Rampart Street

Like slowly eating a piece of the very best chocolate....I love Mr. Fulmers writing, his descriptions are perfect, yet never so verbiose as to lose me and make me want to set the book down. His Valentin St. Cyr series is a sensual treat!

....have I enjoyed an author so much, in a different way, a different setting. His easy, eloquent style of thought flows flawlessly into wording, coupled with a strong sense of balancing his plot against the people, with names easily connected to the storyline, which in itself is talent without clutter - all serve to make this intelligent writer a pleasure to read. His is not the "dime novel", nor of the average mystery writer that clutter the shelves, thus making a selection confusing or frustrating in the time most of us allot to trying to choose a good read. We've all been disappointed in our search for someone we can read more than once, or pick up the next book by that author with confidence. The setting itself, the red light district of New Orleans, is intriguing to most of us, without doubt, but this writer does not succumb to the vulgar, the coarseness so often associated with the subject. He does not need it; his story tells you of it, but feels no need to cheapen it; your interest in it is enhanced by it; and the experience is unique indeed. Perhaps you need to assess your own tolerance of the subject, but if you seek adventure, this author provides it for you from the safety of your living room. The detective, Valentin St. Cyr, returns from an extended hiatus out of the city where he has been on his own type of Sabbatical; everything he thought he wanted to escape from is waiting for him upon his return. Old friends, old memories, corrupt politicians reborn and springing anew from the concrete garden; new crime and debauchery all are there to bring him back to the reality of his own life and of his chosen profession, of which he is unintentionally brilliant - despite the obstacles of his background and the time he lives in - the pre-Civil Rights era. Due largely to the accident of his birth, and the resulting muting of the color of his skin, he is free to move and cross over - somewhat uneasily - within all of the pre-determined Societies that New Orleans adheres to during that turbulent time. That fact, easily and subtly woven as a stark, electric, though non-judgmental thread through the story line, serve to make most of us, i believe, no matter who we are, or what we espouse - breath a sigh of relief that it has been amended somewhat for society today. I recommend the author without reservation - and one of the biggest reasons is because the style is all his own - he seems to draw from nothing but his own creative imagination. The books are written in sequence, but are easily connected no matter which one you pick up first. "Chasing the Devil's Tail" is the prelude to "Rampart Street".

I came across David Fulmer's book Chasing the Devil's Tail when it was new in paperback. At first glance the premise was interesting: a detective who was friends with the founder of jazz, and who was a colored Creole, in New Orleans about a hundred years ago. The story and especially the writing were good enough to carry the book through to its conclusion, and the sequel, Jass, was as good if not a bit better. This third entry is even a bit better than that, as Fulmer continues to grow as a writer, getting familiar and comfortable with his characters and plots. In this current outing, the main character, Valentin St. Cyr, returns to New Orleans after spending 15 months wandering the country recovering from the way the previous book, Jass, ended. He's been in town for only a few weeks when a prominent businessman is killed, shot to death in Storyville, the rather raucous speakeasy neighborhood that St. Cyr patrols. St Cyr's old boss, Mr. Anderson, asks if he would be willing to look into the crime on behalf of the family. At first St. Cyr is reluctant, but he's soon persuaded to do what Mr. Anderson wants, and he begins to look into the crime. The investigation progresses, a second victim emerges, and it turns out that the prime witness in the second killing is a guy named George Reynolds. It turns out George is "seeing" Justine, St. Cyr's old girlfriend, who now works in a "house" as what amounts to a high-class prostitute. This of course complicates things greatly. This is an interesting, multi-layered, complex book. The author doesn't hesitate to do things like kill of characters who've figured in previous books, have characters change, and have a backstory that's interesting and at times even unique working. It's a wonderful novel, and frankly I can't wait to see what happens next.

Fulmer does a wonderful job of conveying the complex and multilayered social and political structure of life in New Orleans and Storyville during the early 1900s. His characters are rich and dimensional, his sense of place exacting. There's a feeling of melancholy to the story so that even scenes during the day feel muted and gritty. The pace and narrative of the story bring you into the story and keep you there from the first page to the last. This is a character-driven mystery and St. Cyr is a fascinating character; one about whom you care. Rampart Street accentuates hypocrisy and greed born from power. Fulmer has maintained the quality of this series with each book and, although this book stands well along, should recommend starting from the beginning.

The third installment in the Valentine St. Cyr mystery series set in the early 1900s in New Orleans, "Rampart Street" proved to be very engrossing and compelling read, full of moody, vivid imagery, with an almost gritty feel one has come to expect from authors like Dashiel Hammett. All in all, this was a truly wonderful read, and I'm glad that I picked it up. After a long absence, Valentine St. Cyr is back again in the historic red-light district of Storyville, New Orleans. But St. Cyr seems to be strangely apathetic and listless; so much so that when Alderman Alphonse Badel requests the unofficial "King of Storyville's," Tom Anderson, in recruiting St. Cyr to investigate the murder of a rich white man (John Benedict) found murdered on the seedy Rampart Street, Andersen cannot but wonder if St. Cyr is up to the job. However, when what seems to be a routine investigation as to what Benedict was doing on Rampart Street and why he was murdered soon turns into something much more tantalizing that could involve some rather powerful New Orleans movers and shakers, who in turn start pressuring St. Cyr to give up the investigation, St. Cyr finds himself intrigued almost against his will. And when a good friend gets murdered because of this case, things become personal as well. Now nothing will stop St. Cyr from discovering why Benedict was murdered and why so many powerful men are in a lather to stop this investigation.... I have always meant to pickup this series, but somehow never got around to it. Needless to say, when I finally did get around to reading a Valentine St. Cyr mystery novel, it would be the latest in the series and not the first. Not that this was a problem -- one needn't worry about having to play catch-up with "Rampart Street." No, for me the problem lay in that the mystery did get off to a bit of a slow start; and then there was the problem that I found myself automatically comparing it to Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January mystery series, also set in New Orleans, except that that one is set before the American Civil War, and found "Rampart Street" to lack much of the lyrical beauty that Hambly had successfully imbued her Benjamin January books with. However, this was just an initial reaction: about a few chapters into the book, I found myself to be so deeply engrossed in "Rampart Street" that I couldn't bare the put the book down! And while I didn't think that David Fulmer's prose style wasn't quite as lyrical or as poetical as Barbara Hambly's, I did think that he had done a successful job of imbuing the book with that moody, melancholic air that coloured the imagery as well as the attitudes and feelings of the characters he brilliantly brought to life. The storyline was a very intriguing and tantalising one, and David Fulmer did a wonderful job of maintaining the suspense and tension -- even if things slowed down a little towards the end of the book. All in all, in spite of certain shortcomings, I found "Rampart Street" to be a ve