Devil in a Blue Dress (Google Books ⧉, Amazon ⧉, Bookshop ⧉)

by Walter Mosley

Contributed by NobleBibliophile506

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She could’a looked you up in the phone book. I ain’t in the book, Joppy.

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Places Referenced

Los Angeles, California
"The town is Los Angeles."
Italy, Europe
"I had spent five years with white men, and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself."
Paris, France
"I had spent five years with white men, and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself."
Germany, Europe
"I had spent five years with white men, and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself."
103rd Street, Los Angeles, California, United States
"JOPPY’S WINDOWS WERE SO DINGY that you couldn’t see out onto 103rd Street."
Georgia, United States
"“I used to be a lawyer when I lived in Georgia. But now I’m just another fella who does favors for friends, and for friends of friends.”"
Houston, Texas
"His uncle, a bar owner himself, had died in Houston ten years earlier, just when Joppy decided to give up the ring."
Houston, Texas
"You remember, he was a little man lived down in Houston. He married EttaMae Harris."
Texas, United States
"I had to squint so that the room wouldn’t start spinning. It was a habit I developed in Texas when I was a boy."
Alvarado, Los Angeles, California
"THE ADDRESS ALBRIGHT HAD GIVEN ME was a small, buff-colored building on Alvarado. The buildings around it were taller but not as old or as distinguished."
Eighty-ninth and Central, Los Angeles, California
"Joppy tells me that you used to frequent an illegal club down on Eighty-ninth and Central. Somebody saw Daphne at that very same bar not long ago."
Georgia, United States
"One story he told was about when he was a lawyer in Georgia. 'I was defending a shit-kicker who was charged with burning down a banker’s house,' DeWitt told me as he stared out toward the wall behind my head."
Central Avenue and Eighty-ninth Place, Los Angeles, California
"John kept paying off the police and running an illegal nightclub through the back door of a little market at the corner of Central Avenue and Eighty-ninth Place."
Los Angeles, California
"But by 1948 we had legitimate bars all over L.A."
Houston, Texas
"I had been hearing Lips and Willie and Flattop since I was a boy in Houston."
Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas
"I hadn't seen Mouse in four years when we ran into each other one night, outside of Myrtle's saloon, in Houston’s Fifth Ward."
California, United States
"California was like heaven for the Southern Negro. People told stories of how you could eat fruit right off the trees and get enough work to retire one day."
Nevada, United States
"He hijacked liquor trucks and cigarette shipments all over California, and Nevada too."
116th Street, Los Angeles, California
"WHEN I FINALLY MADE IT back to my house, on 116th Street, it was another beautiful California day."
San Bernardino Mountains, California
"Big white clouds sailed eastward toward the San Bernadino mountain range. There were still traces of snow on the peaks and there was the lingering scent of burning trash in the air."
Africa
"I had spent five years with white men, and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself."
Panama City, Panama
"…he wore an off‐white linen suit and shirt with a Panama straw hat and bone shoes over flashing white silk socks."
Watts, Los Angeles, California
"The card had his name printed on it in flourished letters. Below that was the address he’d scribbled. It was a downtown address; a long drive from Watts."
Houston, Texas
"It was postmarked from Houston and the name over the address read “Mr. Ezekiel Rawlins.”"
Los Angeles, California
"I ran away from Mouse and Texas to go to the army and then later to L.A."
Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas
"No matter where you live in a Southern city (even a wild and violent place like Fifth Ward, Houston) you see almost everybody you know by just looking out your window."
Galveston, Texas
"In Houston and Galveston, and way down in Louisiana, life was a little more aimless."
Louisiana, United States
"In Houston and Galveston, and way down in Louisiana, life was a little more aimless."
Los Angeles, California
"There was still a large strech of farmland between Los Angeles and Santa Monica in those days."
Santa Monica, California
"I was unhappy about going to meet Mr. Albright because I wasn’t used to going into white communities, like Santa Monica, to conduct business."
Des Moines, Iowa
"I come from Des Moines, in Iowa. They don’t have anything like the ocean back there."
Texas, United States
"Are you from L.A? No. Texas."
Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California
"I thought about the crowded bar down on Figueroa."
Santa Monica, California
"OUR TEAM WORKED in a large hangar on the south side of the Santa Monica plant."
Compton, California
"Maybe she’s with her auntie out in Compton."
Reno, Nevada
"She could be in Reno."
Seventy‐seventh Street station, Los Angeles, California
"They drove me to the Seventy‐seventh Street station and carried me in the front door."
John's, Los Angeles, California
"“Down at a friend’s on Eighty‐nine.” … “Would that be an illegal nightclub called John’s?”"
Houston, Texas
"Maybe you should come on down t’Houston or maybe even Galveston where they don’t know you too good."
Galveston, Texas
"Maybe you should come on down t’Houston or maybe even Galveston where they don’t know you too good."
Houston, Texas
"I dreamed about casting for catfish down south of Houston when I was just a boy. There were giant catfish in the Gatlin River. My mother told me that some of them were so big that the alligators left them alone."
Los Angeles, California
"AT FOUR IN THE MORNING the neighborhoods of Los Angeles are asleep."
Dinker Street, Los Angeles
"On Dinker Street there wasn’t even a dog out prowling the trash."
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
"I DROVE ACROSS TOWN to La Brea then straight north to Hollywood."
California, United States
"I should have taken Odell’s advice right then and left California for good."
Paris, France
"Her dress was the simple blue kind that the French girls wore when I was a GI in Paris."
Africa
"I had gone through Africa and Italy in the statistics unit."
Italy, Europe
"I had gone through Africa and Italy in the statistics unit."
Rome, Italy
"when a load of white soldiers came in, fresh from battle outside Rome."
Normandy, France
"So I volunteered for the invasion of Normandy and then later I signed on with Patton at the Battle of the Bulge."
Battle of the Bulge, Belgium
"then later I signed on with Patton at the Battle of the Bulge."
Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California
"Then she had me drive up in the Hollywood Hills to a dude’s house."
North Africa, Africa
"flies that I’d seen swarming on our boys’ corpses in North Africa, in Oran."
Oran, Algeria
"flies that I’d seen swarming on our boys’ corpses in North Africa, in Oran."
Claxton Street, Houston, Texas
"I asked her for Mrs. E. Alexander on Claxton Street in Houston’s Fifth Ward."
Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas
"I asked her for Mrs. E. Alexander on Claxton Street in Houston’s Fifth Ward."
Los Angeles, California
"I’m in L.A., Etta."
La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
"In the lower right-hand corner there was an address on La Cienega Boulevard."
Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California
"I drove across town again to a small office building just below Melrose, on La Cienega."
Angus Steak House, Los Angeles, California
"Through the window was a view of one of those fancy restaurants, the Angus Steak House."
Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
"The great brocade curtains behind the desk were open to a view of the mountains behind Sunset Boulevard."
Laurel Canyon Road, Los Angeles, California
"Did he live on Laurel Canyon Road? Yeah."
New Orleans, Louisiana
"He told me that she was from New Orleans and that her family was an old French family that traced their heritage to Napoleon."
Isabella Street, Los Angeles
"THERE WAS A BIG HOUSE on Isabella Street, at the end of a cul-de-sac. That was Vernie’s place. Lots of workingmen would drop by there now and then, to visit one of Vernie’s girls."
Forty-ninth and McKinley, Los Angeles, California
"ZEPPO COULD ALWAYS BE FOUND on the corner of Forty-ninth and McKinley. He was half Negro, half Italian, and palsied."
Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
"I pulled onto Sunset Boulevard and turned left, toward the band of fiery orange light on the eastern horizon."
Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California, United States
"You know where the merry-go-round is down at Santa Monica pier?"
Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California
"The streets were especially dark and empty. Central Avenue was like a giant black alley and I felt like a small rat, hugging the corners and looking out for cats."
La Brea, Los Angeles, California
"I DROVE ACROSS TOWN to La Brea then straight north to Hollywood."
Laurel Canyon Road, Los Angeles, California
"“Where you say your friend lives?” “On a street above Hollywood, Laurel Canyon Road.”"
Merriweather Lane, Los Angeles, California
"We turned down the first corner we came to and then down an alley, half a block away. He didn’t find us, but as we were walking down Merriweather Lane someone shouted, “Blue!”"
Central, Los Angeles, California
"WHEN WE GOT TO MY CAR I drove down Central to Seventy-sixth Place. I was nervous being so close to the police station but I had to find Frank Green."
Auschwitz, Poland
"ABE AND JOHNNY were brothers-in-law. They came from Poland, most recently from the town of Auschwitz; Jews who survived the Nazi camps. They were barbers in Poland and they were barbers in Auschwitz, too."
Florence Avenue, Los Angeles, California
"“Where do you live, Mr. Navrochet?” Miller asked. He took out a pad and a pen. “Twenty-seven thirty-two and a half, down on Florence. It’s upstairs in the back,” Mouse lied."
Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
"“Anything you boys want. I work at that big World Carwash on Crenshaw. You know I be there if I ain’t at my house. See ya, Easy.”"
Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California
