Reviews

The Axeman's Jazz serves first and foremost as a murder mystery novel. But, secondly, it serves as a love letter to the brilliant city of New Orleans. With its evocative imagery, and it's refreshingly vibrant cast of characters, this is an explosive novel. One that's told with tight, sharp prose, and is even loosely based around real events.

The greatest strength this book has to offer is its atmosphere. Celestin has brought to life New Orleans, from the bustling city streets, to the grime caked back alleys, the neighborhoods full of suspicion and the taverns and bars where mobsters roam, it all feels so fantastically alive. The people of this city are so richly woven into the novel, they become an integral part of the storytelling.

What an absolutely brilliant way to debut, and to set up what is hopefully a cracking mystery series

romonko's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book set in 1919 New Orleans is one of the creepiest and most atmospheric books I've ever read. The characters are very well-drawn and the plot goes along at a breakneck pace in three or four different directions while all of New Orleans is trying to find the killer who is stalking their city and killing families with an axe. The police are trying to capture the killer, and Lieutenant Michael Talbot and his team think it is the mafiosos that are arranging the killers. A young woman, who happens to be a friend of a young Louis Armstrong, is trying to earn her bones as a Pinkerton investigator, and she enters into a different criminal empire that is not the mafioso, but it is run by a particularly ruthless man who has been in charge of the brothels in Storyville in New Orleans for years, and former Lieutenant Luca d'Andrea who has just been released from prison where he has spent the last five years, arrested because of his connection to the Mafia and the things that he did while in the force for his Mafia friends. d'Andrea has been hired by the Mafia to find the axe killer, and he is working with a different set of suspects. d'Andrea is on a different tack all together and his is based on history and revenge killing appears to be the motive from long ago atrocities. Each thinks they have found their suspect, but actually only one is the right solution On the night when a big flood hits New Orleans after many days of rain, all three sleuths are faced with death, each by their chosen suspect. Only one is right, and is the truth going to come out and the proper suspect put into prison? This is definitely a page-turner of a book, and I love the setting and the time-frame. It's all here -- a keep you up at night kind of thriller, and I highly recommend it. Keep your head in the game as you read because there are more red herrings than I've ever seen in any one book.

reubengood's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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