A review by xander1894
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin

3.0

A really interesting setting – New Orleans just after WW1 and just before prohibition kicks in, with jazz music starting to become more mainstream. A series of gruesome, clinically executed murders are being investigated three ways: A disillusioned veteran detective and his rookie sidekick; an inquisitive private detective and her friend Louis Armstrong (yes, as in the young jazz musician), and a mafia henchman fresh out of prison. All have their own motives for solving the case and preventing more murders, while the city becomes paranoid and consumed by jazz music hoping to ward off more killings. However, the tension built in the first half never really culminates in a satisfying conclusion, and the personality of the axeman is not explored in any way.