The Jazz Bird
-
- £4.99
-
- £4.99
Publisher Description
October 6, 1927 - On a quiet afternoon in Eden Park, Cincinnati, Imogene, a beautiful society lady, is shot and killed by her husband, the notorious bootlegger George Remus. After spending a quiet moment over the body, Remus returns to his car and directs his driver to the police station, where he turns himself in.
Shocked and fascinated by this horrible murder, the country gears up for a sensational trial. The man known as 'the king of the bootleggers' against Chief Prosecutor Charlie Taft, the youngest son of the former president. The facts are clear, the truth less so. What happened to Remus' $80 million fortune, which disappeared while he was imprisoned on a minor charge? Why did George Remus murder his wife, the blue-blooded beauty once known as the Jazz Bird, who had struggled to free him from prison? And what of Charles Dodge, the federal agent who pursued Remus with such zeal, only to become desperately entangled with his wife? Was the Jazz Bird at the centre of this complicated love triangle or an innocent victim of circumstances beyond her control?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Based on a true story, this deftly written novel by Holden (Four Corners of the Night) delves deep into the murk of the Jazz Age, blending mystery and history in a heady cocktail. Charlie Taft is a prosecutor in late 1920s Cincinnati; he is also the son of William Howard Taft, Supreme Court chief justice and former president. When bootlegger George Remus turns himself in, in October 1927, for shooting his society wife, Imogene, Charlie thinks he's been handed a career maker. But all is not as simple as it seems. Through testimony and Imogene's diaries, Charlie becomes fascinated with the dead woman. Dubbed the Jazz Bird by Remus's men, she is a fabulous creation brilliant, beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent, na ve and deeply loved by her husband. Remus is a fascinating character, too, his fortune made by purchasing alcohol allowance certificates from pharmaceutical corporations. Forced into prison in 1924, Remus is saved by Imogene, who goes to humiliating lengths to get him released, but the nature of her act leads him to believe he was betrayed. Is this why he killed her, or is he truly insane, as he pleads in court? Throughout the effective trial sequences, the reader learns the story slowly, as Charlie does, and there are twists to the very end. The poignancy of the story lies in Holden's uncanny ability to make his creations believable, flaws and all, and in his evocation of the charged and sultry 1920s.
