The Axeman’s Jazz – Ray Celestin

It is 1919, the Great War is over, and the servicemen are returning. New Orleans is a melting pot of colours, creeds and ethnicities – Negroes, Creoles, Sicilians and Irish all have their place, their culture and segregated communities. The one area they mix in freely is the Old Town where jazz music is emerging, drink is flowing and illicit sex is for sale.

The shadow over them all is a serial killer on the loose whose modus operandi is brutal, bludgeoning his victims with an axe, always left at the scene, always accompanied by a different tarot card inserted into the gaping wound. So far the dead have all been Italian shopkeepers so the involvement of the local mafia, the Family, is suspected, whether as target, perpetrator or both.

Three people are on the Axeman’s trail: Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot is given the unenviable task of leading the police investigation; Luca D’Andrea, ex-detective, ex-con (just released after serving five years for his corrupt mafia connections) is commissioned by the head of the Family to find out who is targeting his organisation; and Ida Davis, aspiring Pinkerton detective (though currently their office girl on the spot), wants to solve the case to prove she is worthy of promotion to an operational role.

Each has a different way into the web of clues and deception. Talbot can use official police files and intelligence; Luca has access to the Sicilian underworld; and Ida, helped by talented young cornet player Lewis Armstrong (who maybe became Louis Armstrong), can engage with the black community inaccessible to the others. Of course they each have their personal issues to resolve as well. Much more than justice depends on the outcome of the chase.

More people get hacked to death before the three pursuers (largely working in ignorance of each other) start to close in. The climax is heightened when the rain begins to fall and a hurricane blows in. Who, if anyone, will catch the Axeman; how will the aftermath of the chase change their lives?

It is a good atmospheric read to find out. The three pronged investigation is an interesting and (for me) novel approach in the genre; however keeping track of which of them knows what and when is a challenge. The immersion in the location is total and the research seems meticulous (the events are based on fact – a serial killer did terrorise New Orleans in 1918-19) so this would be a great book to read while visiting the Big Easy. And it is a pretty good one even if stuck at home.

Manhood for Amateurs – Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon is best known for his offbeat novels – such as ‘The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay’, and ‘The Yiddish Policemen’s Union’ – but here he is in self-reflective mode as he sets out his thoughts on the male condition.

The sub-title says it all – the pleasures and regrets of a husband, father and son. And in a sequence of forty or so short essays he covers a lot of ground, extrapolating from his own experiences to reach conclusions, or inconclusive bewilderment, as appropriate.

Although he’s Jewish (albeit secular) and American, his experiences resonate with this British, slightly older, atheist – maybe because I too am a son, husband and father. Even where the common language divides our nations (a murse turning out to be a man’s purse, i.e. a manbag) the observations are spot-on.

To give a flavour he writes of childhood passions (Lego & comic books) and adult dilemmas (what to do with your children’s all too prolific but largely bad artwork); first loves and lasting loves; and the pains and pleasures of growing up and growing old.

The style is understated and the humour wry and self-depreciating, earning this volume a deserved and not inappropriate permanent place on the bookshelf next to the similarly gifted and perceptive Alan Bennett and Bill Bryson.