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Loading... The Mobster's Lamentby Ray Celestin
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  atticusfinch1048 | May 7, 2019 |  no reviews | add a review
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Fall, 1947. New York City. Private Investigator Ida Davis has been called to New York by her old partner, Michael Talbot, to investigate a brutal killing spree in a Harlem flophouse that has left four people dead. But as they delve deeper into the case, Ida and Michael realize the murders are part of a larger conspiracy that stretches further than they ever could have imagined. Meanwhile, Ida's childhood friend, Louis Armstrong, is at his lowest ebb. His big band is bankrupt, he's playing to empty venues, and he's in danger of becoming a has-been, until a promoter approaches him with a strange offer to reignite his career . . . And across the city, nightclub manager and mob fixer Gabriel Leveson's plans to flee New York are upset when he's called in for a meeting with the 'boss of all bosses', Frank Costello. Tasked with tracking down stolen mob money, Gabriel must embark on a journey through New York's seedy underbelly, forcing him to confront demons from his own past, all while the clock is ticking on his evermore precarious escape plans. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 2000-RatingAverage: (4.22)
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Wikipedia in English
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The Mobster’s Lament is the third instalment in the City Blues Quartet, which charts the duel histories of jazz and the mob. In this instalment the story has moved to New York City in 1947, when Ida Davis has been asked to New York to assist her old mentor Michael Talbot find a killer and help release Michael’s son from prison and a possible death sentence.
Ida is traveling to New York, thinking over a job offer with the government while she is on her way to help Michael Talbot investigate a brutal killing spree at a Harlem flop house for which Michael’s son is being accused off. Little do they realise that their investigation will bring them to the attention of the New York Mob.
At the same time Ida’s childhood friend is back in New York, after a tour, and like many traditional jazz players, Louis Armstrong is on his uppers. He is looking to try and restart his career which has been usurped by bebop and bookings are getting rare. But a promoter approaches him with a strange request, but he is to skint to turn it down, and takes the chance to revitalise his career.
Gabriel Leveson, a mob fixer, wants out of the mob life, and needs to get out pretty soon as he is guilty of skimming money off a mob fiddle. When the mob finds out he knows he is a dead man walking, so he has a tight window to get out. When Frank Costello tasks Gabriel with a job to find a missing $2million, he knows he is up against time and could well be going up members of the mob. Which ever ways he looks at it, things will get very messy.
When Ida and Michael realise, they need to work Gabriel can they really trust him? Will he kill them once he has found what he needs? Or do they take the risk and hope for the best, so that they can get charges dropped against Michael’s son?
Whatever they decide they need to get on with things because each of them is on a deadline. That deadline is looming large and all three need each other.
A brilliant instalment in the quartet, a gripping read with plenty of twists and turns. You are kept guessing until the very end. Ray Celestin has once again delivered a quality thriller that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. It will be a shame when this series comes to an end. (