The Axeman of New Orleans, Miriam C. Davis
The Axeman of New Orleans, Miriam C. Davis
2 Rating(s)
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
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The Axeman of New Orleans
The True Story

Author: Miriam C. Davis

Narrator: Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 8 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/01/2017


Synopsis

From 1910 to 1919, New Orleans suffered at the hands of its very own Jack the Ripper–style killer, while two innocent men nearly paid for one of his crimes with their lives. The story has been the subject of websites, short stories, collections of true crime, novels, a graphic novel, and the FX television series American Horror Story. But the real story of the Axeman of New Orleans has never been written—until now.

The Axeman repeatedly broke into the homes of Italian grocers in the dead of night, leaving his victims in a pool of blood. Iorlando Jordano, an innocent Italian grocer, and his teenage 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 eventual exoneration of the innocent Jordanos. She proves that the person mostly widely suspected of being the Axeman was not the killer. She also shows what few have suspected—that the Axeman continued killing after leaving New Orleans in 1919.

About Miriam C. Davis

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


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sean on November 17, 2019

This is a hard book to rate. Davis does some good research, debunking myths about the Axeman and making good suppositions about events, such as the Mumfre thesis as well as Besumer's status as victim. She is good as a straight historian. Her background information on New Orleans, the Mafia, Louis Ma......more

Goodreads review by Michael on February 17, 2020

Now that was a good read. This book will help you remember to lock your doors at night but not help you sleep or feel safe in your own bed. All I know is people sure did sleep soundly back in the day. This guy could chisel his way through a door and no one wakes up. If one of my cats fart in the mid......more

Goodreads review by William on March 18, 2021

You’ll find my copy of this book flagged with post its. This was research for a future serial killer novel. Not only did I find the book educational and insightful I learned the Axe man of New Orleans was nothing like he is portrayed in any movie. He was a serial killer, and that idea was still alie......more

Goodreads review by ElphaReads on September 21, 2017

I had never heard of the Axeman of New Orleans until he was a character on AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN (which I contend is by far the best AHS season of all time). I hadn't felt terribly compelled to check him out beyond that show, but when he was covered on MY FAVORITE MURDER I was intrigued again......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on March 30, 2023

I'm giving this an extra star for the massive of amounts of research that must have gone into the book. But for a book about axe murder in New Orleans, it was extremely boring. It read more like a textbook, listing names of victims along with incidents, but no storytelling. Some people may think tha......more