CROSSROAD BLUES by Ace Atkins

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Where in mystery fiction is a blues hero? You can find him in New Orleans, Louisiana, living in his battered 1920s warehouse or playing harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar in the French Quarter. His name is Nick Travers, an ex-New Orleans Saint turned blues historian at Tulane University. And this time he's headed deep into the heart of the blues - the Mississippi Delta. In August of 1938, the most celebrated figure in blues history, Robert Johnson, was murdered in Greenwood, Mississippi. Some say a jealous husband poisoned him at a juke joint. Others believe his death had something to do with selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. Almost sixty years later, a college professor disappears into the Delta while following rumors of nine unknown Johnson recordings. Travers leaves Tulane to track the professor. Clues point to everyone from an eccentric albino named Cracker to a nineteen-year-old hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis Presley.

RATING:

Music lovers will particularly enjoy this one -- a glorious trip down south rich with the blues, colorful characters and locale. Great debut!