"“LAPD found a dead man in his house in Laurel Canyon last night,” Miller told me. “Richard McGee. He had a handwritten note on his table.”"
Portland Court, Los Angeles, California
"PORTLAND COURT was a horseshoe of tiny apartments not far from Joppy’s place, near 107th and Central."
107th and Central, Los Angeles, California
"not far from Joppy’s place, near 107th and Central."
Watts, Los Angeles, California
"DUPREE WAS AT his sister’s house, out past Watts, in Compton."
Compton, California
"DUPREE WAS AT his sister’s house, out past Watts, in Compton."
Temple Hospital, Los Angeles, California
"Bula had a night job as a nurse’s assistant at Temple Hospital so it was Dupree who answered our knock."
New Orleans, Louisiana
"Yeah, it’s me. I thought you’d be halfway to New Orleans by now."
Los Angeles, California
"I found myself driving in the L.A. night again."
South side of Los Angeles, California
"She gave me the address of a motel on the south side of L. A."
Los Angeles, California
"I can’t leave L.A. Not before I talk to Frank. He should be back by now. I keep calling, though, and he’s not home."
Watts, Los Angeles, California
"I drove a long way. I wanted far from Watts and Compton so we went to East L. A.; what they call El Barrio today."
Compton, California
"I drove a long way. I wanted far from Watts and Compton so we went to East L. A.; what they call El Barrio today."
East Los Angeles, California
"I drove a long way. I wanted far from Watts and Compton so we went to East L. A.; what they call El Barrio today."
Beverly Hills, California
"We worked together, with a team of men, taking on the large jobs in Beverly Hills and Brentwood. We even took care of a couple of places downtown, off of Sixth."
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
"We worked together, with a team of men, taking on the large jobs in Beverly Hills and Brentwood. We even took care of a couple of places downtown, off of Sixth."
Los Angeles, California
"CHOW’S CHOW was a kind of Chinese diner that was common in L.A. back in the forties and fifties."
New Orleans, Louisiana
"The first time my father took me to the zoo, it was in New Orleans. I was born in New Orleans."
Watts, Los Angeles, California
"Without Mouse I didn’t know what to do. So I went out to my car and drove toward Watts."
Santa Monica, California
"Joppy’s house was dark and his bar was padlocked from the outside. The night watchman on duty at Albright’s building... So I made up my mind to call information for every town north of Santa Monica."
Route 9, Malibu Hills, California
"I got lucky and found DeWitt Albright on my first try. He lived on Route 9, in the Malibu Hills."
Santa Monica, California
"I DROVE PAST SANTA MONICA into Malibu and found Route 9."
Malibu, California
"I DROVE PAST SANTA MONICA into Malibu and found Route 9."
Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
"Did you kill Teran? I asked as we swung onto Sunset Boulevard."
Lake Charles, Louisiana
"My given name is Ruby Hanks and I was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I’m different than you because I’m two people."
Santa Barbara, California
"DeWitt Albright slumped over his steering wheel just north of Santa Barbara; it took him that long to bleed to death."
Watts, Los Angeles, California
"He wanted somebody to look for Frank in the illegal bars down around Watts."
City Hall, Los Angeles, California
"THAT VERY AFTERNOON we went to City Hall and met with the assistant to the chief of police and the deputy mayor, Lawrence Wrightsmith."
San Bernardino Mountains, California
"The San Bernardino range is the most beautiful in the fall. The high winds get rid of all the smog and the skies take your breath away."
Los Angeles, California
"LATER ON THAT EVENING Odell and I were having a dinner I threw together. We were sitting out front because it was still hot in L.A."
Seattle, Washington
"I tailed him up to Seattle and gave her the address."
Galveston, Texas
"I found Ricardo’s sister in Galveston and told her what Rosetta was doin’ with ’im. She gave me a few bucks when she come up and set him free."
East L.A., Los Angeles, California, United States
"Back in East L.A. Mouse counted out ten thousand for each of us."
Seventy-Third, Deep East Oakland, Oakland, California
"WHEN WE GOT TO MY CAR I drove down Central to Seventy-sixth Place. I was nervous being so close to the police station but I had to find Frank Green."
Route 9, Malibu Hills, California
"I DROVE PAST SANTA MONICA into Malibu and found Route 9. It was just a graded dirt road."
Houston, Texas
"“Where you from, Easy?” Mr. Albright asked. “Houston.” “Houston, now that’s a nice town. I go down there sometimes, on business.”"
Los Angeles, California
"“Mr. Albright and me go way back. You know he prob’ly my oldest friend from L.A. Yeah, we go ways back.”"
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
"She come back down to Houston cause she say it’s too much up there in Hollywood."
Slauson Avenue, Los Angeles, California
"THE FIRST PLACE I went was Ricardo’s Pool Room on Slauson. Ricardo’s was just a hole-in-the-wall with no windows and only one door. There was no name out front because either you knew where Ricardo’s was or you didn’t belong there at all."