He concludes, 'The most interesting element of Devil in a Blue Dress is not the whodunit, but the 'whydunit.
Odell is a voice of fear, advising Easy to run away from his problems.
This has to be amongst the most assured crime fiction debuts, no one who has written hard boiled, gritty noirs was this polished with their first book.
He gets the sense that Junior is lying to him, but working the room, can't get anyone to say they've seen the white woman he's looking for.