A Little Yellow Dog

An Easy Rawlins Mystery

By: Walter Mosley

Narrated by: Howard Weinberger

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

It's 1963. Easy Rawlins has given up the street life and is now the supervising custodian of Sojourner Truth High School in Watts. He gets up early and goes off to work. He wears nice clothes and puts all his energy and love into his job and his adopted children. He likes his new life.

But his life changes when Easy comes in early one morning to find one of the teachers already in her classroom. She has her dog with her, and a story about a husband gone mad. Before Easy knows what's happening, the teacher is in his arms. Before the day is over the teacher is gone, leaving Easy with her dog - and a corpse in the school garden.

Easy may have left the streets, but he hasn't been forgotten. The police believe that Easy is involved in the murders. Old enemies are waiting to get even. The principal of the school wants to fire him. His old friends aren't the same, and his new friends might mean his death. A murderer is running lose somewhere. And a little yellow dog plots revenge.

Hear more of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins mysteries. And Listen to a conversation with Walter Mosley.

©1996 Walter Mosley (P)2002 Audio Renaissance, a Division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"The best book yet in this fine series. Easy Rawlins [is] one of the most distinctive voices in crime fiction." (The Seattle Times)
"A well energized and crafty novel." (The New York Times Book Review)

Brilliant as Usual!

With "LYD" Walter Mosley is as brilliant as usual. Do yourself a favor and listen to this book. Then, buy the hardcover and put it on your coffee table for guests to enjoy. Even reading/listening to a few chapters is entertaining.
If you haven't already done so, be sure to listen to Mosley's "Fearless" series. There again are very good stories that will keep your ears wide open.

Missing Michael

Another great read from Mosley! I am so upset with myself for just discovering Easy, Mouse, EttraMae and this awesome series. I have to admit that I’m not crazy about him raising these other kids and not his own, that’s very sad and upsetting. Not Mouse?! The narrator did not do a good job at all. I gave him two stars because at least he’s Black. I’ve read Black detectives narrated by white actors and it was just awful! However, I really really missed Michael Boatman and he won’t be back until Book 9. It’s a little tough to get through the audios without him but I’m on to the next one!

Poor Little Dog is more like it

Yes, I would recommend the book but not this version of the audio. Unlike prior recordings, the narrator is just not believable. After listening to Michael Boatman for several recordings it was hard to listen to a new Easy Rawlins. I almost did not finish the book because of the disconnected rendition. His character voices are subpar and there are random musical interludes right in the middle of the narrative. The story is a good one, not Walter Mosley's best, but at least interesting. We lose an important character in this book and I am curious about how Mosley accounts for this loss in subsequent titles.

enjoyed the story, lackluster performance

maybe I was expecting the same level of narration as received in the preceding books in this easy rawlins mysteries series. this one fell flat on the performance for me. plus the music placement was awkward

Four stars for the book, two for the reader :(

My first experience of this author and series I have heard so much about. The writing is, as "advertised", wonderful. Being a native Angelino I love hearing even the names of the streets evoked. That is why hearing them mispronounced - again and again - is really hard on the ears, esp. since "Easy" is supposed to be such a cool cat and an Angelino himself. (It's "La Ci-en-e-ga", not "La Ceenega") Sorry, but the narrator's voice itself is fine and deep and textured but, as some of these reviews point out, he sometimes reads like he's just learning how. It's weird. I almost had to ignore the reading to stay focused on the words. That's too much work for something you should get lost in. But those words! Mercy. I bought this book on a $9.98 sale and it was definitely worth it. The narrator is not sooooo bad that it ruins the experience; he's just awkward and I am cranky about details; and it is an awfully good book. I'm definitely in for every one of this series. I haven't even finished this one and I'm writing the review! If you're waffling, I'd say get it, but get others first if this one costs 30 bucks or whatever. Know what I mean?

Horrible Narrator

A poor narrator can ruin the story, and in this case Howard Weinberger ruined this book for me. He used one voice for every single character, so often I had to go back to figure out which character said which line. He did not bother to review words that he was not familiar with and stumbled over several words that were important. He actually pronounced the name Ortiz as Or-Tiz. I always assumed that when a recording is done of a book, the producers or whomever will make sure that it's done correctly and will make the purchaser feel like they received value for their purchase. An 11 year old would have done a better job at narrating this book.

Another good read

I love the way Walter Mosley waxes philosophical with his Easy Rawlins character. Easy has such a command on his world even in the confusion that is his life I really like his stories

Entertaining, captivating

I Really like the Easy Rawlins series. Unfortunately, I got lost several times during the story due to the monotoned narration.

I could have done a better job.

I like all of the Easy Rawlins Mystery books, and this one is not an exception. The issue I had with this book was Howard Weinberger. He was terrible! After listening to Micheal Boatman and all the characters he created in the ohter books, this was a terrible disappointment. I appreciate that it was not the book, but the reader that was the downfall of this title. I advise all to just skip this title on audio and pick up the book for yourself.

Buy the book instead

The book is great, but the narrator is awful. As noted in other reviews, it often seems that he's reading the book for the first time, and he stumbles over words, or uses the wrong inflection. There are occasional awkward pauses before the last few words of a sentence are spoken, almost as if the narrator was turning the page. I finally stopped listening and got the book instead.