Andre loves three things most of all: his daddy, his trumpet, and Louis Armstrong.
But when his father is killed on the St. Charles streetcar, and Andre is the only witness, he’ll have to grow up fast.
There is one problem. The boy can’t, or won’t speak—no one is really sure which. Under pressure from all directions, Andre’s silence and eventual disappearance will spark a chain of events that quickly spiral into madness, as authorities try to piece together what happened that day on the streetcar and save Andre’s life.
Thankfully, the boy has friends. Private detectives Felix Herbert, and his crumbling but affable partner David Melancon are on the hunt for the boy, and they’ll need to act fast if they hope to find him before the killer does.
The Sexy Nerd's Review
Wow! I just love southern theme stories and especially when the author can make it so picturesque as Pevey demonstrated in Uptown Blues. I just had a reader’s intuition that I was going to love this book and love it I did!
Andre Adai spoke only when necessary. There wasn’t anything wrong with him mentally or physically he was just different. A child prodigy one might say. There were three things that were the utmost importance to Andre—his father, his trusty trumpet and Louis Armstrong, and why not? Andre and Louis both hailed from New Orleans, Louisiana. And both could play the trumpet like nobody’s business. When Andre’s father is killed tragically, one other thing he and Louis had in common were becoming waifs.
There wasn’t much Andre could look forward to in this life without his father. If it weren’t for his trumpet and talking to Louis through his mind, poor Andre might have ended up in a mental institution. Who on earth would want to kill Andre’s father? He loved his daddy so very much and could not understand how anyone could take him from him. What was to become of Andre Adai?
Private detectives Felix Herbert and David Melancon were invited to take a look into Andre’s father’s death. At first glance, it appeared as if someone on the train must have shot him, but after further inspection, the detectives discovered that someone shot the victim from far away. Andre was slated to stay with his uncle, Melph, and it would seem that that was the right call to make, however, Andre had other ideas. He grabbed his uncle’s Army jacket, collected his trumpet, and off into the world thirteen-year old Andre went without any direction and especially, without any words spoken. Herbert and Melancon had to find this young prodigy before the killer took a mind to offer the same fate to him as his father. And readers, that’s where our story soars.
OMG! I loved, loved, loved this story! I had no idea this was a series. In fact, I read it completely out of order, but no worries because it reads as a standalone. I became so engrossed in this story that I purchased the entire box set so that I can start from book one and learn how the detectives became who they are. If you love southern noir books, you’re most definitely going to love this.
What really brought it home for me was the parallels between Andre’s and Louis Armstrong’s lives. Even though Andre was born many years after Louis’s death, one would think you were reading about Louis’s life. In fact, I noticed several reviews where this parallel seemed to disturb some readers to the point they felt as though the author was taking too many creative licenses by writing about Armstrong, but my take on it was completely the opposite. I absolutely loved how he weaved Louis Armstrong’s life into Andre’s. Pevey wasn’t writing Armstrong’s memoir. A memoir is a book written specifically by the individual personally. I believe what they were referring to is a biography of which Pevey was not writing. He just used the similarities of Armstrong’s life to match his character’s and he did an amazing job with it. I couldn’t get enough. This book definitely demonstrates that no two readers read the same. We all view stories differently and that’s perfectly ok. We’re supposed to do that, otherwise reading would truly be a boring thing to do. No matter what your view is of this story, Pevey painted a perfect canvas of words. I could see it so vividly.
The Sexy Nerd gives Uptown Blues five more musical notes to complete the sheet! In fact, I’d give this book more stars than that I loved it so much! Like I mentioned, if you enjoy southern themed stories, I highly recommend you give the Herbert and Melancon series a try. Until next time, Nerds, you know what to do!
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