Axeman's Jazz

Skip Langdon #2

by Julie Smith

ASIN moved from less recent edition

What’s the perfect killing field for a murderer?

A place where he (or maybe she) can learn your secrets from your own mouth and then make friends over coffee. A supposedly "safe" place where anonymity is the norm. The horror who calls himself The Axeman has figured it out and claimed his territory--he's cherry-picking his victims in the 12-Step programs of New Orleans.

And he's had the gall to name himself after a historical serial killer. He just needs to go down, and fast, because this is New Aw'lins, dawlin'--half the town is either alcoholic or co-dependent!

Who better to take him out than tall, funny, social-misfit Skip Langdon, now a homicide detective on the Axeman team, a gig that takes her into the 12-Step groups to meet the suspects (giving author Smith a chance for gentle satire). As Skip threads her fascinated way from one self-help group to another, she finds she has more in common with the twelve-steppers than just the murder—her mother, for one thing, whom she encounters at Overeaters Anonymous! And she knows what they do not: that among their anonymous numbers is a murderous, and dangerously attractive psychopath.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Cozy Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks

389 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

Author of 20 mystery novels and a YA paranormal adventure called BAD GIRL SCHOOL (formerly CURSEBUSTERS!). Nine of the mysteries are about a female New Orleans cop Skip Langdon, five about a San Francisco lawyer named Rebecca Schwartz,two about a struggling mystery writer named Paul Mcdonald (whose fate no one should suffer) and four teaming up Talba Wallis, a private eye with many names, a poetic license, and a smoking computer, with veteran P.I. Eddie Valentino.

In Bad GIRL SCHOOL, a psychic pink-haired teen-age burglar named Reeno gets recruited by a psychotic telepathic cat to pull a job that involves time travel to an ancient Mayan city. Hint:It HAS to be done before 2012!


Winner of the 1991 Edgar Allen Poe Award for best novel, that being NEW ORLEANS MOURNING.

Former reporter for the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE and the San Francisco CHRONICLE.

Recently licensed private investigator, and thereon hangs a tale.

Resident of New Orleans, Louisiana

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second Julie Smith mystery, also conveniently the 2nd in the Police Inspector Skip Langdon mysteries, set in New Orleans. It's been awhile between my enjoyment of the 1st book and this one. I'm glad I decided to read her again as it was most enjoyable. Julie Smith has a different style, not sure exactly how to describe it. Skip Langdon seems to almost float through the investigation into the murders of two different people, seemingly linked to the various 12-Step Self help organizations that permeate the city. It seems as thought the murderer, one who seems to be using similar methods to a much earlier serial killer, The Axeman, might be linked somehow to the groups, either choosing victims from the groups or as a member himself/ herself. Skip inserts herself into the groups to investigate the members and follows various members around. The basics are there to make the story flow; murders, an investigation, a resolution, but this seems to be almost peripheral to just being with Skip as she wanders through her story. I liked it and want to read more of Skip Langdon's stories as I find it an interesting style and I like the location.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mystery set in New Orleans around 1990 (when it was first published). Our detective, Skip Langdon, possesses a mix of self-confidence and self-doubt that I find very relatable.

This serial killer is trolling 12-step meetings, and the book portrays the 12-step community in a way that is very different from other books I've read. There is a good pool of suspects in the meetings, and each of them is broken and interesting in his or her own way. I did guess the right perpetrator early on (unusual for me), but it didn't take away from the ride getting there. A good read.

It was free from BookBub a couple of years ago, and I just now got to it.
3.5 stars rounded up

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just ok. Too many characters at times I was totally confused as to who was who.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE AXEMAN'S JAZZ - G+
Smith, Julie - 2nd in Skip Langdon series

New Orleans detective Skip Langdon must track down the brutal Axeman--a serial killer who preys on the city's hundreds of twelve-step recovery groups and who will spare anyone in whose home a jazz band is playing on the night of his rampage.

Introduced to me by members of the East Bay Mystery Readers' Group, I like the character. Very enjoyable.

