Walter Mosley's 'Cinnamon Kiss'

Bestselling author Walter Mosely is back with the 10th novel in the series about his favorite character, Easy Rawlins, a black private investigator who lives in Los Angeles in the 1960s.

It's called "Cinnamon Kiss" after the femme fatale, which, of course, every noir mystery has to have.

Over the years, Easy Rawlins has evolved and grown up, Mosley said. The backdrop of the Rawlins series has so far spanned from the 1940s to the mid-'60s. Rawlins was 20-years-old when the series began.

In this book, Easy becomes legitimate as a licensed private investigator. Mosley noted that in "Cinnamon Kiss" he's no longer invisible and (white) people actually see him.

"For some people, racism has faded in the background. But not for him," Mosley said. "It's still there even when he doesn't experience it. It's become a metaphysical experience in his life."

In regard to Easy considering robbing an armed truck to get money to pay his daughter's hospital bills, Mosley said: "I wish that was a hard choice but its not." He said that many people would be tempted to do the same thing. "In noir novels, you put people in really tough situations and you want readers to identify and think, 'What would I do?' "

Stay tuned for his interview on The Early Show Thursday morning. And click here to read an excerpt.