{"id":934,"date":"2024-11-07T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=934"},"modified":"2024-11-07T14:45:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T14:45:00","slug":"book-review-the-devils-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=934","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Devil\u2019s Jazz"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

The Devil\u2019s Jazz<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Vincent B. \u201cChip\u201d LoCoco<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Mystery, Thriller & Suspense \/ Historical \/ Horror<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798986896335<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 332 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
<\/span>Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n

\n \n
<\/span>Buy from Bookshop<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Peter Hassebroek<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A compelling true-crime-style horror novel about taking down the infamous Axman of New Orleans<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Set in 1918, The Devil\u2019s Jazz<\/em> is tightly tied to the actual events and people surrounding the Axman, New Orleans\u2019s counterpart to Jack the Ripper. The main character is Giancarlo Rabito, a fictional detective based on a real person, who, at the start and on the advice of his doctor, retires. He\u2019s fifty-three and will be missed as a liaison between the police and the Sicilian community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A pair of images unsettle Giancarlo mere hours after he hands in his badge. First, a shadowy vision of the detective\u2019s most regretful professional failure, the Cleaver, holding up his eponymous weapon. Then that evening at the opera, a program cover bearing a picture of the woman at the center of Giancarlo\u2019s earliest murder case. An inauspicious start to retirement:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had to wonder if this would be how he would spend the rest of his days in retirement, haunted by old ghosts.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of getting spooked, Giancarlo is inspired to write about past cases. Not as a memoir but \u201cin the style of a novel, immersing his readers into a world of mystery and intrigue.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Marguerite\u2019s story is a fascinating one of ghostly circumstances, illustrating a key element of Giancarlo\u2019s nature that will be tested later: \u201cPeople began to call her the \u2018Witch of the French Opera House.\u2019 Giancarlo scoffed at the notion, and repeated his mantra: the murderer is just as real as the murdered.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Giancarlo\u2019s old case ruminations are interrupted when he learns of new attacks. And the targeting of Italian grocers and peculiar evidence of entry are too coincidental to not convince Giancarlo his nemesis is back. With a different weapon that leads to a moniker change.<\/p>\n

Only Giancarlo\u2019s former police colleagues aren\u2019t convinced there is an Axman. They opt for easy conclusions (i.e. Black Hand mafia, family conflict) and quick arrests. Giancarlo undertakes his own inquiries with the help of a reporter\u2014but to little avail. The attacks continue and the culprit becomes so brazen he pens a goading public letter with a bizarre jazz-related demand.<\/p>\n

The Axman\u2019s elusiveness eventually compels the retired detective to explore a theory adopted by others, that it\u2019s not a man but a phantom. Giancarlo suspends his skepticism to venture into the Voodoo world where he experiences mystical and revealing encounters, both personal and Axman-related, including one with the aforementioned Marguerite. The supernatural is a captivating thread in an already engrossing historical mystery.<\/p>\n

Throughout, the narrative is presented from multiple angles. The accounts of the Axman attacks shift in time and distance. For instance, the one on Joseph and Catherine Maggio begins with a brief scene of the Axman approaching his victims. It\u2019s followed by another brief scene of Joseph\u2019s brothers finding the couple, ending with: \u201cWhat they saw would remain with them until the day they died.\u201d<\/em> <\/strong>The violence is sometimes described in a slightly editorialized, generally dispassionate style. Describing the assault after the fact rather than dramatizing it as it happens makes the novel less thriller or horror than crime fiction\/true crime.<\/p>\n

There is room shared for various aspects of New Orleans: its cultures, landmarks, history, people, and, of course, its music. The affection for New Orleans and its uniqueness is a standout feature of the novel. They provide a fuller, rounder picture of living in New Orleans in the midst of World War I, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and a serial killer. They also contrast the brutality of the Axman against the helplessness of Giancarlo and his fellow citizens.<\/p>\n

The Devil\u2019s Jazz<\/em> is an intriguing historical mystery about an insider\u2019s involvement to catch an erratic, jazz-obsessed, taunting serial killer that only the Crescent City could spawn.<\/p>\n

\n
\n \n
<\/span>Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n

\n \n
<\/span>Buy from Bookshop<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for reading Peter Hassebroek\u2019s book review of The Devil\u2019s Jazz <\/em>by Vincent B. \u201cChip\u201d LoCoco! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n \n
<\/span>Book Reviews<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n

\n \n
<\/span>IBR Blog<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n

\n \n
<\/span>Resources for Writers<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Book Review: The Devil\u2019s Jazz<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Devil\u2019s Jazz by Vincent B. \u201cChip\u201d LoCoco Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense \/ Historical \/ Horror ISBN: 9798986896335 Print Length: 332 pages Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Peter Hassebroek A compelling true-crime-style horror novel about taking down the infamous Axman of New Orleans Set in 1918, The Devil\u2019s Jazz is tightly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}