I heard about David Fulmer's latest book, The Blue Door, from a podcast interview at Behind the Black Mask. Clute and Edwards' in-depth interviews more often than not prompt me to read the works of the authors interviewed so pay them a visit if you are serious about your mystery reading.

The Blue Door is set in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, around 1962.Boxer Eddie Cero unfairly loses a match and is heading to a bar when he happens upon two men beating a third. He intervenes, flattens one of the thugs, and is continuing on his way when the victim, Sal (Salvatore) Giambroni insists on buying Eddie a drink which turns into many drinks. They end up at a bar called The Blue Door. Sal is a former Phili police officer and now a private detective. He likes what he sees in Eddie and talks him into coming by SG Confidential Investigations. He wants Eddie to work for him for day wages.

Eddie is reluctant, doesn't think that the work of a PI is for him, and reherses telling Sal that he can't work for him. When he walks through the office door Sal doesn't give him a chance to say anything; he gives him an assignment to watch someone, the keys to his car, and sends him out the door.

At this point, the book follows two parallel story lines. First there is Eddie learning the craft of being a PI. He has good instincts in spite of his reluctance to become "a snoop for hire." This delights Sal who is seeing a protegee in Sal. It doesn't take long for Sal to move Eddie from day wages to a weekly salary. Two cases are followed through to conclusion.

The second plot line is Eddie's personal investigation. He sees a black female singer at The Blue Door and realizes that she is Valerie Pope, formerly of a rising black group, the Excels. In '59 the leader, and Valerie's brother, Johnny Pope, disappeared without a trace after leaving the recording studio late one night. Eddie loves music and was a fan of the Excels; he decides to look into Johnny disappearance. Valerie, vehemently, doesn't want him prying into family business; Sal thinks it is a waste of time since it is an old case and there is no money in it. Reluctantly, Sal tells Eddie he can work the case on his old time. Pretty soon it becomes clear that there is something odd about the case.

How much did I enjoy this book? I checked it out of the library at 4:26PM, probably didn't start reading until 6PM, and read the last page shortly after 12:30am.

I like the way that Fulmer carefully builds his story, there is nothing rushed about it. I would say that it is very much character driven. Eddie is a more complex character than you might initially assume with him being a prize fighter. Music is an important part of his life and he has an extensive collection of 45 rpm records. It is his love of music that pulls him into the mystery at the heard of the story. Eddie is also very introspective and there is a poignant moment as Eddie walks around his old stomping grounds coming to terms with the actuality that he is giving up boxing. Fulmer makes Eddie a character you care about and want to see more of.

Fulmer also has a wonderful skill at description

...His room was a box at the end of the hall on the second floor that contained an iron bed frame with a mattress that sagged on one side and and was full of lumps on the other, a night table, a chest of drawers, and lone chair, all standard hotel issue. A grimy window looked out on a narrow side alley, where old cars sat rusting and dirty kids sometimes played. The radiator clanked with feeble heat in the winter, and in the summertime the place was an oven. His private joke was that he liked it because it reminded him of home.

I love the way that last sentence gives you an insight into Eddie.

Early in the book Eddie goes to the library to get background on Pope's disappearance.

...He told her what he was looking for, and she steered him to a seat at a table near a set of broad windows that looked out on the green of the parkway. As he waited, he glanced around at the bent, busy heads, feeling a tinge of regret he had never been a part of this world of book learning. I seemed like a safe place.

Again, that last sentence adds so much to the preceding description.

This is a terrific read and one of the best books that I have read in 2008.