The Axeman’s jazz

Sometimes the best book encounters you can make are not planned. The Azeman’s jazz was one of them. I saw the cover and I had to get it. Does the title ring a bell ? Can you guess where the action takes place ? I can give you another hint : Louis Armstrong…

You’ve guessed right : The Big Easy, Nola for the friends. New-Orleans, back in 1919. This is where Ray Celestin takes us for his first novel. The Axeman was a serial killer who really existed and killed 6 people between 1918  and 1919. The man was never arrested mais his killing spree became famous. The man used an ax to murder his victims and dropped a tarot card on their corpse. The cards were the ones used in the voodoo. He also wrote a long letter to the newspapers where he threatened to kill anyone who would not be out listening to jazz on the carnival night.

The medias eventually published it and spread fear and animosity, especially amongst the Italians, because most of the victims were Sicilians. And for the population, as well as the medias, the Axeman had to be a black man.

Out of this sordid story, Ray Celestin has managed to mix fiction and reality. The real stuff being the city of New-Orleans at that time. After the war, and when Prohibition was slowly making its way, the city of liberty was forced to shutdown one of his most famous quarters : Storyville. Owned by the Sicilian mob, it was a den for villains and known for its brothels and gambling dens.  The magic was nonetheless still in the air and the author gives us a great thriller, a true page-turner while portraying the Big Easy in a fascinating way.

Let me introduce you to the main characters of this novel : the city first, built on marshes, below the sea level, it had been through its shares of misfortunes : tornados, hurricanes, epidemics of flu or cholera. The dead were buried above the ground and led to their last dwelling by brass bands.

Though segregation is the law, the borders of New-Orleans between the communities were brittle and malleable. Here you’ll find Sicilians, a few people from Irish or German descents, the Cajuns and the Creoles and in the slums, the children and grand children of  the former plantation slaves.

A few characters decide to solve the crimes : Michael Talbot, the lead investigator on this case, John Riley, a journalist, Ida, a secretary working in a private detective agency and Luca d’Andrea, a former bad cop, put behind bars by Talbot and just set free. His orders to solve this mystery come directly from the local mafia boss. See ? Here no downtime.

For a first novel, one must acknowledge how well the rhythm is controlled, you always know where you are and the personal stories of each character create a mosaic portrait of the city. I won’t tell you their secrets. Up to you to discover them.

I have to let you know that the author has brought an unuasal guest to this story : Ida’s best friend. He tags along her in this story, because Ida believes that her boss works for the local mafia. His name ? Louis Armstrong. Yep ! Well, some may say that it wasn’t necessary for the plot and they’re probably right. But Louis Armstrong is definitely a part of Nola’s history. He was born there in 1901, growing up very poor, and pandhandling in Storyville as a kid, playing the cornet. So who knows, maybe, Louis (pronounced the French way Loo-ee) met the Axeman while he was begging on the streets ?!

This book is just an amazing cocktail : bad cops and jazz music to witch you add a hint of voodo and a slice of mafia. A great page-turner and a vivid recollection of this era.

I love New-Orleans, I’ve visited it three times and I have to admit that it was pretty exciting to travel in time to that post-war period when the city was still growing.

So why don’t you take a chance and jump into it as well ? This a well-mastered first novel, a great thriller with all the good ingredients. From the French quarter to the slums, you’ll see the real deal of Nola where the magic still works and you’ll keep hearing that little music, the same one which rhythms the life and death of the Orleannais, and soon enough your heart will be beating along with it.