judith barzilay

If you like created worlds you will love this book. Looking back to 1922, the author imagines the mid-Western state of Cahokia, where native Americans predominate in both population and government; where prohibition still prevails and the KKK is fomenting trouble. The main character is a Native American detective who must solve a murder which threatens to explode the uneasy peace. The title refers to his talent as a jazz pianist which gives him access to all levels of society from Native American royalty and religious leaders to freed former slaves given sanctuary in Cahokia by the state’s leaders. The author seamlessly invents or describes fascinating details of this imagined state and city and cleverly ties up the threads of the “who done it” in a satisfying conclusion.