The Axeman stalks the streets of New Orleans…

In a town filled with gangsters, voodoo, and jazz trumpets sounding from the dance halls, a sense of intoxicating mystery often beckons from the back alleys. But when a serial killer roams the sultry nights, even the corrupt cops can’t see the clues. That is, until a letter from the Axeman himself is published in the newspaper, proclaiming that any home playing jazz music will be spared in his next attack.

Such brass invites a chase, and not just from the cryptic detective running the show. The New Orleans of 1919 is a place like no other, where the corruption runs deep and the bourbon rolls smooth, and control of this city is a prize only a fool would give up. Based on a true story, The Axeman brings to life the vibrant, volatile New Orleans of the Jazz Age, filled with as much desperate ambition as utter fear.

I purchased a copy of this book for my own reading.

This book gave me Jack the Ripper in the Big Easy vibes, so it was a must read for me. New Orleans – check. Serial killer – check. Corruption in the police – check. Amateur sleuths looking to crack the case – check. On paper, The Axeman’s Jazz was ticking all of the boxes for me.

I was not disappointed in any way with this read. The version of New Orleans Celestin portrays certainly nods to the liveliness and vibrancy that I imagine the city to have, but the bulk of this version is much darker and more gritty. Grisly murders abound, with an unseen assailant stalking seemingly innocent victims. The crime is being investigated by multiple parties. The first is the police, filled with corruption and politics. The we have an aspiring Pinkerton investigator and her friend, a young Louis Armstrong. And finally, we have an ex-detective who was imprisoned for corruption and working with the Mafia.

These three main threads work really well, uncovering different elements of the crime from different perspectives. It means that, as the reader, we get to enjoy the full story, with every piece of evidence or false lead uncovered to us, while the three protagonists try to solve the crime with parts of the story missing from their perspective.

There is a wonderful undercurrent that ties the full story together making for an enjoyable, gritty crime thriller in a wonderful location.

My rating: