A Little Yellow Dog is fifth in a series of Easy Rawlins mysteries which are set in South Central Los Angeles and its environs at progressive periods of real historical time. Themes typically center on racism, poverty, urban blight, police brutality, and overall survival of the human spirit in tough times and prejudicial circumstances. Devil in a Blue Dress (1990; see separate entry) introduces Easy as an unemployed aircraft worker in 1948 Watts. Easy takes money from a white gangster seeking to find a blond woman who frequents the African-American clubs. The search leads Easy into a dark world of murder, child abuse, and political corruption. He emerges with a small boy to raise, a windfall of stolen money, and a business as unofficial crime-solver in the African-American community.

A Red Death (1991; see separate entry), set in 1953, involves Easy in the McCarthy era fears. Easy owns properties as...