's summary

Walter Mosley’s indelible detective Easy Rawlins is back, with a new detective agency and a new mystery to solve.

Picking up where his last adventures in Rose Gold left off in L.A. in the late 1960s, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins finds his life in transition. He’s ready - finally - to propose to his girlfriend, Bonnie Shay, and start a life together. And he’s taken the money he got from the Rose Gold case and, together with two partners, Saul Lynx and Tinsford “Whisper” Natly, has started a new detective agency.

But, inevitably, a case gets in the way: Easy’s friend Mouse introduces him to Rufus Tyler, a very old man everyone calls Charcoal Joe. Joe’s friend’s son, Seymour (young, bright, top of his class in physics at Stanford), has been arrested and charged with the murder of a white man from Redondo Beach. Joe tells Easy he will pay and pay well to see this young man exonerated, but seeing as how Seymour literally was found standing over the man’s dead body at his cabin home, and considering the racially charged motives seemingly behind the murder, that might prove to be a tall order.

Between his new company, a heart that should be broken but is not, a whole raft of new bad guys on his tail, and a bad odor that surrounds Charcoal Joe, Easy has his hands full, his horizons askew, and his life in shambles around his feet.

©2016 Walter Mosley (P)2016 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

"Narrator Michael Boatman is no stranger to Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins mystery series. His comfort with the author's style and the title character's swagger make Charcoal Joe a captivating listen.... The author's wit and sarcasm are enhanced by a narration that envelops the listener in 1960s Los Angeles. Both longtime Mosley fans and new ones will take another drive or walk around the block just to listen a little longer." ( AudioFile)

Featured Article: Best Mystery Series—Listens That'll Take You Right to the Crime Scene


While a standalone mystery is great when you're in the mood for a one-and-done, sometimes you want to feed your craving with an entire mystery series—knowing there's a world and characters you can keep coming back to for the satisfaction of solving crimes. With audiobooks, you get the added bonus of sinking deeper into the setting, clues, and suspects as the story is performed for you, so you'll feel like you're alongside detectives, ready to bust a case.

What listeners say about Charcoal Joe

Average customer ratings
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Vintage Easy with an unexpected assist.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book with several prominent Black Angelinos making appearances. Easy enjoys an assist from one of the baddest of his friends not named Raymond.

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Charcoal Joe- really good, not great.

I enjoyed the story. It was a little busy as usual with so many new and old characters jammed into the storyline, but that comes with the territory.

The maturation of Easy is enjoyable. Age has brought along some wisdom and he also got some of his swagger back from the early days. I also love the fact that he and Fearless Jones finally linked up in a story. I just wish Boatman didn't narrate Fearless as if he were Gomer Pyle.

Overall, I enjoy Michael Boatman's narration overall, but he has some quirks in his style that annoy me slightly.

My one gripe is that Mouse didn't even flash that .41 caliber once. I don't see him being completely out of the game, so hopefully it shows back up in book 15.

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THE GANGS ALL HERE.

I remember some of the characters but it was hard keeping up with the cast.

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very entertaining!

i am a fan of walter mosleys so its no surprise that i loved charcoal joe. however this was my first audible novel and michael boatman was very entertaining and captured my attention every minute as he read. he changed his voice and accent as he read the charcter's lines as well as my mind could have imagined if i had been reading the book.

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Better if you have read the others in the series

It was like a trip down memory lane. Packed with old characters from his previous books, even Fearless Jones makes an appearance into the "Easy" universe.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book!

Boatman reading style was hypnotic. Easy and Fearless were a wonderful mix. Excellent. Great s. tory

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Walter Mosley does it again

Love the whole story . The consistency of characters and lifestyle are amazing . Mosley puts a voice in a certain aspect of being black and string in America that is unsurpassed .

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Love the serious!

I enjoyed how some of his other other characters were in this book. Felt like a big reunion! The story was enjoyable and like his other books, they were hard to put down. The only thing missing for me was the deep resounding passages. Seemed to me this book was liking in this great overtones Mosley is so great at.

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Easy

Another great mystery drama⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love the entire Easy Rollins series The narrator reading paints a clear picture of all the players too

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EZ strikes again!

I truly do enjoy the easy Rawlins Mysteries. Mosley is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. I also like that he's bringing characters from his other books. It is definitely worth the read.

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2 people found this helpful