A little yellow dog - Walter Mosley

JFK is President and Ezekiel (aka Easy) Rawlins has a job with the Los Angeles Board of Education as a school janitor. No dogs are allowed on the school premises but Pharaoh, the dog in question, belongs to Idabell Turner, a curvaceous teacher whose husband has murder on his mind. Before the day is over the teacher is gone, leaving Easy with her dog, and the handsomest corpse Easy has ever seen is found in the school garden.

'Mosley hits his typically inspired stride, once again demonstrating how in American life private drama and public tragedy often feed off one another' Sunday Times

'When I had finished reading A Little Yellow Dog, I went out and got all four of Walter Mosley's previous Easy Rawlins novels and read them straight through . . . The characters live and breathe in a way that is utterly convincing and utterly absorbing' Guardian

'A thriller with everything and more: great writing with depth and feeling, twisting plot, brilliant dialogue and wonderful characters' Tribune

'Mosley's combination of superior plotting, precise dialogue and the ability to convey the atmosphere of the times are as effective as in the previous four Easy Rawlins novels' The Times