In 1982, Fusilli was hired by Dow Jones & Company, in its Corporate Relations department with responsibility for employee communications.
In 2009, Fusilli was appointed The Wall Street Journal’s rock-and-pop critic, the first in its history, and wrote a weekly column for its Arts section until 2018.
[3] The first in a mystery series featuring the private detective Terry Orr and his daughter Bella, Closing Time was published by Penguin Putnam on September 10, 2001.
Subsequently, the sequel, A Well-Known Secret, was the first novel set in New York following the attacks; it addresses the impact on the city, the Tribeca neighborhood and the psyche of the reoccurring characters.
In January 2024, his novel The Price You Pay,[6] informed in large part by his experiences as a young Teamster, will be published by Down & Out Books.
He edited and contributed to the anthologies The Chopin Manuscript, The Copper Bracelet and Crime Plus Music: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir.
His anthology Brutal & Strange: Stories Based on the Songs of Elvis Costello, featuring Mark Billingham, Peter Blauner, Meg Gardiner, Catriona McPherson, George Pelecanos, Gary Phillips and others, was published by Down & Out Books in December 2023.