The Axeman of New Orleans - by Miriam C Davis (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From 1910 to 1919, New Orleans suffered at the hands of a serial killer. The story has been the subject of short stories, novels, and the television series American Horror Story. But the full story of gruesome murders, accused innocents, public panic, the New Orleans Mafia, and a mysterious killer has never been written--until now. The Axeman broke into the homes of Italian grocers in the dead of night, leaving his victims in a pool of blood. Iorlando Jordano and his son Frank were wrongly accused of one of those murders; corrupt officials convicted them with coerced testimony. Miriam C. Davis here expertly tells the story of the search for the Axeman and of the exoneration of the Jordanos. She proves that the person suspected of being the Axeman was not the killer--and that the Axeman continued killing after leaving New Orleans in 1919.

Review Quotes

"No American murders are stranger or more mysterious than those committed by the Axeman of New Orleans. And none are more desperately in need of the attentions of a first-rate writer and historian. Thankfully, Miriam Davis is both those things. Her account is original, revelatory--and also very exciting." --Mike Dash, author of The First Family and Satan's Circus

"Tackling one of the most perplexing serial killer cases in the annals of American homicide, Miriam Davis has produced an exemplary work of historical true crime. Exhaustively researched, crisply written, and as briskly paced as any fictional thriller, it is sure to stand as the definitive work on the subject. --Harold Schechter, author of The Serial Killer Files

"Fantastically detailed, thoroughly documented, frightening and fascinating. Ms. Davis's account of the Axeman is likely to be the final word on the subject." --Keven McQueen, author of Gothic and Strange True Tales of the South

About the Author

Miriam C. Davis has a PhD in history and is the author of Dame Kathleen Kenyon, a life of the most important female archeologist of the twentieth century. She lectures for Smithsonian Journeys and lives in Montgomery, Alabama.