After two stand-alones, Fulmer returns to his Valentin St. Cyr series, set in turn-of-the-century New Orleans. St. Cyr, the Creole detective, has sworn off his life as a fixer for Storyville boss Tom Anderson, hoping to cement his relationship with former prostitute Justine. Then bodies start turning up around Storyville's high-class brothels, and St. Cyr is drawn back into his old life. But are the murders only catnip to lure the Creole into a deadly trap? Fulmer tends to rework familiar themes?St. Cyr's determination to escape Storyville, for example?but his feel for atmosphere and his increasingly subtle hand with character development keep the series from going stale. The latter is particularly evident this time in Fulmer's more rounded portrayals of the aging Anderson, his run as de facto mayor of Storyville nearly over, and the steel-willed Justine, the one-time prostitute determined to find a new life, even it means giving up St. Cyr. Early on, this series' main appeal was its setting, but now it can hold its own with the most character-driven of historical mysteries.
