Ray Celestin's " The Axeman’s Jazz " is one of these thrillers where one
feels slightly cross when you have to get up to do something else. I just could not put this book down!
“The Axeman’s Jazz” is based on real events. Between 1918 and 1919 the Axeman killed 6 people in New Orleans. This very unusual debut absolutely deserved to
win the New Blood Dagger of the “Crimex Thriller Award” as best first novel of
2014. Capturing perfectly the mood and times of New
Orleans in 1919, “The Axeman Jazz” is
about a serial killer stalking the “Big Easy” and three colorful characters setting
out to find the murderer who always
leaves a tarot card by his victim , going as far as announcing his murder
beforehand in the local newspaper proclaiming that those playing Jazz will be
spared. Of course a frenzy ensues.
Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot, reminds me
a bit of a character out of Chandler novels, a melancholic,
decent policemen hiding a secret of this
own who heads up the official murder investigation in a city that is ripe with
intrigues and a corrupt police force.
Enter former detective Luca d’Andrea whose dealings with the Mafia have
earned him some time in the slammer and ruined his career with the police.
Having very little options after leaving prison and being told to resolve the
crime by the mafia, he sets out on a quest that leads him into jazz
bars, Simone, the herbal doctor living in the bayous, backrooms of gambling joints ripe with shady characters and prostitution. Ida is a secretary at the Pinkerton Detective
Agency with high ambitions of her own. When she stumbles across a clue, she
sees this as her one chance to improve her life. Helping to resolve the mystery
of the murder, she enlists the help of her childhood friend Louis
Armstrong. Colorful engaging characters
suck you right in from the beginning of this highly atmospheric, finely woven story and I promise , it takes until the very end before
you get an idea about “who’s done it”.
I hope you will enjoy this riveting
read as much as I did and what is even better, the end gives me hope for a
possible sequel!!!!
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