Rampart Street
Rampart Street brings New Orleans of 1910 vibrantly alive with descriptions of “jass,” bordellos and street life in the third of the Valentin St. Cyr mystery series. After an absence of fifteen months, St. Cyr, once a brilliant private detective, has returned to Storyville a much altered man. He becomes an apathetic bouncer in a gambling club until his boss asks him to look into the death of a prominent businessman who was murdered on Rampart Street. Reluctantly, the Creole detective goes through the motions for the sake of the deceased’s family while suspecting they’d bury the truth once it was known. Then a second man, a former partner of the first, is found dead. St. Cyr doesn’t think this is a coincidence. The investigation becomes personal, dangerous, and fatal for one of Valentin’s friends as he uncovers a trail of infamous deeds that lead straight to the top of New Orleans’ American society.
David Fulmer writes a tight, well-constructed, exciting mystery. In St. Cyr, he has created an intelligent and complicated hero. Fulmer’s love for the Crescent City and the music that expresses its soul is passionate, and he willingly shares it with his readers.
