Crossroad Blues (A Nick Travers Mystery) [Paperback]

Ace Atkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2001 | Series: A Nick Travers Mystery

Where in the world can you find a real blues hero? You can find him in New Orleans, living in his battered 1920s warehouse and playing harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar in the French Quarter. His name is Nick Travers, an expro footballer for the New Orleans Saints turned blues historian at Tulane University. Nick heads deep into the heartland of the blues - the Mississippi Delta, investigating a crime over half a century old. In August 1938 outside a Greenwood Mississippi jukejoint the most celebrated figure in blues history, Robert Johnson, was murdered. Some say he was poisoned by a jealous woman while others say the devil took him after Johnson sold him his soul at the crossroads. Sixty years later a college professor researching rumours of the discovery of nine unknown Johnson recordings, goes missing in the Delta. Naturally carious, Nick decides to retrace his last-known steps. Nick finds himself pitted against a host of strange characters, including an eccentric negroid albino and a slick seventeen year old hitman who believes himself to be the reincarnation of Elvis Presley. Neck-deep in trouble, Nick has to fight to save his own skin while at the same time try and unravel the greatest mystery in all blues lore.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Florida journalist and former college football player Ace Atkins takes full advantage of the legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson's life, music, and strange death in his first mystery. And even though it bears the weight of two of the genre's most overused icons--a New Orleans setting and an ex-sports star as hero--Crossroad Blues is fresh and imaginative enough in all its other aspects to inspire hope for an ongoing series.

Yes, Nick Travers did play for the New Orleans Saints, but it wasn't an injury that turned him into a part-time detective and full-time expert on the blues. "Nick had been thrown out of the NFL for kicking his coach's ass during a Monday Night Football game," Atkins tell us. Now he teaches the occasional blues history class at Tulane, works on his biography of Guitar Slim, and plays his harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar--a place so lovingly described that it should be real even if it isn't. When a Tulane colleague disappears on a quest for some hitherto unknown Johnson recordings in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood, Travers goes to look for him--and walks into a murderous mess of colorful sociopaths, including a deadly teenage Elvis lookalike and a slimy record producer who not only orchestrates violent crimes but also dares to use the blues as a marketing ploy for a chain of nightclubs. More, please. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson has been used for fictional purposes before (e.g., in Walter Mosley's RL's Dream), but Florida journalist Atkins takes full, fresh advantage of Johnson's life, music and strange death in his first mystery. Despite the weight of two overused genre staples (the New Orleans setting and an ex-sports star as hero), this lively debut sparks hope for an ongoing series. It wasn't an injury that turned Nick Travers, who played for the New Orleans Saints, into a part-time detective and full-time expert on the blues. "Nick had been thrown out of the NFL for kicking his coach's ass during a Monday Night Football game," the third-person narrator tell us. Now he teaches the occasional blues history class at Tulane, works on his biography of Guitar Slim and plays his harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar?a place so deftly described that it should be real even if it isn't. When a Tulane colleague disappears on a quest for a hitherto unknown Johnson recording in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood, Travers goes to look for him?and walks into a murderous mess of colorful sociopaths. Among them are a deadly teenage Elvis lookalike and a slimy record producer who not only orchestrates violent crimes but, worse, dares to use the blues as a marketing ploy. This tale's a pleasure for both mystery and RL fans.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Robinson Publishing; New Edition edition (June 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841193062
• ISBN-13: 978-1841193069
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,718,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ace Atkins is the author of nine novels, including The Ranger, the debut novel in the Quinn Colson series, from G.P. Putnam's Sons. Earlier this year, Atkins was chosen by the Robert B. Parker estate to continue the highly popular Spenser novels.

The first of those books hits bookstores in 2012 along with Atkins' sequel to The Ranger.

A former journalist who cut his teeth as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The Tampa Tribune, he published his first novel, Crossroad Blues, at 27 and became a full-time novelist at 30.

While at the Tribune, Ace earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s. The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, White Shadow, which earned raves from noted authors and critics. In his next novels, Wicked City, Devil's Garden, and Infamous, blended first-hand interviews and original research into police and court records with tightly woven plots and incisive characters. The historical novels told great American stories by weaving fact and fiction into a colorful, seamless tapestry.

The Ranger represents a return to Ace's first love: hero-driven series fiction. Quinn Colson is a real hero--a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan--who returns home to north Mississippi to fight corruption on his home turf. The first Quinn Colson novel, a contemporary book with a dash of classic westerns and noir, hits stores June 9th.

Ace lives on a historic farm outside Oxford, Mississippi with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, an intelligent mystery with a sense of humor!, August 6, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Marietta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossroad Blues: A Nick Travers Mystery (Hardcover)

After reading the galleys, my first thought was, what a talented young writer. Ace Atkins' clever use of dialect, humor, and detail does more than unravel a mystery. He creates characters who are worth reading. Nick Travers is smart enough to make you think,interesting enough to make you want more, and funny enough that you'd want to have a beer with him. Atkins also manages weave together the past and present worlds of Blues, the Delta and New Orleans into a story that really makes you wonder about the world of Robert Johnson and what really happened. And, Jesse is the hippest, funkiest villan I've read in years! Crossroad Blues is well worth reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Series of Blues Mysteries, February 19, 2003

By 

Lisa B. Graham (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossroad Blues (Nick Travers Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Crossroad Blues" is a fascinating & engaging read because it contains many elements that keeps the reader interested - short chapters, punchy dialogue, intriguing character development & rich descriptions of the Mississippi Delta. The author seamlessly weaves the musical essence of the 1930s blues scene with a complete immersion into present day New Orleans culture. We are treated to a glimpse of life behind the facade erected for tourist consumption, & see gritty realism. We blues fans applaud this mystery series!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Someone Goes On a Trip, November 19, 2000

By 

Bernard M. Patten "Book worm" (Seabrook, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossroad Blues (Nick Travers Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Some people say there are only two types of stories: A new kid comes to town and someone goes on a trip. Crossroad Blues belongs in the later class because Nick Travers travels around New Orleans and the delta in search for a missing colleague. It's not as interesting as the chase for an albino whale. But then again what is? Along the way, we readers learn lots about he history of the Blues and the mysterious disappearance of one of the blues greats, Robert Johnson. Hard core to the core, situated in a typical decaying and corrupt urban setting, Crossroad Blues takes us to the other side of the railroad tracks where men and women are rough, nihilistic, and very very tough. The author,like most hard boil authors, does at every opportunity seem to want to rub our noses in the you know what. In Hard Boiled the main character does (predictably) have relationship problems. Nick is no exception. But in his case the relationship appears stylized, artificial, and tacked on. Unfortunately, the book is not balanced in other respects. After it hit us over the head a number of times, it lets us down at the end. And most annoying are the several plot defects that surface, especially the coincidental meetings of important characters at just the right times. Poor editing is another problem: rough edges should have been caught and repaired. All in all, though, for a first novel, it's quite entertaining. In fact, not bad. Ace Atkins, shows promise, and will probably, as he matures become one of our best hard boilers.