In the following essay, Crooks examines the crime fiction of Mosley and Chester Himes, applying ideas about the American frontier myth to each author's representations of race.

In the following essay, Smith discusses Blue Light in terms of the intersection of transcendental thought and the African American experience, arguing that Blue Light's lukewarm critical reception was a result of reviewers not recognizing the work as “a novel of ideas.”

In the following essay, Lock asserts that Mosley draws upon the literary genre of hard-boiled detective fiction to express issues particular to the contemporary urban African American experience.

In the following interview, Mosley and McCullough discuss the character Easy Rawlins and the author's development from his first novel through his expansion into writing outside the Rawlins series.

In the following essay, Ulin offers a positive assessment of Bad Boy Brawly Brown and discusses how Mosley's Easy Rawlins series recreates the landscape and social climate of mid-twentieth-century Los Angeles.

In the following excerpt, Lyall reviews Mosley's life and career through the publication of Black Betty.

Ulin is a nonfiction writer, poet, and critic. In the following review, he praises Mosley for taking a break from the Easy Rawlins series and finds much to admire in RL's Dream, but deems the novel flawed because of its false premise about blues music.

In the following essay, Lomax describes Mosley as possessing a "special talent for altering time and place with words and ideas" which "ripples across every page of his novels."

Giddins is an American critic and biographer. In the following review of RL's Dream, he applauds Mosley's "superb reportorial eye" and notes that "several episodes are as well tuned as anything he has written," but finds the book flawed by occasional lapses into sentimentality and burdened by excessive profundities from the main character.

In the following interview, Mosley discusses hosting the National Book Awards, the inspirations behind The Man in My Basement, and the perils of being a “literary writer who writes in genre.”

In the following review, Curwen praises Mosley's narrative skill in Fear Itself, asserting that the novel fits well into the “larger canvas of Los Angeles that [Mosley's been painting for some 13 years.”]

In the following review, Nolan lauds Fearless Jones as “thrilling and terrifically entertaining,” commending Mosley for creating such charismatic dual protagonists.

Gaines is an American novelist whose works include A Lesson before Dying and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. In the following review of Black Betty, he detects a weariness in the aging Easy Rawlins that could lead the detective to abandon his trade and implores Mosley to contime the series.

In the following essay, Tate highlights the elements of Mosley's writing that elevate it from simple mystery fiction to a more profound examination of racial and interpersonal issues.

Adler is an American author and critic. In the following review, Adler finds "some prime observations about racism, as true to today's times as they are to [Mosley's period" in White Butterfly.]

Gifford is a novelist and critic. In the following review, he observes that with his fourth Easy Rawlins novel, Black Betty, Mosley "beats hell out of most of today's contenders for consideration as the top-ranking writer in the mystery division."

Woods is an editor, short story writer, and critic. In the following review, she sees connections between RL's Dream and the Easy Rawlins novels but deems it able to stand on its own, concluding that the book is "without doubt the author's finest achievement to date."

In the following review, Alexander compares Workin' on the Chain Gang: Shaking Off the Dead Hand of History with David J. Dent's In Search of Black America, arguing that Mosley's work has a more “courageous” and refined thematic focus.

Taylor-Guthrie is an educator and editor of Conversations with Toni Morrison. In the following review, she asserts that in RL's Dream Mosley "has succeeded in making the reader understand the emotional and intellectual reality of the blues life."

In the following review of A Little Yellow Dog, Adler asserts that the strength of Mosley's Easy Rawlins novels lies in their depiction of the African American community in post-World War II Los Angeles.

In the following review, Lochte comments that Gone Fishin' lacks many of the strengths of the previous novels in Mosley's Easy Rawlins series.

In the following review, Stewart comments that Mosley's experiment with speculative fiction in Blue Light will be a disappointment for readers who enjoy Mosley's crime novels.

In the following review, Nolan judges the ending of White Butterfly disappointing, but believes readers will finish the book with "a real desire to learn what will happen next to Easy Rawlins."

