Customer Reviews

The Blue Door

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Apparently David Fulmer is a music aficionado. He wrote three wonderful mysteries in a series set in turn-of-the-last-century New Orleans. All three featured, at least in the background, the founding of Jazz. There's apparently a fourth book that I missed set in Atlanta in the `20s, which uses the inception of the Blues as its background. This latest book is set in Philadelphia in the early `60s, and takes as its setting the start of the Doo Wop era.

The main character is a retired boxer named Eddie Cero. Eddie stops two guys from beating on a third, older man, and then discovers that the guy he rescued is a private detective. Since Eddie's unemployed (his fighting career having come to an end) he agrees to help the older man in several of his investigations, and then, whimsically, begins one on his own. The investigation he conducts himself turns out to be the central part of the book. Three years earlier, the lead singer and founder of the singing group known as the Excels disappeared. There have been rumors ever since as to what happened to him and why, and now Eddie, seeing the guy's little sister sing in a bar, decides to find out what happened to him.

It's sort of strange to read a nostalgic treatment of the era you grew up in, when you don't think of yourself as truly old yet (I'm 48). Eddie's world of furnished apartments and cars with tail fins seems so foreign now. The Excels were black, and at one point the little sister says something to Eddie about how he's white. His response tells you a lot about how the world viewed ethnic groups back then, and how it views them now: "I'm not white, I'm Italian." The author does a wonderful job of evoking the world of the early rock-and-roll artists, and especially the world in which they lived. I enjoyed this book a great deal, and would recommend it.

Changing venues and eras, Fulmer's latest novel is set in 1960s Philadelphia, welterweight boxer Eddie Cero taking one last beating at the hands of T-Bone Mieux, a dirty fighter who wins any way he can. Nursing his latest round of cuts and bruises, Cero stumbles home, stopping along the way to rescue Salvatore Giambroni from the flying fists of two thugs. Sal, as it turns out over drinks, is an ex-cop who now runs his own detective agency, SG Investigations. Before he knows what happened, Eddie finds himself a new hire at Sal's agency, sent out on a few surveillance gigs to get his feet wet. As Eddie gradually accepts the fact that he won't fight professionally again, working with Sal becomes an acceptable alternative, especially when an apartment is provided that offers some privacy and its own bathroom. Eddie's life is looking up.

It is a cold case that finally captures Cero's attention, the disappearance of a pop soul singer, Johnny Pope, Eddie's interest further piqued by Pope's blues singing sister, Valerie, who performs at a local club, The Blue Door. Unfortunately, Pope's disappearance isn't on Sal's radar, but eventually the older man agrees that Eddie can pursue the case on his own time. As the last of the current cases winds down- a young woman sneaking away from high school for afternoon trysts with a local ladies' man- Eddie becomes more deeply involved with an investigation that will bring him face to face with murder and dark secrets meant to be kept that way.

Drawn to the beautiful Valerie Pope, Cero focuses on the likely suspects, a record producer, an agent, ex-band members, anyone who had a stake in Pope's success. But Eddie narrows the list down when two more murders occur and he still hasn't gotten answers to his questions. Delving into a recording industry haunted by the Payola scandal and the corruption of organized crime, Cero recreates Pope's last troubled days. The racial attitudes of 1962 Philly exacerbate Eddie's predicament, his attraction to Valerie blinding him to any possible complicity, a blonde bombshell promising secrets and a rendezvous and unfinished business with T-Bone Mieux that almost takes Eddie down for the count.

Peopled with cops, crooks and regular citizens in need of a PI, the landscape of Eddie's world changes radically with Sal as his mentor, in a field where the ex-boxer may have a natural talent, where people's motives are often obscured by their actions and nobody really tells the truth. Valerie's sad songs in his head, Cero plunges into an ugly, dangerous underworld, where murder is incidental and greed is normal, surprising himself by his willingness to take another direction toward a life he can barely yet imagine. A new sleuth, in a troubled time and place with a rock n'roll backbeat, Eddie Cero has just begun. Luan Gaines/ 2007.

The rhythms and music of the city underlie this lively mystery novel set in South Philadelphia, where, in the late 1950s, music drew from its many cultures, spawned dozens of acts, and led to a vibrant music industry. Among the best of the soul groups was the Excels, led by Johnny Pope, in his early twenties when the group started making hit records. In February, 1959, minutes after finishing a recording session, Johnny Pope vanished, leaving his cousin Ray, his friend Tommy Gates, and his sister Valerie forever in limbo, mourning his absence, if not his death.

Among Johnny's fans was Eddie Cero, a local welterweight with a huge vinyl collection of doo-wop, rockabilly, and soul, a collection which has provided hours of listening pleasure between fights and training sessions. Now, three years after Johnny's disappearance, Eddie Cero's boxing career is at its end, and when Sal Giambroni, a former cop turned private detective, offers Eddie twenty dollars to help out on a surveillance, Eddie, with nothing to lose, agrees, temporarily. Soon, however, he begins to like the job--and the car and better apartment which come with it.

