Customer Reviews

The Dying Crapshooter's Blues

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The setting for Fulmer's new novel is 1920's Atlanta, the heyday of high society, flappers, bootlegging and the usual underworld of illegal enterprise. One Saturday night on Decatur Street, just before Christmas, Little Jesse Williams, a rounder, is shot by a dissolute police officer, JR Logue, and a daring robbery is committed in the very building where the nabobs of society gather for the Annual Charity Christmas Party at the Payne Mansion. Joe Rose, a peripatetic thief who arrives on the scene of the shooting, realizes that he has returned to Atlanta at the wrong time as things go bad from the start. Little Jesse doesn't die immediately from his wound, suffering the agonies of a slow death, his friends gathered around the bedside, including blind Willie McTell, a talented musician who is writing a ballad to commemorate Little Jesse's eventful life.

Rose is sad to see Little Jesse go for all the wrong he's done in his lifetime, this particular segment of society quite forgiving of each other's faults. It has been Joe Rose's habit of late to do a burglary and leave town, striking again when in need of replenishing his funds. A rounder himself, and known to many of the Atlanta criminal element, Joe still has some contacts from his short stint as a police officer and Pinkerton before falling into the life of crime that suits him so well. Like a black widow spider, "the Captain", Grayton Jackson, directs the investigation from the dark confines of a twisted mind, angry over being passed by for a promotion and in a mean mood when it comes to recovering the jewels and solving the robbery.

Determined to locate the cop who shot Little Jesse, Rose seems to be always one step behind, as bodies begin to fall, clouding the investigation by removing any witnesses. Then Joe, Pearl Spencer and her brother, Sweet Spencer are arrested, accused of collusion in the robbery. The beautiful Pearl is one of the reasons Joe has remained in Atlanta against his better judgment. Like moth to flame, Rose can't quit Pearl, even though he suspects she has something to do with the robbery and her brother has warned him off in no uncertain terms. When Rose suggests there may be a connection between Little Jesse's murder and the theft, he meets with much resistance from the Atlanta PD.

The treacherous plot of a devious mind is underscored by the rollicking jazz and soulful blues of Fulmer's Valentin St. Cyr novels, reflecting the author's appreciation for the music of a certain element of society. Mix in an eccentric cast of characters, from Little Jesse Williams and his ladies-of-the-night, to the blind musician, the speak-easy's with an unlimited supply of bootleg liquor, the exotic Pearl and the hard-nosed Chief of Detectives for a heady brew of crime and punishment in Prohibition Atlanta. Once more, the people tell the tale, bringing the era vividly to life, the sweet notes of The Dying Crapshooter's Blues sliding through the night. Luan Gaines/2007.

Music also is at the heart of this as it is for other Fulmer novels...the early soulful blues. The dying Crapshooter of the title is Little Jesse Williams, a thoroughly unsympathetic pimp and crooked gambler, shot for no apparant reason by a drunken cop. Much of the novel portrays blind Willie McTell composing a song for the dying Jesse to be sung before his death and then at his funeral and the scenes dealing with the formation of the blues song create a kind of mood in which one mourns the death of a person who really is not liked by anyone. And so the author creates a kind of mood, but unfortunately doesn't quite succeed in developing it to the ultimate.Nevertheless, the novel proceeds at a suitable pace as former cop and P.I., more recently professional thief, Joe Rose investigates both Jesse's shooting as well as, albeit reluctantly, a jewelry theft in which his girl friend is involved. Overal, this is a quite good though not perfect period myystery well worth the time of early jazz afficinados as well as mystery fans.

First Sentence: From down the alley, a voice cut through the falling night like a honed blade.

Joe Rose is white or Indian, he doesn't know. He does know he had been a cop, and a Pinkerton man but turned to being a rambler, gambler and professional thief. Joe is back in Atlanta, both attracted to yet trying to stay away from Pearl Spencer, a black working girl, and her brother, Sweet. Within forty-eight hours, he is the prime suspect in the jewel robbery of a wealthy white mansion, and comes across the scene where Jesse, a black gambler. Amongst a setting of racial prejudice, police corruption, and a funeral song being written for Jesse by a blind musician, Joe is trying to protect both his friends and himself.

Fumler is a wonderful, atmospheric writer. As in his New Orleans series, Fulmer focuses on the disadvantaged, gamblers, drunks, [...] and thieves. He humanizes the people and brings the period alive with the underlying strum of the blues in my head. I found the different characters interesting and thought it rather fun that the traditional good guys, the police, here were mainly the bad guys. Following the trail to see how Joe would bring things to resolution, and stay out of jail, was suspenseful and engrossing. I highly recommend this book.

"The close relationship between police officers and street criminals in the 1920's is the focus of this Atlanta mystery. Fulmer is an award winning mystery writer and proves why in this impossible to put down book."

Writer David Fulmer has carved out a very thoughtful niche for himself with his satisfying mystery novels that are steeped in blues and jazz lore. His previous novels Jass and Rampart Street followed detective Valentine St. Cyr through the Storyville section of New Orleans as Buddy Bolden and King Oliver began to turn brass bands into jazz bands. For this novel, Fulmer moves north pre-Depression Atlanta, which is finally shaking off the effects of the Civil War and coming into its own as a center of blues and hillbilly music. Former detective turned sneak-thief Joe Rose pulls into town as a major jewel heist goes down. Soon, his acquaintance, pimp and rounder Little Jesse lies dying from a drunken cops bullet. Street singer Blind Willie McTell (yup, that McTell) begins to compose the epic song of the title as he keeps a vigil at Little Jesse's bedside and encourages Rose to find the killer. Meanwhile, Rose and his lady are being framed for the heist by a racist cop and the clock is ticking for him to find the answers. Fulmer always cooks up a satisfying story and this is no exception. Just like his Storyville novels, the city of Atlanta becomes a character - divided between black and white, rich and poor, old and new, the city is revealed in all its contradictions. Fans of the blues should not miss this beautifully written story.

