Fear of the Dark（ISBN=9780446617895）

　　When his cousin Ulysses S. Grant IV comes knocking, Paris Minton would rather keep the door shut, because "Useless" is a snake who brings bad luck wherever he goes. But trouble always finds an open window, and soon there's a man murdered on his bookshop floor, evidence of blackmail is discovered, and Useless has vanished. To get out of this mess, Paris turns to his solid-hearted but quick-fisted friend Fearless Jones. Traversing the complex landscape of 1950s Los Angeles, where a wrong look can get a black man killed, Paris and Fearless find deperate women, secret lives--and more than one dead body.

　　Walter Mosley is the author of the acclaimed Easy Rawlins series of mysteries including national bestseller CINNAMON KISS, LITTLE SCARLET, BAD BOY BRAWLY BROWN, the Fearless Jones series including FEARLESS JONES and FEAR ITSELF, the novels BLUE LIGHT and RL'S DREAM, and two collections of stories featuring Socrates Fortlow, ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, ALWAYS OUTGUNNED, for which he received the Anisfield-Wolf Award, and WALKIN' THE DOG. He was born in Los Angeles and lives in New York.