Reviewed By: Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM
Crossroad Blues
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Ace Atkins
Class/Genre: Mystery Private Investigator
Series: Nick Travers # 1
1998, St. Martin's Press 226 pages
This book sucked me in right from the start. It doesn't hurt that I'm a sucker for Blues lore and love reading about it. So reading books with a protagonist that is an authority on the blues is to perfect. And Nick Travers is a great character. He’s funny, he’s smart and he’s tough. He’s an ex-pro football player who teaches part time and plays in a blues band.
In this, the first book, Nick is asked by the head of the department to find one of their colleagues. It seems Michael Baker ( who is not very knowledgeable) has gone in search of information about Robert Johnson, and now he’s missing. So Nick reluctantly agrees to go to the Delta area of Mississippi and find him. What he finds is that Baker is most likely dead, and some one is looking for something he had. Nick follows this back to New Orleans and to the source.
Along the way we are given back ground information in bits and pieces. It’s done skillfully and it feels proper with the flow of the book. Atkins knowledge of the Blues shines through in his telling of this tale. And his characters are magnetic, I was drawn right into their world. I look forward to many more in this series.
Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM
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