The Dying Crapshooter's Blues

A strong narrating talent takes the stage in this riveting story of sex, violence, and prejudice in 1920s' Atlanta. Dion Graham ignites vocal fireworks as he recreates author David Fulmer's decadent universe. Graham uses his rumbling bass for the hard, rough men and softens his delivery for the sexy, duplicitous women. A climactic confrontation between hero Joe Rose and the police puts listeners right in the room. Graham's portrayal of the hardheaded policeman called "the Captain" sends chills down the spine. Also enjoyable is Graham's a cappella singing of the sad song created by a blind singer-songwriter. Miss this mystery, and you'll be singing the blues. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

October 30, 2006
In this departure from his New Orleans novels featuring Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr (Rampart Street
, etc.), Fulmer paints the sprawling vitality of 1920s Atlanta with broad strokes. Joe Rose, an itinerant love 'em and leave 'em–style thief of uncertain racial extraction who moves uneasily in both black and white Atlanta, finds himself in the middle of a murderous mess that highlights the city's rampant racism and corruption as well as the stark contrasts between privilege and poverty. A white cop guns down a Negro gambler, Little Jesse Williams, while a jewelry robbery mars a Yuletide party at one of Atlanta's finest mansions on the other side of town. Joe gets caught in a vise operated by a brutal detective, Capt. Grayton Jackson, intent on "solving" the crime in the quickest way possible. Little Jesse expires over the course of days, Joe promises to discover why he was shot and the odious Jackson squeezes Joe to recover the stolen jewels or pay the price for the crime. Occasionally florid writing clouds this otherwise vital effort from Shamus-winner Fulmer.