Walter Mosley's new novel is Down The River Unto The Sea. From the transcript of his interview with NPR's Michel Martin:MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: He was wrongfully accused - set up, actually - beaten within an inch of his life, confined to solitary in New York's notorious Rikers Island, and even now, a decade later, former police officer Joe King Oliver is still trying to get his life back on track. Sure, he's making ends meet with his private eye service. He's repaired his relationship with his teenage daughter and is cordial with his ex-wife. And he gets to listen to some Thelonious Monk now and then.--Marshal Zeringue
Does he really need to take on the complicated case of the activist-journalist accused of being a cop killer? Sure he does, especially when a mysterious letter on pink stationery ties the activist's case to the same corrupt cops who framed Joe 10 years earlier. You following all that? That is the set up of Walter Mosley's juicy new detective novel "Down The River Unto The Sea." And Walter Mosley is with us now from NPR West in Culver City, Calif. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
WALTER MOSLEY: Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: So this is - what? - number 53, book number 53 - 54?
MOSLEY: Something like that. It's one of those two numbers. You know, it's hard to tell because, you know, some of the books are, you know - I've published like maybe three or four books electronically. And it depends on what you count and what you don't count among those books that would make the difference.
MARTIN: OK. Well, so we're up there. So how did this one start? What was the nugget that got you started on this one?
MOSLEY: Well, you know, it was very clear to me. The first thing I thought of is all the black activists and intellectuals and political, you know, kind of in quotes "revolutionaries" from...[read on]