An investigation of the bartender at The Blue Door nightclub brings Eddie into the music scene he so loves--and a meeting with Valerie Pope, formerly of the Excels, performing solo. Before long, Eddie has Sal's permission to investigate Johnny Pope's three-year-old disappearance on his own time, a job which becomes significantly more difficult when Valerie and others do not want to rake up the past. Gradually, questions about Johnny surface: Who had a contract on Johnny's life? What were his relationships with his agent and producer? And whatever happened to the tape that he recorded the night of his disappearance? As Eddie and Sal continue their bread-and-butter surveillance jobs, Eddie spends his spare time investigating the Johnny Pope case.

Eddie Cero and Sal Giambroni are likable characters caught in the maelstrom of South Philly, doing the best they can, dealing with whatever life dishes out. Author David Fulmer's ability to handle dialogue in realistic street slang is matched by his unique imagery--of hoods "strutting in olive oil operettas." As the complexities of the sometimes sleazy music industry develop, and two new murders occur, Eddie, Sal, and the reader become involved in the atmosphere of violence which runs parallel with the music, sometimes infuses it, and occasionally overwhelms it. Fulmer's background as a jazz expert and writer combine with his talent for mystery, for which he has achieved a Shamus Award, to create an assured and textured novel as full of soul as the music which Valerie Pope sings. n Mary Whipple

The Dying Crapshooter's BluesRampart Street (Valentin St. Cyr Mysteries)
Jass (Valentin St. Cyr Mysteries)

THE BLUE DOOR (Unlicensed Investigator-Eddie Cero-Philadelphia-1962) - VG
Fulmer, David - Standalone
Harcourt, Inc., 2008, US Hardcover ISBN: 9780151011810

First Sentence: At ten thirty on the night of March 24, 1962, Eddie Cero walked out the back door of the Southside Boxing Club in Philadelphia with a bloody bandage over his eyebrow and forty dollars cash in his pocket.

Welter-weight boxer Eddie Cero, leaving a less-than-successful bout, rescues a man from being beat up. -Salvatore "Sal" Giambroni, private investigator. Sal immediately offers Eddie some work as an investigator. While on the job, Eddie comes across Valerie Pope, sister of Johnny Pope, the leader of a black rock group who suddenly disappeared three years before.

Eddie's love of music motivates him to find out what happened to Johnny, in spite of the resistance and that the other members of Johnny's group are being murdered.

I didn't care quite as much for this book as I have all of Fulmer's previous books, but I think that's more my fault than the author's as the early 60's are not my favorite time period, although I remember it very well. That said, Fulmer conveys the time beautifully, particularly the racial tension of the time.

This book, for me, did lack the strong sense of place his other books have created. Still, Fulmer is a wonderful writer. He is a craftsman of plot and character. Eddie is wonderful with a touch of self-deprecating humor, and his mentor, Sal, may be my favorite character of all.

Reading a book by Fulmer is always a delight, and this was no exception.

What a great read! The new novel by David Fulmer is a fast-paced detective story woven through with smoke & music that it's almost like being in an old speak-easy. Just put on some Miles Davis, grab the bourbon then sit back and strap in for a literary thrill ride!
Great book, David!

The year is 1962 and in Philadelphia, welterweight boxer Eddie Cero is depressed as the throbbing cut over his eyebrow still bleeding which means the probable end of his boxing career as he lost to cheap shot artist T-Bone's head butt. When he leaves the Southside Boxing Club where he trains, Eddie wants to avoid everyone he knows until he has at least two drinks; one to numb the physical pain; the other the mental. He cuts across a dark alley only to come across two street punks roughing beating up an elderly man. Unable to stay out, Eddie intercedes and prevents Sal Giambroni from receiving a horrific beating.

Sal buys Eddie a drink at the Corner Bar & Grill explaining he is a professional private-investigator. He offers Eddie work and although he thinks snooping is lower than boxing on the employment ethics scale, he needs to eat so he accepts with great reluctance case work with SG Confidential Investigations; his prime tasks being surveillance and occasional muscle. He proves quite good, but soon becomes involved with the cold case disappearance in 1959 of Johnny Pope, lead singer of the Excels over the concern of Sal. As he remains their biggest fan, Eddie meets group member and Johnny's sister Valerie and investigates what happened to the lead singer of the Excels.

THE BLUE DOOR is an exciting historical private investigative tale. Eddie is terrific as he holds the story line together; his hunk lit asides add depth to 1962 when Bandstand ruled Rock and Roll. Readers will enjoy Eddie working the case, but it is the underbelly of the short-lived Camelot era that comes to vivid life that makes this a strong Philadelphia Noir.

