The Axeman’s Jazz by Ray Celestin
Apr. 27th, 2014 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
”If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people.
One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe …”
New Orleans, 1919.
As a dark serial killer – The Axeman – stalks the city, three individuals set out to unmask him …
Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot, heading up the official investigation, is struggling to find leads. But Michael has a grave secret – and if he doesn’t get himself on the right track fast it could be exposed …
A former detective fresh out of prison, Luca d’Andrea is back working with the mafia, whose need to solve the mystery is every bit as urgent as the authorities’.
Meanwhile, Ida is a secretary at the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and dreaming of a better life, Ida stumbles across a clue which lures her and her musician friend Louis Armstrong to the case – and into terrible danger …
New Orleans, 1919. A crazed axeman is murdering members of the city’s Italian population and leaving tarot cards at the scene.
Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot’s convinced that the mafia are responsible but he’s short on leads and if he fails to catch his man, the higher-ups will expose his secrets to justify making him their sacrificial lamb. The last thing he needs is for his former mentor, Luca d’Angelo (who Talbor helped put behind bars) be released from prison. Out of money and low on options, Luca accepts a job offer from his mafia connections who want him to find out who the axeman is before the authorities use it as an excuse to shut them down. Then there’s Ida Davis, a mixed race girl who passes for white and who works as a secretary for the local Pinkerton Detective Agency. Ida’s ambitious to become a detective herself and enlists the help of local cornet player Lewis Armstrong to find the culprit.
As the axeman continues his deadly work, a deadly hurricane closes in on the Big Easy and Talbot, Luca and Ida find their paths crossing on a night that will change the city forever …
Ray Celestin’s debut historical crime novel is an assured, sophisticated story that’s based on a true crime and delves into the mix of corruption, music and racism that characterised New Orleans during this period. The scenes carry a sense of time and place without being bogged down in exposition and the dialogue has a crisp edge to it in keeping with the period. However I’m not sure that the inclusion of Louis Armstrong as a character really adds anything that couldn’t equally be achieved by a fictional character and Michael’s secret seems to be awfully well known among the police and media, making my question its effectiveness as a motivation. That said I did enjoy the story and particularly liked the way Celestin has his investigators come at the truth from their own respective worlds that only they can navigate. I also felt a great deal of empathy for Ida – an intelligent, mixed-race woman who can pass for white and whose love of detective fiction has given her a burning ambition to bring the guilty to justice. The ending leaves a set-up for a sequel and on the basis of this novel, I would definitely want to read on.
The Verdict:
Ray Celestin’s debut historical crime novel is an assured, sophisticated story that’s based on a true crime and delves into the mix of corruption, music and racism that characterised New Orleans during this period. The scenes carry a sense of time and place without being bogged down in exposition and the dialogue has a crisp edge to it in keeping with the period. However I’m not sure that the inclusion of Louis Armstrong as a character really adds anything that couldn’t equally be achieved by a fictional character and Michael’s secret seems to be awfully well known among the police and media, making my question its effectiveness as a motivation. That said I did enjoy the story and particularly liked the way Celestin has his investigators come at the truth from their own respective worlds that only they can navigate. I also felt a great deal of empathy for Ida – an intelligent, mixed-race woman who can pass for white and whose love of detective fiction has given her a burning ambition to bring the guilty to justice. The ending leaves a set-up for a sequel and on the basis of this novel, I would definitely want to read on.
THE AXEMAN’S JAZZ is released in the United Kingdom on 8th May 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe …”
New Orleans, 1919.
As a dark serial killer – The Axeman – stalks the city, three individuals set out to unmask him …
Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot, heading up the official investigation, is struggling to find leads. But Michael has a grave secret – and if he doesn’t get himself on the right track fast it could be exposed …
A former detective fresh out of prison, Luca d’Andrea is back working with the mafia, whose need to solve the mystery is every bit as urgent as the authorities’.
Meanwhile, Ida is a secretary at the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and dreaming of a better life, Ida stumbles across a clue which lures her and her musician friend Louis Armstrong to the case – and into terrible danger …
New Orleans, 1919. A crazed axeman is murdering members of the city’s Italian population and leaving tarot cards at the scene.
Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot’s convinced that the mafia are responsible but he’s short on leads and if he fails to catch his man, the higher-ups will expose his secrets to justify making him their sacrificial lamb. The last thing he needs is for his former mentor, Luca d’Angelo (who Talbor helped put behind bars) be released from prison. Out of money and low on options, Luca accepts a job offer from his mafia connections who want him to find out who the axeman is before the authorities use it as an excuse to shut them down. Then there’s Ida Davis, a mixed race girl who passes for white and who works as a secretary for the local Pinkerton Detective Agency. Ida’s ambitious to become a detective herself and enlists the help of local cornet player Lewis Armstrong to find the culprit.
As the axeman continues his deadly work, a deadly hurricane closes in on the Big Easy and Talbot, Luca and Ida find their paths crossing on a night that will change the city forever …
Ray Celestin’s debut historical crime novel is an assured, sophisticated story that’s based on a true crime and delves into the mix of corruption, music and racism that characterised New Orleans during this period. The scenes carry a sense of time and place without being bogged down in exposition and the dialogue has a crisp edge to it in keeping with the period. However I’m not sure that the inclusion of Louis Armstrong as a character really adds anything that couldn’t equally be achieved by a fictional character and Michael’s secret seems to be awfully well known among the police and media, making my question its effectiveness as a motivation. That said I did enjoy the story and particularly liked the way Celestin has his investigators come at the truth from their own respective worlds that only they can navigate. I also felt a great deal of empathy for Ida – an intelligent, mixed-race woman who can pass for white and whose love of detective fiction has given her a burning ambition to bring the guilty to justice. The ending leaves a set-up for a sequel and on the basis of this novel, I would definitely want to read on.
The Verdict:
Ray Celestin’s debut historical crime novel is an assured, sophisticated story that’s based on a true crime and delves into the mix of corruption, music and racism that characterised New Orleans during this period. The scenes carry a sense of time and place without being bogged down in exposition and the dialogue has a crisp edge to it in keeping with the period. However I’m not sure that the inclusion of Louis Armstrong as a character really adds anything that couldn’t equally be achieved by a fictional character and Michael’s secret seems to be awfully well known among the police and media, making my question its effectiveness as a motivation. That said I did enjoy the story and particularly liked the way Celestin has his investigators come at the truth from their own respective worlds that only they can navigate. I also felt a great deal of empathy for Ida – an intelligent, mixed-race woman who can pass for white and whose love of detective fiction has given her a burning ambition to bring the guilty to justice. The ending leaves a set-up for a sequel and on the basis of this novel, I would definitely want to read on.
THE AXEMAN’S JAZZ is released in the United Kingdom on 8th May 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
