David Fulmer
Author of Chasing the Devil's Tail
About the Author
He has written about blues, jazz & other subjects for The Atlanta Journal & constitution, Atlanta Magazine, Southline, National Public Radio, The All-Music Guide & Blues Access. He wrote & produced the documentary Blind Willie's Blues it earned him a nomination for a W. C. Handy Keeping the Blues show more Alive Award. He has worked as a welder, bartender, musician & teacher & spent ten years in the motorsports industry, which included driving in SCCA competition. A native of Pennsylvania, he lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his daughter Italia. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Bryanna Brown Photo
Series
Works by David Fulmer
Jass: St Cyr Mystery 1 copy
Associated Works
My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop (2012) — Contributor — 616 copies, 16 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1950-04-03
- Gender
- male
- Agent
- Michael Congdon (Don Congdon & Associates)
- Short biography
- David Fulmer is the author of six critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels with Harcourt Books. He has been nominated for a LA Times Book Prize, a Barry Award, and a Falcon Award, has won a Shamus Award, a Benjamin Franklin Award, and AudioFile Golden Earphones Award, and has been nominated to numerous “Best of” lists, including Borders Books “Best of 2003 List,” Atlanta Magazine’s “2008 Best of the Shelf” and New York Magazine’s “Best Novels You’ve Never Read.” Mostly recently, "The Blue Door" was nominated for the 2009 Shamus Award for Best Novel. His books have received superlative reviews from publications including The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kirkus Reviews, The San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, The Washington Post, BookList, The Times Picayune, The Christian Science Monitor, The Detroit News, The Minneapolis Star, The Plain Dealer, The Baltimore Sun, Paste Magazine, The Boston Globe, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Telegraph (UK), The Sun-Sentinel, and Publishers Weekly, and have been translated into Italian, Japanese, and French. His seventh novel, “The Fall,” will be released in March by Five Stones Press.
David Fulmer lives in Atlanta with his daughter Italia. - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Georgia, USA
Members
Reviews
New Orleans in 1907 is as much the main character of this book as is Valentin St. Cyr, a Creole private detective in the employ of Tom Anderson, the white politico who runs the Storyville district, the neighorhood known for legalized prostitution. Nothing escapes the attention or interest of Anderson, who, like many other characters in the book, is based on a real life figure. A number of the madames who ran houses of prostitution back then make appearances, as do Jelly Roll Morton, show more photographer E.J. Bellocq (known for his photos of prostitutes), and Charles "Buddy" Bolden, also known as King Bolden. Bolden, often credited with being the father of jazz. In this work of fiction, Buddy, a childhood friend of Valentin's, is the prime suspect in a series of killings of prostitutes. While no evidence directly links Buddy to the crimes, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence, and asked by Anderson to look into the matter, Valentin is determined to prove Buddy innocent and to catch the real killer.
Race, drugs, booze, sex, and music intermingle to provide a portrait of the city in the early twentieth century, elevating this mystery beyond the typical whodunit. Valentin is a wonderfully complex character, with a troubled past and a stubborn streak that keeps him gnawing at the mystery even when things look bleakest. I was pleased to learn that there are more books starring him. They're in my Amazon cart, ready to be ordered. show less
Race, drugs, booze, sex, and music intermingle to provide a portrait of the city in the early twentieth century, elevating this mystery beyond the typical whodunit. Valentin is a wonderfully complex character, with a troubled past and a stubborn streak that keeps him gnawing at the mystery even when things look bleakest. I was pleased to learn that there are more books starring him. They're in my Amazon cart, ready to be ordered. show less
I read the first Valentin St. Cyr mystery a dozen years ago and meant to read this soon thereafter, but other books claimed my attention, and I didn't get to this until now. Which does not mean I didn't find the first compelling. I loved it, and in reading this sequel, I fell in love with Valentin all over again. A Creole detective who usually passes for white in 1908 New Orleans, Valentin is coaxed by Jelly Roll Morton (one of the cast of characters based on real people) into investigating show more the deaths of two jass (as jazz was called back then) musicians. At first, Valentin is skeptical that there's a connection, but when a third musician is found dead, a pattern emerges. The more he investigates, the more pushback he receive from a local police lieutenant and from Valentin's boss Tom Anderson, the politically connected "King of Storyville," the district where prostitution was legal.
