New Orleans, 1919. As music fills the city, a serial killer strikes . . .
Ray Celestin lives in London. He studied Asian art and languages at university and is a script writer for film and TV, as well as publishing several short stories. The Axeman's Jazz, which was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award, is his first novel.
The evocative prose brings the jazz-filled, mob-ruled 'Big Easy' of
pre-prohibition America to life in glorious effect with a story
full of suspense and intrigue. Stunning
*Sunday Express*
A rewarding crime novel, swinging its way to a terrifying
denouement with all the panache of a New Orleans marching band . .
. An excellent debut
*The Times*
A fascinating portrait of a vibrant and volatile city and a
riveting read
*Guardian*
Gripping . . . Celestin smartly evokes the atmosphere of 1919 New
Orleans, and a city dominated by music and the mob.
*Sunday Times*
Based on a true story . . . this thriller blends voodoo, gangsters
and jazz into an intoxicating mix
*Sunday Mirror*
Outstanding
*Daily Telegraph*
A clever and utterly believable procedural with a suitably grisly
killer, set in a brilliant and vibrant historical background
*Crime Review*
The best debut I've read this year
*Scotsman, Crime Books of the Year*
Superb.
*Guardian Crime Books of the Year*
Celestin has skilfully woven around the facts a clever story of
three detectives who, in different ways and for different motives,
set out to find the murderer. He brilliantly portrays the mood of a
city under a siege of fear. Fictional musicians mix with the real
jazz artists of the period, not least Louis Armstrong.
*The Times, Crime Books of the Year*
With such unlikely figures as Oscar Wilde being dragooned as
sleuths in crime fiction, perhaps jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong is
not such a stretch - Ray Celestin's debut novel places him as one
of a group on the trail of a serial axe murderer in early
20th-century New Orleans. The Axeman's Jazz quickly gleaned awards,
sporting an acute sense of period shored up by an evocation of the
sound of early jazz - no easy thing on the printed page. There's a
challenge for this writer: how does he follow this up?
*Independent Crime Books of the Year*
An absolute must for true crime fanatics.
*Refinery29*
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