Shadow and Act has learned that Amblin Television has closed a deal to develop and produce a series based on Walter Mosley’s bestselling books starring the character Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins.

Sylvain White will executive produce the series and direct the pilot episode. Mosley and his producing partner Diane Houslni will executive produce along with Amblin Television co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey and Jeremy Bolt of JB Pictures.

The description: The drama, based on the gritty detective series, will center around Easy, a Black WWII Army veteran turned hard-boiled private eye. The show will be set in 1950’s Los Angeles and will honor the great traditions of storytelling in the detective genre, while also exploring the racial inequalities and social injustice experienced by Black people and other people of color.

Easy Rawlins was previously featured on-screen in the 1995 adaptation of Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress. Mosely currently executive produces FX’s Snowfall and his latest Easy Rawlins novel, Blood Grove, was released just this month.