Harriet Klausner

**.."Midnight - one more night without sleepin'
Watchin', till the mornin' comes creepin'
Green Door! what's that secret you're keepin'?".. (Jim Lowe's Green Door) **

The door was blue, not green, but behind it's facade there was indeed a "secret" being cloistered there. Set in Philadelphia of the early 1960's, the book has musical nostalgia mixing plentifully with the story line. Eddie Cero, a boxer who is having second thoughts about climbing into the ring for "the next last time" happens to witness a brawl in an alley while he is despondently walking home one late night, lost in thoughts of what must be his next career move. Fighting has never spooked Eddie yet, and he comes to the rescue of a man who turns out to be Sal Giambroni - a partially successful private eye with a host of questionable "contacts". The brawl is not what it seems, either; it is two goons all right, but they are nephews of the guy's ex wife trying to exact more money from him in the simplest sense of the word. Sal offers to buy Eddie a drink, which he accepts, and due to both the interception on Sal's behalf, and the fact that he has been a fighter of measurable talent, he is offered a job running relief work at Sal's "obviously too practical office".

Eddie has no intention of staying with this new job opportunity he feels he is unsuited for, but one day fades into another; Sal is good to him, and he begins to warm to the subject of snooping into the affairs of others. One night spots a sultry singer at one of the clubs that he remembers - Eddie has an intense interest in music and musicians. He remembers that this girl was once part of a group called the "Excels", and that the genius behind the group was a boy named Johnny Pope, who had mysteriously disappeared one night three years past, and what was even more curious was that the investigation into his disappearance never went anywhere, and the case had been largely forgotten. But now, with the experience he has picked up within his new line of work, Eddie is intrigued. He begins to ask a few questions; those questions lead to more questions, not the least of which is the fact that nobody, including the sultry sister he discovered at the club that evening, wants anyone to look into it. Theories abound through everyone Eddie speaks with; from internal strife with the other members of the group to possible connections with the Philadelphia mob. Johnny Pope himself complicates matters since almost everyone who knew him thought he was a deserving target for what ever might have happened to him. The more he digs, the more he knows he is connecting more together than the police did, and it becomes an obsession quickly.

David Fulmer's talent for spinning clever dialogue throughout his tale is one of the major reasons his books are so addictive. This book, along with "Rampart Street" "Chasing The Devil's Tail", "Jass" are all excellent books and I recommend them to those that love a well conceived mystery, some of which, like the New Orleans trio above have a smattering of fact as the base for their attraction. (Buddy Bolden, Blind Willie, Jelly Roll Morton)

I like to experience the surroundings of the "happening" when I read - it's part of why I do it. To be transported "through the looking glass" and into the world of the storyteller. Fulmer always gives this to the reader and I recommend all of his books as good entertainment if you relish sleazy settings, down and out detectives who live by their wits, big cities with traffic lights flowing like hot molten lava on the turnpikes - and mystery. For myself, it's a wonderful change of pace; something exciting, forbidden; and I can experience it from the bloodless depths and safety of my living room! The craven coward's way to embark on "adventure", without doubt. (but hey, I'm still alive with no bruises this way too)

I am a crime and mystery novels reader and I read certain writers whenever their new novel is published. Nowadays I am trying to meet with works of new writers... however, there are lots of books and no time to read. Recommendations are a way of deciding but then you need to read a lot of them.

That's why I figured out that if I am going to choose a new novel I'd better choose it from among the award winners. That's how I met with Harlan Coben and John Hart and now with David Fulmer and I am glad I did.

His style of writing is so real it makes you feel you are there. His characters are believable. There may not be too many details regarding the setting or the characters or how fast the time moves.. but you feel no part is missing throughout his story. It's like when you seep your coffee on a cold day and the content makes you feel at home whereever you are, cozy.

I liked Fast Eddie. Hope we see him again in his coming works. I will definitely try his other writings.

I'm an enthusiastic fan of Fulmer, but just couldn't get into this book. My disappointment is even greater when you consider that I am a Philadelphian, where this book is set. I get the impression the author spent little time in Philly, what with some of the laughable geographic and cultural errors. But one could overlook those weaknesses if the story was good -- and, at least as far as I read --it wasn't. I stopped reading after about 100-plus pages because the pace of the book was ponderous. It read like a first novel, displaying little of the artistry prevalent in Fulmer's riveting New Orleans books. It is only out of respect for those books that I give this book three, instead of one or two, stars.

I did find this a bit slow paced and a relaxed rather than truly engrossing read, but darn it, this is a good story and it is steeped in the 60's culture.I especially enjoyed the look at the racial tensions and the fact that they were double edged. The hostility and distrust that Valerie first displays toward Eddie is well drawn as is the edginess of the the scenes in the Domino nightspot and the South Street area, places where whites were rare and unwelcome. I especially enjoyed Leona, the bartender at the Domino who was quietly protective of Eddie during his visits there. I won't go deeply into the plot since others have given good synopses, but this is a book of especial interest to those interested in the music and culture of the 60's, giving a good background of the music industry intcluding the goings on at studios and radio stations.