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1955: A Jazz Jones & January Queen Raleigh Mystery
“Welcome to Antebellum,” the ghoul said. “You are the guest of honor.” Things are not right in 1955, Raleigh, North Carolina, and it will be up to Jazz Jones to get to the bottom of the murk and clear things up.
“You heard about the dead boy?” She had said that her name was January Queen and that she was with the NAACP. Her eyes were a pair of sins, or maybe they just mirrored my own.
“Maybe we came to you,” she said, “because not only are you fair, but you have a firm grasp on what the word justice really means.”
And there it was, I thought. I was being asked to bring the killers to justice and expose the underbelly of seething hatred in my city, even if it meant offending my neighbors and inflaming the ire of otherwise good white folks who just didn’t know any better. And, possibly, break the law along the way. Whatever it took. Even if I had to dig some six-foot-deep holes along the way.
“You heard about the dead boy?” She had said that her name was January Queen and that she was with the NAACP. Her eyes were a pair of sins, or maybe they just mirrored my own.
“Maybe we came to you,” she said, “because not only are you fair, but you have a firm grasp on what the word justice really means.”
And there it was, I thought. I was being asked to bring the killers to justice and expose the underbelly of seething hatred in my city, even if it meant offending my neighbors and inflaming the ire of otherwise good white folks who just didn’t know any better. And, possibly, break the law along the way. Whatever it took. Even if I had to dig some six-foot-deep holes along the way.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2026
About the author
Matt Cost
36 books90 followersMatt Cost also publishes under Matthew Langdon Cost.
MATT COST writes the Mainely Mystery and the Clay Wolfe/Port Essex Mystery Series. He’s also written several books of historical fiction. This is his first jaunt in combining his two loves of histories and mysteries into a historical PI mystery. Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries. Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. A chocolate Lab and a basset hound round out the mix. He now spends his days at the computer, writing.
MATT COST writes the Mainely Mystery and the Clay Wolfe/Port Essex Mystery Series. He’s also written several books of historical fiction. This is his first jaunt in combining his two loves of histories and mysteries into a historical PI mystery. Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries. Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. A chocolate Lab and a basset hound round out the mix. He now spends his days at the computer, writing.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
4.5stars-- 1955 : A Jazz Jones & January Queen Raleigh Mystery by Matt Cost is an adult historical murder mystery story line focusing on Jazz Jones, a private investigator working the racially profiled streets of 1955 Raleigh, North Carolina.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from first person perspective (Jazz Jones) using current day 1955, and memories form the past, 1955 : A Jazz Jones and January Queen Raleigh Mystery follows former US soldier turned PI Jazz Jones in the aftermath of the lynching of black youth in 1955 Raleigh North Carolina. Lester Mack was a fifteen year old boy who had been targeted, and lynched by a possible group of Klan members, or a Klan adjacent group, and PI Jazz Jones has been hired by January Queen and the NAACP to find out the truth but the deeper Jazz begins to dig, history begins to repeat itself, and the threats and retaliation against his own life and that of his family are hitting too close to home. A young woman claimed to have been harassed by a black man, and Lester Mack would become the scapegoat and example in the war of the races, when unreliable witnesses begin to embellish a story of a targeted attack.
The world building focuses on the racism in 1950s America, both systemically and legally enforced segregation and discrimination, reminiscent of the 1955 lynching of fourteen year old Emmett Till in Mississippi. The violence and threats against the black population becomes part of the foundation of life, wherein the people in power, control using force and bloodshed. From questionable law enforcement and dirty politicians, nowhere is safe for a person of color, especially a young man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 1950’s idioms, language and figurative speech as well as the mention of prominent individuals of the time, pull the reader into a time warp we never want to forget or revisit.
There is a large ensemble cast of determined, questionable and intriguing secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to January Queen, Jazz’s Uncle Harry, Aunt Rose and their son Tyrone Malone, as well as a large contingent of questionable and racist law enforcement, controversial people of power, locals, and suspicious witnesses.
1955: Jazz Jones and January Queen Raleigh Mystery is a story of racism and discrimination, murder, betrayal and vengeance, missing witnesses and discarded prisoners, secrets and lies, power and control. The character driven premise is edgy, dark, dramatic and thought provoking; the diverse cast of characters are questionable, determined, desperate and intense.
copy supplied for review
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from first person perspective (Jazz Jones) using current day 1955, and memories form the past, 1955 : A Jazz Jones and January Queen Raleigh Mystery follows former US soldier turned PI Jazz Jones in the aftermath of the lynching of black youth in 1955 Raleigh North Carolina. Lester Mack was a fifteen year old boy who had been targeted, and lynched by a possible group of Klan members, or a Klan adjacent group, and PI Jazz Jones has been hired by January Queen and the NAACP to find out the truth but the deeper Jazz begins to dig, history begins to repeat itself, and the threats and retaliation against his own life and that of his family are hitting too close to home. A young woman claimed to have been harassed by a black man, and Lester Mack would become the scapegoat and example in the war of the races, when unreliable witnesses begin to embellish a story of a targeted attack.
The world building focuses on the racism in 1950s America, both systemically and legally enforced segregation and discrimination, reminiscent of the 1955 lynching of fourteen year old Emmett Till in Mississippi. The violence and threats against the black population becomes part of the foundation of life, wherein the people in power, control using force and bloodshed. From questionable law enforcement and dirty politicians, nowhere is safe for a person of color, especially a young man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 1950’s idioms, language and figurative speech as well as the mention of prominent individuals of the time, pull the reader into a time warp we never want to forget or revisit.
There is a large ensemble cast of determined, questionable and intriguing secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to January Queen, Jazz’s Uncle Harry, Aunt Rose and their son Tyrone Malone, as well as a large contingent of questionable and racist law enforcement, controversial people of power, locals, and suspicious witnesses.
1955: Jazz Jones and January Queen Raleigh Mystery is a story of racism and discrimination, murder, betrayal and vengeance, missing witnesses and discarded prisoners, secrets and lies, power and control. The character driven premise is edgy, dark, dramatic and thought provoking; the diverse cast of characters are questionable, determined, desperate and intense.
copy supplied for review
October 25, 2026
Wow. Just...I'm struggling to find the words for this book I enjoyed it so much! Cost opens with a chilling scene, one anyone who is familiar with the Southern US of the past will immediately understand. (Although, if you've been paying attention to the news, it may not be as far in the past as one would hope). Once you get past that heart-racing opening, the tension stays high as you dive into the past alongside Jazz and January. The 50s and 60s were a time of great upheaval, especially in areas where the Klan was prominent, and Cost does a great job of bringing it to life. I loved January; she's smart and has a take-no-BS attitude I can appreciate. Jazz was not afraid to keep pushing forward even when it put him in danger's way. The story has even pacing, and you'll want to keep reading once you start, so set some time aside! Definitely recommend if you're looking for a tense historical mystery that confronts some very real, difficult topics.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews