Tribeca Blues [Hardcover]

Thank you. TRIBECA BLUES is the third of Fusilli's novels to feature Terry Orr. Orr is by turns a novelist, an erstwhile pro bono private investigator and occasionally hapless father --- a man quietly but severely damaged by the death of his wife and infant son. You can probably experience TRIBECA BLUES without reading CLOSING TIME and A WELL-KEPT SECRET, but sledding through TRIBECA BLUES is a bit easier if you read its predecessors first. You also will be able to fully appreciate how good Fusilli has been right out of the gate and how he seems to be developing into such a great writer that we may need to start creating new adjectives to describe what he is doing.

TRIBECA BLUES begins with Orr and Bella, his (precocious, but not overly so) 15-year-old daughter gently interacting, a scene that is a prelude to the death of a close friend of Orr. Orr's friend leaves him a bequest and a request, one that takes Orr, Bella and their friends to New Orleans for a funeral and the beginning of a quest to bring Orr's friend the justice that was denied him during his life. While in New Orleans, Orr is advised that the mother of Raymond Weisz, the man suspected of murdering Orr's wife and son, has passed away. Orr immediately returns to New York City to attend the funeral, believing that Weisz will be compelled to attend his mother's funeral, if only to assure himself that she is dead. The funeral becomes a catalyst for Orr's discovery that everything he knew about his wife and her death seems to be dreadfully, horribly wrong. It also dovetails into Orr's quest on behalf of his late friend.

All is told before the backdrop of New York City, a place that Orr (and Fusilli) knows quite well. Orr in fact personifies the city, as both are badly damaged by tragedy. Both are surviving, existing and even to some extent thriving, but forever damaged and forever changed in ways both known and yet to be. TRIBECA BLUES answers some questions and raises new ones. The only constants for Orr and his city are sorrow and hope.

Fusilli is simply incredible. He never goes for the easy shot, choosing instead to quietly aim for the moon and stars and hitting them every single time. His intimate knowledge of his locales is not limited to New York City either. While his characters journey to the French Quarter during their New Orleans visit, Fusilli wisely pulls back from making the area the focal point of their business, focusing instead on The Warehouse and Garden Districts. Fusilli's reference in TRIBECA BLUES to Meyer the Hatter --- a fedora shop tucked away on St. Charles Street --- demonstrates not only a knowledge of but also a love of New Orleans as he captures a detail that only those who know the city well would appreciate.

Fusilli is that rare writer who both created and fulfilled the promise of greatness with his first novel. TRIBECA BLUES continues the fulfillment of that promise and the ongoing creation of a new legend. Very highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Leo wanted Terry to find his wife so she could face justice. Lenore caused their flourishing restaurant to go into bankruptcy because she embezzled company funds. Terry has every intention of fulfilling Leo's last request but while he is in New Orleans he gets a fax stating Weisz's mother died. Believing that his family's killer will finally show at the funeral, Terry rushes back to New York City. As he talks to a person who had seen the subway killings of Terry's family members, the witness is murdered. As Terry searches for Raymond, he begins to learn the truth to that deadly incident five years ago and why Leo's reputation and happiness was destroyed.

The protagonist of TRIBECA BLUES, a man readers have come to care about, conducts two different investigations in his own quixotic manner. Having a private investigator's license doesn't harden the man nor does the tragedy that haunts him or seeing the dark side of humanity. Instead it allows Terry to take action and feel he is part of making the world a better place. Jim Fusilli gives his audience an insider's look at the Big Apple he loves so much and come to understand why he loves the city that never sleeps.

Harriet Klausner