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A review by jennjuniper
Dead Man's Blues by Ray Celestin
4.0
One of my favourite crime novels of recent years was The Axeman's Jazz, Celestin's vivid portrait of 1919 New Orleans, splashed in gore, murder, racism, jazz, romance, noise and colour. You don't have to have read it to read this follow-up, but I urge you to - firstly because it's a brilliant read, and secondly because you'll be able to appreciate Dead Man's Blues as more than just a brilliant mystery, but as the second volume in a series of books charting the rise and fall of crime in the early twentieth century.
Onto the slightly smaller picture, then: 1928 Chicago, firmly in the grip of Al Capone and his fellow gangsters, and in the grip of a sweltering summer. A set of disparate crimes are being investigated - by the police, by the Pinkertons, and by Capone's men. At first, they all seem like separate tragedies in the large, unforgiving city, but then the threads start coming together, and there's much, much more going on.
Celestin is a great writer, letting the story unfold at its own pace, but keeping you turning the pages to find out more. He masterfully juggles the different characters and different storylines without letting the tension slacken or everyone's personalities seem too similar, and what emerges is a dark, unsettling, brutal snapshot of a city strangled by its own crimelords. Celestin is fantastic at evoking atmosphere and setting, at creating realistic characters with all their shades of grey, and his writing is wonderful: luscious, detailed and rich.
If you have read The Axeman's Jazz, then you'll be as glad as I was to meet several of our protagonists again, ten years older and living very different lives in Chicago. One of these, of course, is Louis Armstrong - an addition to both books that could seem gimmicky, but in situ actually fits in perfectly. Music is something woven seamlessly throughout the plot, forming a rich tapestry of life and death in 1920s America.
Dead Man's Blues is a sharp, dark, intelligent historical crime novel, peopled with vivid, believable characters and finally culminating in a breathless finale. Read it on its own for an enjoyable, smart thriller, or join me in waiting for the next part of what is shaping up to be one of the best crime - and historical - fiction series in recent years. I can't wait!
Onto the slightly smaller picture, then: 1928 Chicago, firmly in the grip of Al Capone and his fellow gangsters, and in the grip of a sweltering summer. A set of disparate crimes are being investigated - by the police, by the Pinkertons, and by Capone's men. At first, they all seem like separate tragedies in the large, unforgiving city, but then the threads start coming together, and there's much, much more going on.
Celestin is a great writer, letting the story unfold at its own pace, but keeping you turning the pages to find out more. He masterfully juggles the different characters and different storylines without letting the tension slacken or everyone's personalities seem too similar, and what emerges is a dark, unsettling, brutal snapshot of a city strangled by its own crimelords. Celestin is fantastic at evoking atmosphere and setting, at creating realistic characters with all their shades of grey, and his writing is wonderful: luscious, detailed and rich.
If you have read The Axeman's Jazz, then you'll be as glad as I was to meet several of our protagonists again, ten years older and living very different lives in Chicago. One of these, of course, is Louis Armstrong - an addition to both books that could seem gimmicky, but in situ actually fits in perfectly. Music is something woven seamlessly throughout the plot, forming a rich tapestry of life and death in 1920s America.
Dead Man's Blues is a sharp, dark, intelligent historical crime novel, peopled with vivid, believable characters and finally culminating in a breathless finale. Read it on its own for an enjoyable, smart thriller, or join me in waiting for the next part of what is shaping up to be one of the best crime - and historical - fiction series in recent years. I can't wait!