“Cahokia Jazz” by Francis Spufford
Francis Spufford here offers his readers an immersive story. He is best known for his first novel “Golden Hill” but has a distinguished career as a writer of non-fiction.
Cahokia was the largest urban settlement in North America long before Columbus landed but had been deserted years before. The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site can be found in Illinois. Francis Spufford uses the name as the location for his fictitious city for this novel set in 1922. The book even offers a detailed street plan so we the reader can understand the layout of the land and how that influences the factions within the city that vie against each other.
A gruesome murder is the opening scene to where two detectives are sent to conduct the investigation. The victim, an uninspiring clerk, Klan member and recent arrival in town. The detectives are old buddies and veterans of WW1; Phin Drummond and Joe Burrow. It is Burrow who is the central character in the story and where the music, which permeates this book, is focused. Joe is an erstwhile jazz pianist, and a good one as is shown when is he is tempted to play with a band during one night of the investigation – intrigued? Francis Spufford displays a love and knowledge of jazz which adds an extra dimension to this crime story which is never really a who-dunnit but, as ever in America, has strong racial undertones,
Cahokia is inhabited by three factions. The takouma, a native of the continent; the taklousa, a person of African ancestry; and the takata, one of European origin. How these three inter-react with the menace of the Ku Klux Klan is the backbone to this book which spans just a week, the chapters identified by the days of the week and of the investigation. Burrow is committed to resolving the crime and his diligence results in him he meeting the hierarchy of the takouma; principal business men from all communities and it is how these factions react and respond to the murder and the police investigation which turns the pages of what is an ambitious multi-faceted storyline.
There are a lot of characters, police officers, suspects, city leaders and the jazz band, these provide Drummond with some relaxation and the reader with moments of imagined musicality. The week unfolds day by day with apparent deadlines and crises to overcome and the eventual outcome is never certain. Francis Spufford is an accomplished and inspiringly inventive writer, a very good narrator. This his third novel will make a great summer read either on a sunny beach or at home. Highly recommended.