Fulmer has a way of bringing both his characters and early-20th Century New Orleans to life. That I figured out one part of the puzzle before it was revealed just made the resolution of the mystery more satisfying for me. show less
Fulmer has a way of bringing both his characters and early-20th Century New Orleans to life. That I figured out one part of the puzzle before it was revealed just made the resolution of the mystery more satisfying for me. show less
After reading the third Valentin St. Cyr mystery, set in the early 1900s in New Orleans, I found the remaining four books in the series online and quickly ordered them. These trade paperbacks are a bit taller, published by a different press, different than the first three books, and apparently, quality control is not prioritized with regards to typesetting and proofing. Typos, poor scene breaks in a number of spots, extra words, missing words, and other oddities marred this book.
Another show more strike against it is typical for many ongoing series when the author has to catch new readers up on character backstories and the events from the previous books. In this case, it comes across as filler and I hope Fulmer found more interesting ways to insert these info dumps in the remaining three titles. In addition, there are brief scenes that seem to have been included to pad the page count as they are little more than a quick check-in with a character without advancing either story or character development.
And yet, once I got to the back half of the book, I found Valentin's latest case as compelling as ever. The case revolves around the murders of three wealthy men found at or in a high level house of prostitution that have one thing in common: they're all owned by the same man. The victims were all shot and each has a long cut on his face. Is a madman on the loose in Storyvill, the red-light district, or is something more sinister at work? Valentin's efforts to solve the mystery and end the killing causes trouble between him and his live-in lover, former prostitute Justine who had thought Valentin was finished with Storyville and its problems.
I'm still enjoying this series, but the feeling of padding and a lack of freshness in the telling keep this from being as good as the earlier three. show less
Another show more strike against it is typical for many ongoing series when the author has to catch new readers up on character backstories and the events from the previous books. In this case, it comes across as filler and I hope Fulmer found more interesting ways to insert these info dumps in the remaining three titles. In addition, there are brief scenes that seem to have been included to pad the page count as they are little more than a quick check-in with a character without advancing either story or character development.
And yet, once I got to the back half of the book, I found Valentin's latest case as compelling as ever. The case revolves around the murders of three wealthy men found at or in a high level house of prostitution that have one thing in common: they're all owned by the same man. The victims were all shot and each has a long cut on his face. Is a madman on the loose in Storyvill, the red-light district, or is something more sinister at work? Valentin's efforts to solve the mystery and end the killing causes trouble between him and his live-in lover, former prostitute Justine who had thought Valentin was finished with Storyville and its problems.
I'm still enjoying this series, but the feeling of padding and a lack of freshness in the telling keep this from being as good as the earlier three. show less
The third Valentin St. Cyr mystery, set in early-20th Century New Orleans, finds the Creole detective tasked by the King of Storyville Tom Anderson to investigate the murder of a wealthy shipping magnate in that infamous red-light district. The case should be a simple one, but things don't add up. When the victim's daughter urges him to pursue the truth, no matter what, and when a business partner of the victim also turns up dead, Valentin finds himself out of his element, putting more than show more himself at risk.
This time, the whodunit isn't as much of a mystery as the why. With New Orleans as much a character as the people who live there, this is a quick read. I'm enjoying spending time there with them and am happy there are four more installments in the series. show less
This time, the whodunit isn't as much of a mystery as the why. With New Orleans as much a character as the people who live there, this is a quick read. I'm enjoying spending time there with them and am happy there are four more installments in the series. show less
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