Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of 2017 Dead Man's Blues is the gripping historical crime novel from Ray Celestin following on from the events of his debut The Axeman's Jazz winner of the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for Best First Novel 2014 Chicago 1928 In the stifling summer heat three disturbing events take place A clique of city leaders is poisoned in a fancy hotel A white gangster is found mutilated in an alleyway in the Blackbelt & a famous heiress vanishes without a trace Pinkerton detectives Michael Talbot & Ida Davis are hired to find the missing heiress by the girl's troubled mother But it proves harder than expected to find a face that is known across the city & Ida must elicit the help of her friend Louis Armstrong While the police take little interest in the Blackbelt murder crime scene photographer Jacob Russo can't get the dead man's image out of his head & so he embarks on his own investigation & Dante Sanfelippo
- rum-runner & fixer
- is back in Chicago on the orders of Al Capone who suspects there's a traitor in the ranks & wants Dante to investigate But Dante is struggling with problems of his own as he is forced to return to the city he thought he'd never see again As the three parties edge closer to the truth their paths cross & their lives are threatened But will any of them find the answers they need in the capital of blues booze & corruption?