Black Betty Audiobook By Walter Mosley cover art

Black Betty

An Easy Rawlins Mystery

Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends January 21, 2026 11:59pm PT
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible Premium Plus.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Black Betty

By: Walter Mosley
Narrated by: Michael Boatman
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends January 21, 2026 11:59pm PT.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.95

Buy for $21.95

LIMITED TIME OFFER | Get 3 months for $0.99 a month

$14.95/mo thereafter-terms apply.
Detective Easy Rawlins returns in a mystery set in 1961 Los Angeles as Easy accepts a job searching for a beautiful woman nicknamed Black Betty who works as a housekeeper in Beverly Hills.Hear more of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins mysteries.©2002 Walter Mosley (P)2009 Audible, Inc. African American Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Hard-Boiled Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism Mystery Noir Crime Suspense

Critic reviews

"Mosley's distinctive black investigator, Easy Rawlins, has moved from Watts to West L.A. with his two adopted children, but trouble still follows him. Hired to locate a sultry female acquaintance from his early days in Houston, Easy searches for her gambler brother and questions her Beverly Hills employer, unwittingly provoking racist police harassment. Meanwhile, friend Raymond ("Mouse") has been released from prison and vows revenge on the snitch who put him there. Mosley, as usual, describes a historically correct ethos in deft, literate prose." ( Library Journal)

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.

Intricate Plot • Complex Narrative • Brilliant Performance • Vivid Historical Setting • Emotional Depth

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
Mr. Mosley is in my Top 10 authors of all times. None of his books are bad.

Great book! Love the narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Black Betty in its own way is one of the best of the "Easy Rawlings" stories that I have read so far! Keeping its mix of late fifties and early sixties insight into the makeup of African American Culture "Black Betty" keeps you on the move and ends up surprising you in the end. I am starting to believe that there is only one sure thing with Easy Rawlins and that is that "Mouse" got to kill somebody!! Michael Boatman is again masterful in his presentation!

Easy Evolves!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great book. The author takes you on a journey and you connect the dots together.

Black Betty

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Ever wonder what it was like in post-war Los Angeles in the Black neighborhoods? Walter Mosley brings it to life in his Easy Rawlins series. Historical fiction, social commentary and hard-boiled detective fiction, these books invented a vivid new genre.

Mosley does it again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I liked the few Easy Rawlins' audiobooks I have purchased including Black Betty especially after the defect in the audio was fixed.

A good listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews