The Blue Door (Eddie Cero) by David Fulmer

David Fulmer, better known for his Storyville-series introduces us to 2 new characters, based in Philly: boxer Eddie Cero and PI Sal Gambrioni.
Eddie saves Sal from being beaten up in an alley and is subsequently hired by Sal to help him out with his PI-work. He shadows a teenage girl and discovers she has some dark secrets. He also gets involved in the search for a missing singer, Johnny Pope and falls in love with Pope’s sister who seems to disagree with his quest.

The picture David paints of sixties Philadelphia and the bars, music scene and racism is incredibly vivid without getting lost in too descriptive scenes that slow the pacing.

It’s interesting to see Eddie evolve into a better investigator and he’s a very likable, ‘real’ character. The writing is nice and hardboiled, really evoking the old days of the genre without getting too pulpy.

I’d love to see Eddie and Sal return!