White Butterfly displays the mastery of realism and characterization that marks the Easy Rawlins series, which follows and uniquely develops the hard-boiled detective tradition. Mosley is attentive to details of ethnic food, clothing, popular culture — even to the point of photos of 1956 stars Little Richard and Elvis Presley tacked to a wall — that accurately convey locale and historical context. The choice of a historical rather than a contemporary setting is a device that subtly enhances the moral message of evil in racism by drawing the reader into a somewhat more objective view. The dialogue is rich, snappy, and ranges from "white man's English" to the rhythmic dialect of Watts.

The immediacy of themes and situations is aided by the use of first-person narration. Besides narrator Easy Rawlins, Mosley provides a wide range of alienated and racist characters, including abused children, helpless wives, exotic dancers, barflies, crooked...