Dead Mans Blues, Ray Celestin

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 Black Belt. And a famous heiress vanishes without a trace.

Pinkerton detectives Michael Talbot and Ida Davis are hired to find the missing heiress. But it proves harder than expected and Ida must elicit the help of her friend Louis Armstrong to track her down.

While the police take little interest in the Black Belt murder, crime scene photographer, Jacob Russo, can't get the dead man's image out of his head, and so he embarks on his own investigation.

And Dante Sanfelippo - rum-runner and fixer - is back in Chicago on the orders of Al Capone, who suspects there's a traitor in the ranks and 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 and their lives are threatened. But will any of them find the answers they need in the city of blues, booze and corruption?

The book was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of 2017. His debut novel 'The Axeman's Jazz' was winner of the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for Best First Novel 2014.