In the following review, Marcus offers a mixed assessment of The Man in My Basement, faulting the novel for lacking the “colloquial zing” of Mosley's Easy Rawlins mysteries.

Corrigan is a commentator and teacher of detective fiction writing. In the following excerpt, she discusses the perpetual negativity in the lives of fictional detectives and finds White Butterfly charged with "excitement, social commentary, and clever, syncopated dialogue" but nevertheless "sad as hell."

Lester is a novelist whose And All Our Wounds Forgiven was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In the following review, he criticizes Mosley for using "a story line that is manufactured, rather than proceeding logically from the lives of its characters" in RL's Dream as well as the Easy Rawlins novels.

Levine is an American journalist and author of the "Jake Lassiter" series of novels. In the following review of Black Betty, he compares Mosley's Easy Rawlins to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and praises Mosley's powers of description, asserting that he "captures a time and place with dead-on perfect detail and evocative language."

Hall is the author of the "Stanley Hastings" mysteries. In the following review, he labels White Butterfly "standard stuff, to be sure…. But what elevates it is the character [of Easy Rawlins."]

In the following review, Taylor characterizes Blue Light as a transitional novel, noting that “the spectacle of the writer trying to work out what he wants to write about can be glimpsed from one sinewy sentence to the next.”

In the following excerpt, Mitgang praises the second Easy Rawlins novel, A Red Death, noting that Mosley "has depicted a special locale and a corner-cutting way of life that most readers will find far more riveting than the crime pages of their newspapers."

In the following review, Upson compares Walkin' the Dog with Ernest J. Gaines's A Gathering of Old Men, commenting that both works explore “the point at which a stand against brutality and corruption becomes necessary.”

In the following review, Phillips argues that Blue Light is ultimately an unsuccessful attempt by Mosley to break away from the expectations readers have developed of him as an African American crime writer.

In the following review of R. L.'s Dream, Stuart praises Mosley for his clearly drawn characters and his lyrical prose which resembles the rhythms of blues music.

In the following review of Black Betty, Jones discusses the ironies that drive Mosley's writing.

In the following review, Simmons applauds Mosley's depictions of unity within the African American family in What Next: A Memoir toward World Peace.

In the following interview, Mosley discusses his protagonists, his decision to publish Gone Fishin' with Black Classic Press, and the comparisons between Fearless Jones and his Easy Rawlins series.

Pelecanos is an American fiction writer. In the following review, he notes that in White Butterfly, Easy Rawlins faces more danger from his "psychological demons" than from the numerous hazards of his trade.

In the following review, Jones finds that Mosley compensates for occasionally stiff prose and an overly complicated plot with his keen eye for detail, his "lowdown humor," and his development of the character of Easy Rawlins.

In the following excerpt, Mitgang determines that Mosley has grown "deeper and richer" with White Butterfly, noting that the author emulates the masters of the detective-fiction genre but "continues to reveal the inside of the black-and-white encounter in his own voice."

Champlin is an American author, columnist, and critic. In the following excerpt, he remarks that A Red Death shows the success of Mosley's first book "was no accident. The new novel may be even better in its complexity and range."

In the following review, the critic commends Mosley's accomplishment with The Man in My Basement, asserting that Mosley “again demonstrates his superior ability to tackle virtually any prose form.”

In the following review, Ott contends that Mosley's placement of Easy Rawlins in true historical context is the primary reason for the success of the series.

In the following review, the critic describes the plot of A Little Yellow Dog as "only average for this celebrated series," but praises the author's ability to convey the tenuousness of his characters' lives.

In the following review, the critic praises the title character of Fearless Jones as a “riveting new creation.”

In the following review, the critic argues that the partnership between Paris Minton and Fearless Jones in Fear Itself should appeal to fans of Mosley's previous crime-fighting duo, Easy Rawlins and Mouse Alexander.

In the following excerpt, Williams deems White Butterfly an "altogether harsher, more serious piece of work" than its predecessors.