Monday Mystery Backlist - CROSSROAD BLUES

This week I chose to highlight CROSSROAD BLUES by Ace Atkins as the Monday Mystery Backlist because it is in my TBR pile. It taunts me, I swear it does. So, I can't wait until it's up in the rotation so I can escape its hold on me! I also thought it fitting since Ace Atkins was nominated for an Edgar this year for the short story that appears at the end of the new printing.

CROSSROAD BLUES was originally published in 1998 by St. Martin's Minotaur and was re-released in 2009 by Busted Flush Press.

The back cover of CROSSROAD BLUES says:

"A modern, Southern re-invention of The Maltese Falcon, Crossroad Blues won noir fans with its nod to the masters and thrilled readers with a wild ride along Highway 61. It's here that we first meet Nick Travers, an ex-New Orleans Saint turned Tulane University blues historian. Nick searches for the lost recordings of 1930s bluesman Robert Johnson - and a missing colleague - and finds trouble at every turn.

The cast of characters includes a red-headed siren, an Elvis-worshipping hitman, Johnson's ghost, and the Mississippi Delta itself. A decade later, Crossroad Blues still sings."

And Ken Bruen says,

"Ace Atkins brings to mystery what Muddy Waters brought to music - the totally unexpected and the absolute sublime."

Pretty easy to see why this one's taunting me, isn't it? Can't wait to get to it. And you can check it out, too. It's available from Busted Flush Press in trade paper (ISBN: 978-1-935415-03-9). If you get to it before me, let me know what you think!