Book excerpt: As the third Storyville mystery begins, Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr has just returned to New Orleans. Having only recently solved the case of the jass murders, he is drawn reluctantly into the investigation of a new murderthat of a well-to-do gentleman on seedy Rampart Street. When another wealthy society man turns up dead, the detective learns that the two victims were acquainted years ago. In a spider s web of coincidence, the second murder has been witnessedor has it'by the man who s now keeping Justine, Valentin s old girlfriend, as his paramour. Valentin probes deeper even as the city s most powerful leaders pressure him to drop the investigation. What could he be getting close to, and what nerves might he unwittingly strike?David Fulmer has created a heart-pounding mystery in this, his soulful detective s most dangerous case yet."