Book reviews

White Butterfly
Walter Mosley Book Review

Read a book review online (click here to search reviews)
Books Movies  
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mystery/Thriller Literature Romance Biography Video
Walter Mosley Books
New book search
Walter Mosley Message Board
Get more information about this book
Plot Summary of White Butterfly
"Three black party girls have been tortured and murdered, but no one seems to care until a white girl is also murdered. Then the police ask Easy Rawlins for help. They feel he would be more likely to get cooperation in the ghetto than they would.
   Easy refuses at first, but changes his mind when they threaten to start arresting people if he doesn't help. He discovers that one of the black women was last seen with a crazy black man from Oakland, and he thinks that he has his man. With his sidekick, Mouse he pursues the killer, but then he begins to suspect that the white girl may not have been killed by the same man.
   He discovers that despite the fact that she came from a 'good' family, she was living like a tramp and also that she was pregnant. Although the police are not interested, Rawlins continues to pursue the matter to find out what really happened to the girl.

"

Jack Goodstein, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of White Butterfly
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40%
Special suspect? - relative
Murder of certain profession? - prostitutes/stripper/porn
Misc. Murder Plotlets - character killed during/after sexing - "All in the family" murder - Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - minority/women/homosexual issues
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - Black
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
The antagonists are: - government bureaucracy
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California
Misc setting - prison

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
How many deaths? - 3-4
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - descript. of breasts - rape (yeech!)
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to White Butterfly
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
March Violets by Philip Kerr
Beaulah Hill by William Heffernan
The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr
The Mask of Time by Marius Gabriel


Click here for more information about this book


Walter Mosley Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Jack Goodstein  

SCHOLARS:
Bobby Blades  Marianna  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Three ways to search for Thriller/Action books!

1) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot or subplot below!

Big vehicle disaster?

Crime Thriller

Disaster, natural or nuclear

Exploring into the wild

Horror Story?

Legal Thriller

Medical Thriller

Religious overtones?

Spying/Terrorism Thriller

War Thriller

Water adventure

Western



or 2) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
3) Even more search options available with a Detailed Booksearch (click here)

Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Feedback


Most recent discussions:

General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
George W. Bush 12:16:44 AM
Norah Lofts 12:50:53 AM
Suzanne Weyn 4:47:34 PM
Wilma Counts 1:23:32 PM
Kin Platt 12:58:29 AM
Anonymous 12:47:34 PM
Lilian Jackson Braun 10:05:52 PM
Jane Rubino 10:04:38 PM
LaVyrle Spencer 10:04:00 PM
G.A. McKevett 10:03:31 PM
David Williams 10:03:01 PM
Steven Pressfield 10:02:30 PM
Jeanette Walls 10:00:19 PM
Darryl Ponicsan 9:59:27 PM
Ann Rinaldi 9:58:30 PM
R.L. Stine 9:57:34 PM
Geoffrey Huntington 9:57:14 PM
Betty Mahmoody 9:56:38 PM
Deric Longden 9:56:11 PM
Mary Downing Hahn 9:55:48 PM

More message boards