Shadow Boxer: A Billy Nichols Novel

Billy Nichols #2

by Eddie Muller

In Shadow Boxer, Billy is back on the beat for the San Francisco Inquirer. But his problems are hardly behind him. A man's in jail, accused of murder. But did he do it? By aiding a beguiling woman, Billy stumbles on evidence that could exonerate the defendant, who only months before was one of the town's top fight promoters. One big problem - the victim was Billy's secret lover, and he has no desire to help set her killer free.
But once his reporter's instincts kick in, Billy can't let go of a twisting trail of suspense that stretches from Tenderloin fight clubs to Marina district mansions, from mountain retreats to the Hall of Justice. He squares off with an intriguing cast of a bombastic novelties promoter, a former colleague turned muckraking lawyer, a society doyenne on the skids, a crooked booze distributor, a shifty deputy DA, an opera-crooning pugilist, a homespun abortionist, a crafty and celebrated defense attorney, a murderous stalker - and the unfathomable Virginia Wagner, a leggy legal secretary with many more secrets than just the gun in her handbag.

Genres: Noir, Mystery, Sports, Fiction, Crime, Historical Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2003

About the author

EDDIE MULLER is a second generation San Franciscan, product of a lousy public school education, a couple of crazy years in art school, and too much time in newspaper offices and sporting arenas. No college, but he's compensated by always hanging around smarter people, an effortless feat typically accomplished in bars.

Despite repeated warnings, he followed in his father's footsteps, earning a living as a print journalist for sixteen years. No scoops, no big prizes, but he left behind a thoroughly abused expense account that got him into (and out of) various intriguing parts of the world.

His career as an ink-stained fourth estate wretch sidetracked Muller's early goal of becoming a filmmaker. A stint in George Kuchar's notorious "narrative filmmaking" class at the San Francisco Art Institute in the late 1970s resulted in the creation of a 14-minute, 16mm hommage to Raymond Chandler called Bay City Blues, one of five national finalists for the 1979 Student Academy Award. He also appeared as an actor in several Kuchar movies of the period.

Since 1998 Muller has devoted himself full-time to projects that pique his interest, ranging from the creation of a Historical Boxing Museum, to a fully illustrated history of Adults Only movies, to acting as co-writer and -producer of one of the first completely digital theatrical documentaries, Mau Mau Sex Sex. He created his own graphics firm, St. Francis Studio, which enables him to design, as well as write, his non-fiction books. He has achieved much acclaim for his three books on film noir, earning the nickname "The Czar of Noir."

His father, the original Eddie Muller (he's not a junior— long story, don't ask), was a renown sportswriter for the San Francisco Examiner who earned the nickname "Mr. Boxing" during his 52-year run. The senior Muller served as inspiration for the character of Billy Nichols, the protagonist of the younger Muller's two critically acclaimed novels, The Distance (2002) and Shadow Boxer (2003).

Eddie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Kathleen Maria Milne.

Reviews

[Bernard Norcott-mahany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muller knows a lot about the fight game, and he knows a lot about film noir and the pulp fiction that served as its screenplays. And so him writing novels about a boxing sportswriter who finds himself in fixes that he has to use his skills as journalist and his connections in the boxing and news world makes a lot of sense.
That said, though there are several clever turns of phrase in the novel, the overall tone lacked the harsh poetry of the best of hard-boiled fiction.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second Billy Nichols tale picks up where the first, The Distance, ended. The man accused of murder at the end of that story asks for Billy's help. He says he's being framed, an account that makes Billy's reporter instincts kick in, especially as he meets up with a group of desperate characters. As with the first book, multiple conspiracies are uncovered. Billy again must avoid suspicion about himself. This is the rare sequel that actually feels necessary. If you like The Distance, make sure to pick up Shadow Boxer as well. The only bad thing about this book is that Muller has not written any other Billy Nichols books in nearly 20 years.

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

That 'slightly unfinished feeling' that I came away from The Distance with was wiped out when I read this story because it's pretty much a direct continuation of the previous book. It expands and enhances what has gone before whilst finding new things to explore.

Once again I put off reading this book because of the boxing background, but that's all that the boxing is: background. There's even less direct coverage of boxing in this book, it just sets the scene for a great noirish story of 1940s San Francisco.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadow Boxer is the second novel featuring Billy Nichols, a San Francisco boxing writer in the 1940's. Written by the host of Noir Alley on the Turner Classic Movies channel, Eddie Muller is an acknowledged expert in film noir, writing several books on the genre. This, his second novel, is historical fiction set in the heart of the first noir era, 1948, in which a boxing columnist gets dragged into the murder trial of a man who framed him, and then gets dragged deeper in. Shadow Boxer is well and cleverly written. It's entertaining, featuring a decent Chinatown-type story with some good patter. Almost too good, too clean, too perfect, without the rough edges seen in novels of the time. Although set in the 40's it doesn't really have the feel of an old hardboiled detective novel, being too smart and too slick. Of course our hero is not a detective, nor particularly hardboiled. As Billy Nichols is a boxing columnist (as was Muller's father) I kept thinking at some key moment he was going to pull a right hook out of left field, but nope. Shadow Boxer just didn't quite touch the heart, didn't stir my emotions. I may well be missing something, however, as the story apparently follows directly after the narrative in Muller's first novel, The Distance (2002), which I haven't read. But for which I'm now scouring the charity shops. [3½★]

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need more
The second Billy Nichols book was great. It held my interest till the last page. I need more! Please, Eddie Muller, write another novel. And this book contains a huge surprise that you won't see coming.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

good hard-boiled detective yarn

[Steve Vander · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd book in the Billy Nichols series; Historical Mystery.

Eddie Muller is the son of a newspaper reporter, and that background really helped him create a very well described late 1940s California scene (at least I thought he was, though his official website does not note this fact in his biography). Muller's first book in the series, The Distance, has won the Shamus Award, the Mystery Ink Gumshoe Award for Best first Novel and was nominated for the Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards. A non-fiction work that Muller apparently worked on between the Nichols books was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity awards (The Art of Noir). Unfortunately, his second Billy Nichols book is seemingly lacking in nominations or awards (and none of his other books has so far been nominated for anything).

The first book was deeply involved in Nichols working as "Mr. Boxing," the premier boxing journalist in California. The second book, on the other hand, while including some boxing activity, has Nichols submerge himself into the world of financial/business journalism. The man who Nichols helped put in jail was apparently involved in a financial fraud/scam in California, involving some high ranking people (or at least highly regarded people). Nichols, though reluctant to help Burney Sanders, decides to examine the situation and acquires help along the way from one of the best financial journalist of the era (though he is now working outside journalism). Along the way Nichols ends up trying to help Sanders former secretary, who apparently had fled the scene when the trouble started in the first book.

A very detailed, imaginative historical noir book that is not as good as the first book in the series (the first book was given 4.60 stars out of 5; the second barely makes it over 4 stars).

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great noir read. I like the twist where Billy Nichols, the protagonist, isn't a detective, cop or regular journalist, but rather a SF boxing beat writer. Also he really isn't a tough guy like the typical protagonists in noir fiction. The action, language, gritty feel are all straight noir and the writing is actually better than most noir fiction.

I'm going to check out the first Billy Nichols novel, The Distance, and really hope Muller releases more Nichols novels in the future.

I totally recommend this if you have any interest in noir!