The Easy Rawlins Series First Editions Reference

The Easy Rawlins series spans fourteen novels published between 1990 and 2014, following Rawlins from 1948 through the late 1960s. The series is unique in crime fiction for its sustained chronological progression — each novel advances the timeline by a few years, creating a novelistic portrait of Black Los Angeles across two decades of enormous social change.

Series Timeline and Values

• Devil in a Blue Dress (1990, Norton) — 1948 setting, signed: $200–$600
• A Red Death (1991, Norton) — 1953 setting, signed: $50–$150
• White Butterfly (1992, Norton) — 1956 setting, signed: $50–$150
• Black Betty (1994, Norton) — 1961 setting, signed: $40–$120
• A Little Yellow Dog (1996, Norton) — 1963 setting, signed: $30–$80
• Gone Fishin’ (1997, Black Classic Press) — 1939 prequel, signed: $40–$100
• Bad Boy Brawly Brown (2002) — signed: $20–$60
• Six Easy Pieces (2003) — stories, signed: $20–$50
• Little Scarlet (2004) — 1965 Watts riots, signed: $20–$60
• Cinnamon Kiss (2005) — signed: $20–$50
• Blonde Faith (2007) — signed: $20–$50
• Little Green (2013) — signed: $20–$50
• Rose Gold (2014) — signed: $20–$50
• Charcoal Joe (2016) — signed: $20–$50

Collecting Strategy

The series is a rewarding completist project. The first three Norton hardcovers are the most challenging acquisitions; everything from Black Betty onward is readily available signed. The series’ historical scope — from postwar segregation through the civil rights era — gives it intellectual substance beyond genre entertainment.