[Craig Melancon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book! Julie Smith really knows New Orleans and when reading you feel like you are in the scene.
I really recommend this book, makes me want to read more of the series, and I am!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense and absorbing

So glad to have found Julie Smith's Skip Langdon series! So well written and edited, with a setting that is perfect and a story that has me going until the final reveal in a powerful ending. I became involved with the characters as if they were real and won't soon forget the chilling story. Would make an incredible film with the right casting.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy-to-read female homicide detective mystery. A real who-dun-it. Enjoyed.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some murders in New Orleans seem to be connected to support groups, so Skip and her team delve into them, especially those addressing codependency. The book introduces us to a number of possible killers that appear to be using Axeman murders in the early 1900's as a template. The plot is well conceived and keeps readers in the dark about who the real murderer is until the end of the story. There is some content related to the city and a lot related to support groups. I enjoyed reading the book.

[Laurie Hanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this author, and especially this series! Over the years I'd read most of them, but not in order. Now I've decided to go back and read them in order and I'm so glad I did! Even though each novel stands alone, each builds on the one before and things make so much more sense. I adore the New Orleans backdrop, a city I've never had the fortune to visit but love reading about. In this novel I learned so much about 12-step programs. In this one the killer is so gut-wrenchingly tragic. Pity for a killer isn't the norm, but the author did it so artfully, it broke my heart.

[Ted Tayler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A is for Axeman; HE is for Highly Entertaining"

I needed to read this book. Skip Langdon and New Orleans were just what the doctor ordered. The city simmered and pouted and enthralled you in equal measure. The characters were wacky, self-centered, extreme, psychotic and somehow likeable. This was a mystery within a mystery. I can't understand how I've never stumbled upon Julie Smith before. I hope our paths cross again soon.

[Carole Whitehurst · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good at all

I usually try and find some redeeming features, even in a book I did not enjoy, but sadly I could not find any. The storyline is disjointed, the writing style tortuous and clumsy, with weird choices of vocabulary.

To be honest, I got to 19% and simply could not find the energy to stick with it any longer. I rarely ever give up on a book, but this one just made it impossible to carry on.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I a going to start by saying that once I start a book, I keep reading it u til I'm done - like it or not.

The Skip Langdon series is kind of growing on me. I find that I like the location for the settings (New Orleans), and I'm beginning to like Skip's character more with each book. However just off the top, I find Smith's rival between the UP TOWN/DOWN TOWN to be a bit TIRED.

And also in this book specifically, I think the storyline (not giving that away - you'll hafta read it yourself) to be a HUGE STRETCH. The story centers around several Self-Help groups. I find that there is little regard for how these groups work, how the adherence to the whole ANONYMOUS thing (which is PARAMOUNT to the groups working for everyone) us SACRED and I don't feel like it should be destroyed this was.

Granted, I know this is just a FICTIONAL BOOK and I'm trying to take it with a grain of salt I just guess I am looking for a little more depth in the characters, even tough it's more of a COZY MYSTERIES rather than a CRIME THRILLER or PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS.

So go ahead and let your mind wander, got a good story under your belt, and get a tiny glimpse into New Orleans.

[Milley · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad I am rereading this series. This one is even better than the first one. But I don’t have two brain cells to run together to write a review. I think the in-depth and original? - Ok maybe not original but in depth -characters in the groups. There were plenty of suspects. Again this series should have been a tv series. I like how Skips character keeps developing. And her relationships. So. Nice balance of mystery, procedural and character development…

I am enjoying the pre internet pre cell phone culture as well. We did just fine without both of those things. But these live groups and in general hobbies in person certainly flourished. And people could enjoy their lives without documentation and being observed and recorded by others. But that’s just an aside.

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skip Langdon is a homicide officer in New Orleans. She's first called to the murder of a woman who is found strangled with the letter A written on the wall. Soon another murder occurs and Skip becomes involved in the hunt for a serial killer. The only link they have between the two people who were murdered is that they both attended numerous 12 step groups. I read the first book in the series several years ago. I don't remember Skip being so depressed and unsure of herself in that book. An interesting look back to 12 step groups becoming something of a fad in the 1990's along with New Orleans pre-hurricane Katrina.

[Teah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not know what it wanted to be.

"Oh, here's a mystery about a serial killer imitating the Axeman... by strangling people."
The main character just makes judgy assumptions about people that she just takes as true with little to no evidence for it. She's WAY too concerned about how 'big' she is (though is constantly called beautiful through out), way too concerned about being 'Southern' or not being a 'Southern Belle'. She can't fucking make up her mind if she hates/loves someone because she'll say one thing and then in the very next paragraph completely contradict herself.

