The Blue Door

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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6 EAN: 9780151011810 ISBN: 0151011818 Label: Harcourt Manufacturer: Harcourt Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: 2008-01-07 Publisher: Harcourt Studio: Harcourt
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Editorial Reviews: As welterweight boxer Eddie Cero makes his way home through a dark Philadelphia alley, he steps in on two punks beating up an older man. It’s a favor that’s going to turn Eddie’s life upside down. Sal Giambroni buys Eddie a round and offers him a part-time gig helping with his private-detective work. Despite Eddie’s reluctance, a few days on the job reveal that he has a knack for snooping—and then he stumbles onto a cold case involving a missing soul singer. A music lover with a budding interest in the singer’s attractive, talented sister, Eddie finds himself involved in a violent, twisted story of betrayal and intrigue, power and passion—all set to the beat of rock and roll. David Fulmer’s acclaimed Storyville series brought us a New Orleans teeming with jazz. The Dying Crapshooter’s Blues took fans to Atlanta and the blues. The Blue Door now brings us the vibrant city of Philadelphia and the early days of its famous soul. (12/18/2007)
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: "South Philly: The World's Biggest Jukebox." Comment: 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) Customer Rating: Summary: Fulmer is always a delight Comment: 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. Customer Rating: Summary: Almost like being there... Comment: 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! Customer Rating: Summary: Great Detective Story! Comment: "Award winning author mystery writer Fulmer, combines his knowledge of jazz and murder and has created a great detective story about music in Philadelphia in the 1960's." Customer Rating: Summary: exciting historical private investigative Noir Comment: 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 More Reviews