The Axeman

"Ray Celestin skillfully depicts the desperate revels of that idiosyncratic city and its bizarre legends in his first novel."—The New York Times Book Review

The Axeman stalks the streets of The Big Easy...

New Orleans, 1919: In a town filled with gangsters, voodoo, and jazz trumpets sounding from the dance halls, a sense of intoxicating mystery often beckons from the back alleys. But when a serial killer roams the sultry nights, the corrupt cops can't see the clues. That is, until a letter from the Axeman himself is published in the newspaper, proclaiming that any home playing jazz music will be spared in his next attack.

Three individuals set out to unmask the Axeman: the police detective in charge of the official investigation, who struggles to find any leads; his former boss, newly released from prison and working with the mafia; and a secretary at the Pinkerton Detective Agency who stumbles upon the clues that could change everything…

A chilling and atmospheric serial killer mystery inspired by a true story, The Axeman brings to life the vibrant, volatile New Orleans of the Jazz Age, filled with as much desperate ambition as utter fear.

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 is his first novel.