I made it halfway through this book and don't really care to read more.

Very disappointing.

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt I had to read the second one right away to see how Skip Langdon went from uniform to detective, and its via head-hunting. Confidence levels rising, and this throws us into a serial killer narrative based on a notorious old New Orleans serial killer. Skip is still riddled with neuroses, and this being set around a myriad explosion of self-help twelve step programs suggests Julie Smith is a little suspicious of the program, but it untangles its own mystery well, and I was satisfied when it was who I thought it would be.

[Rachel Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this book and looking forward to giving it many stars, and then all of a sudden it just ended. The detective didn't figure it out, the key chapter told her, and then the killer confessed. Worse yet, the killer actually confessed to someone else and the detective overheard; the detective was t even instrumental in the confession.

Having said that, I did enjoy the ride up to that point.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book - not sure why I haven't read the first one! Skip is a great character, and I appreciated the way her character was developed throughout the book. An interesting premise, and I was engrossed from about the third page until the very final page - which I actually found a bit of a let-down. Overall though, a great book, and I will definitely be reading the others in the series.

[Pat Beard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this almost as much as the first book. Would have gone a 4.5 star. It is so of its place, I see the Deep South shining out of these people's lives and the way the society shapes and responds to them. Obviously not everyone down there is disturbed and there are people mentally like that everywhere. But it is the way they, and normal people, interact with society that makes the region totally unique. Love the south.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is somewhere between crime fiction and cozy mystery. There is a bit of romance, some drama, and a LOT of crazy suspects! There was a lot more psychology than I expected. And I really liked the way we got into the heads of so many and heard about how abuse affected them. I thought it was realistic and touching. It added a layer of depth that I didn't expect in a crime fiction novel. I will be finding more to read by this author.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange story of a lot of sorry people

Everyone in this story has a problem. Some they acknowledge. Most they don't. Skip Langdon has to deal with them all while struggling with her own. So many of these problems are hashed out in painful detail that I struggled to stay focused on the actual centerpiece of the book...the Axeman. I will admit that the story is interesting, but there were far too many distractions for my liking.

[Louise Pass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insider outsider, which are you?

These are pretty complex mysteries, told with a lot of internal dialogue. Most of us have have moments of self doubt and insecurity, these stories expose a lot of negative thinking, even by the most rational individuals. The book is really a good one.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Axeman's Jazz was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!

Skip is new to the Homicide Department of the New Orleans Police. Skip is included in the search for a suspect if multiple murders, of people who just happen to be part of various recovery groups. A fast paced story, and seriously, it was an AWESOME reveal of the killer!! A definite MUST READ!!

[Sally Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully written mystery set in New Orleans about a detective who is a woman. Skip Langdon, the detective, has her own set of hang ups and problems, but managed to put them aside to do her job. I'm the process she also has insight into the suspects As Well as herself. I look forward to reading more Skip Langdon mysteries.

[Joe Vitucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who would have thought that there are so many support group meetings going on in the world, and that some use those meetings and contacts made at them for romantic interests. But that's not all going on, so read the book. I'm not in any support groups, by the way. What is wrong? Just kidding......

[Janey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was another book I had bought years ago, decided to read it and get it off my Kindle. Very choppy dialogue, the sections didn’t flow, jumped around too much, and some of the conversations made very little sense to me. The characters were so odd, most of them I disliked, and I was happy when it was over so I could understand who did it and why, but getting there was sometimes painful.

[Janice Corturillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second in the series and I've read both. There are a lot of characters to keep track of again and the story doesn't really give you anything in the way of clues to try and figure out the murderer until the last couple of chapters. In my opinion, it's writing style is a little odd. I probably won't read anything else by this author.

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

This one kept me guessing. I was a little blindsided by who-done-it. Not who I was expecting at all. Still dragged a little bit in the beginning. But a good sorry overall.

[Holly Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Psychological thriller

Good beginning, liked the characters. Got a little bogged down in the psych stuff. Felt at times like I was doing a 1:1 with a patient.

Rip roaring ending tied everything together.

[ellen johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this would be a typical mystery but it was not. It was an investigation of twelve step programs and child abuse in the South. It was depressing to see the adults struggling because of bad parenting.