Pretty good mystery. Fun to read. But ... I'm a fan of the Blind Willie McTell song "Dying Crapshooter's Blues" from which the book takes its title. Throughout reading the book, I kept expecting a scene like in the song: 22 women from the Hampton Hotel, going to Jesse's funeral, doing the Charleston around his grave, and so on. The author did everything to set this up, then didn't deliver this scene in the book. It could have been a lot of fun. I was disappointed. Too bad, otherwise the book was a good read.

David Fulmer is apparently going to be pretty much unique in mystery fiction. I don't know of anyone writing historical musical mysteries like the books he's produced, with characters and atmosphere that are so thick you can almost smell the cigarette smoke and characters so real you feel you've met them. His first three books, all set in New Orleans at the beginning of the Jazz era, were excellent, and his latest entry, set in 60s Philadelphia, is as good. This book I'm reviewing today takes place in the early 20s in Atlanta, a sprawling city of growth, corruption, racism, and (of course) music.

Here, the music is the Blues. The main character, Joe Rose, is a thief and ladies' man who drifts from town to town, caper to caper, lady to lady, aimlessly choosing all three as they come across his path. When he lands in Atlanta in 1923, he finds himself involved in the killing of an acquaintance, perhaps even friend, a pimp named Jesse Williams who's been shot for no reason by a drunkard cop. At the same time, Joe is told that he's the prime suspect in a burglary that netted a large stash of jewelry from the home of one of the city's elite. While Joe didn't do the burglary, the police seem willing to hang the crime on him and send him to jail anyway. Of course he decides that the only way to deal with all of this is to solve both crimes, though the solving takes some work.

This book is truly wonderful. There's a side story involving Blind Willie McTell and some lost recordings that he might have made, a pair of record producers (from New York City) who are Jews and who don't seem to understand Atlanta's arcane rules with regards to blacks. There are also several wonderful characters in the supporting cast, people who make the book interesting. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the era, the music, or mysteries.

With his latest book, "The Dying Crapshooter's Blues," mystery writer David Fulmer has written an entertaining whodunit set in Atlanta in 1923. Taking us into the underbelly of a thriving, bustling Southern city, he spins an intriguing tale of police corruption, covetousness, conspiracy, and crime.

The plot is set in motion on a cold December night, when Little Jesse Williams, a small-time hoodlum and pimp, is shot by Patrolman J.R. Logue on Courtland Street, near Atlanta's scarlet boulevard.

Little Jesse is well known in the speakeasies and gambling dens of Georgia's capital city. Although he uses marked cards and loaded dice to cheat his fellow blacks, he is basically a harmless fellow.

The question then arises: "Why would Logue want to shoot Little Jesse, a no-account rounder who really didn't bother anyone much. It didn't make sense."

On the same night when Little Jesse is shot, a cache of expensive jewels is stolen from the stately Payne mansion during a charity Christmas party. Coincidence? Or is there a connection between the crimes?

The central character of the novel, Joe Rose, has a history of burglaries from New York to Chicago to New Orleans, but he is innocent of the heist at the Payne mansion. As Little Jesse lingers between life and death, Rose promises to get to the bottom of this seemingly senseless attack. He becomes an unofficial private investigator, seeking clues that will unravel the mystery, although at great risk to his continued existence.

At this point the logic of the plot is weak: Why doesn't Rose simply shake Atlanta's dust from his shoes and head for healthier climes? Readers of crime novels know what one must often "cherchez la femme." Although Rose is a guy who "loves 'em and leaves them," he has a special attraction to and affection for a beautiful black woman named Pearl Spencer, a fellow thief who happened to be employed at the Payne mansion on the night the jewels were stolen.

Fulmer's chosen medium may be the mystery story, but he has long nurtured a deep passion for music. The jazz and blues of the Deep South figure prominently in his previous efforts, "Rampart Street," "Jass," and the award-winning "Chasing the Devil's Tail."

The author takes the title of his newest book from a song by the legendary Georgia bluesman blind Willie McTell. In one scene, as Little Jesse's life flickers away, McTell sits in a local nightclub, strums his 12-string Stella guitar, and compose a eulogy to the dying man: "The Dying Crapshooter's Blues."

For Fulmer, the blues is more than just part of the book's setting. It's a vehicle through which he can conjure the essence of a time and place, through which he can evoke the sense of dread and mortality that surrounds his characters.

Indeed, it's not long before more people are killed, and it becomes clear that a deep-seated cover-up is at work, a conspiracy stemming from corruption in the Atlanta Police Department.

As the reader unravels a nefarious scheme set in motion for police Capt. Grayton Jackson, Fulmer's underlying theme emerges. Who will protect us when the protectors cross the line into criminality? What defense remains for honest citizens, when "the defenders" are rotten apples in the civic barrel? As Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, in "The Canterbury Tales," "If gold rust, what shall the iron do?"

"The Dying Crapshooter's Blues" vividly reveals the injustice that police abuse wreaked on the life of a Southern city in an era before the freedom rides of the Civil Rights Movement. It resounds with the clash of race, caste, and class, exposing the corrupting influence of power in the hands of those who use it tyrannically.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Fulmer's first novel, "Chasing the Devil's Tail," was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Mystery/Thriller Book Prize and the winner of the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel. Two other novels by Fulmer are "Rampart Street" and "Jass." He has written about blues, jazz, and other subjects for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Magazine, Southline, National Public Radio, the All Music Guide, and Blues Access magazine. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his daughter, Italia.