THE BLUE DOOR

A boxer past his prime stumbles into a dangerous and colorful new gig as a private detective.

Philadelphia, 1962. On his way home from another losing bout, welterweight Eddie Cero scares off a couple of greaseballs who are threatening an elderly man in an alley. By way of thanks, the colorful would-be victim, Salvatore “Sal” Giambroni, takes Eddie out for a drink and gently persuades the intermittently employed palooka to work for him at SG Confidential Investigations. Eddie starts small, learning the tedious ins and outs of routine cases and even cleaning Sal’s office. He gets some professional traction via his modest fame in the ring. Before long, Eddie finds himself ensnared in a complicated murder plot connected to Philadelphia’s burgeoning music industry. At a hot club called the Blue Door, where he’s been sent to keep an eye on a bartender suspected of theft, Eddie falls under the spell of brittle young Valerie Pope of the Excels, a once-rising group of singers whose leader, Valerie’s brother Johnny, disappeared without a trace three years ago. Eddie finds himself intrigued by both the girl and the mystery.

Leisurely and atmospheric. Fulmer seems most intent on creating Eddie’s quirky world, perhaps in preparation for further episodes. Eddie’s exploits might do for the American Bandstand–era City of Brotherly Love what Fulmer’s Storyville series (Rampart Street, 2006, etc.) did for Jazz Age New Orleans.