Booklist STARRED REVIEW—January 2017
Even the most rabid true crime fans might be surprised to learn that, just about a century ago, a serial killer was operating in New Orleans. Between 1910 and 1919—with a still-unexplained six-year gap in the middle of that period—a killer known first as the Cleaver and then as the Axeman, targeted Italian grocers, breaking into their homes and attacking them with an ax or similar instrument. To this day, we don’t know the identity of the killer, or what his motive was, although multiple theories exist about both. The author, a historian, brings an analytical eye and a keen sense of skepticism to the story, dredging through the sparse historical record (which includes contemporaneous newspaper and police reports, as well as some speculation by true-crime writers years after the events took place) to try to bring some sense of coherence to the case. And that is no small task: the story of the Axeman is a story of false leads, bad assumptions, sloppy police work, racial hatred, and even outright deceit on the part of some of the alleged victims (one women knowingly fingered an innocent man as her attacker and almost sent him to the gallows). A riveting story of a serial-killer investigation in a time long before modern-day investigative techniques, or even the term “serial killer,” was invented.
— David Pitt
Review from Library Journal
Davis’s (Dame Kathleen Kenyon) first foray into true crime is a great read. Her research into these long ago unsolved crimes, in which Italian grocers and their families were attacked and murdered in New Orleans, first by meat cleaver, then by axe, is exhaustive and thorough. She picks apart previously held theories about the Axeman and his crimes as well as clears old suspects, such as Frank and Iorlando Jordano, who were accused of attacking the Cortimiglia family in Gretna, LA, in 1919. Davis also carefully exposes crimes originally grouped with the Axeman’s, but, at this far viewing, do not appear to be related. Davis uses modern theories and ideas about serial killers and profiling to help explain what the police and newspapers could not—that the Axeman was driven to kill by compulsion—and the similarities of the murders—all Italian grocers living in corner buildings, attacked the same way with an easy-to-find and -discard weapon—are more important than rumors of the Black Hand or vendettas that waylaid the police. She skillfully connects previously unidentified cases with the Axeman post-1919 in other parts of Louisiana. VERDICT A superb read for those who love historical true crime writing, New Orleans history, and real-life tales of serial killers.
Review from Louisiana Life
That same, cleaver-wielding man went on to terrorize the city of New Orleans — specifically Italian grocers — for nine more years according to Miriam Davis, in her newly published book “The Axeman of New Orleans.” This book is distinctive in the canon of Axeman literature because it goes against the widely held belief that the murderer was only active for 18 months during 1918 and 1919.
Robert Tallant is a legend among New Orleans history and literature lovers, so it’s no small hurdle Davis clears when she discredits some of his assertions about the Axeman in his much-loved book, “Ready to Hang.”
Davis says her book contains the most comprehensive research and exploration of the crimes — and after reading it, I agree.
Davis is a formidable opponent to Tallant’s barroom-style research — she holds a PhD in history and works as a Smithsonian Journeys lecturer; her book contains 22 pages of notes, an 11-page bibliography as well as 28 photographs, floor plans, cartoons and maps from primary sources.
Don’t let the highbrow credentials scare you though, the book reads like a modern-day thriller:
“Moving noiselessly, the intruder passed through the kitchen through the grocery store, and on into the bedroom. There, he pulled back the mosquito netting that protected sleepers in subtropical New Orleans from harassing insects, raised the stolen meat cleaver, and struck the sleeping grocer twice.”
What follows is a recounting of the crimes Davis believes can be attributed to the Axeman. Using police documents, newspapers and other source material of the day, she follows the killer’s trail as he moved through New Orleans, DeRidder and Lake Charles. She tests the theories that police subscribed to during their investigations; was he a murderous burglar, drug addict or member of the Black Hand?
Davis says the reason the crimes remain unsolved is due to lack of forensic capabilities. Additionally, the New Orleans police department was a late-adopter of basic crime scene preservation procedures and woefully undertrained. The 1911 force is described thusly in her book:
“Poorly paid, haphazardly paid, often inexperienced, New Orleans policemen were almost as much a menace as the criminals they pursued. They routinely broke the law against carrying concealed weapons. Worse, when they drew their revolvers, they were lousy shots, usually missing the criminals at whom they aimed and frequently hitting innocent bystanders.”
Despite this, Davis finds herself in agreement with one of the Axeman investigators regarding the murderer’s profile and she points out that serial killers are notoriously difficult to identify, even today. She also works to disprove that the man long-suspected in the media of being the killer was in fact, not.
The last quarter of the book is devoted to the highly emotional and legal arc (think “To Kill a Mockingbird”) of the father-and-son duo falsely accused of one of the Axeman’s crimes, Iorlando and Frank Jordano.
“The story of Frank and his family merits telling because it illustrates the experience of Italian immigrants and the niche they carved out for themselves in the social hierarchy of early 20-century Louisiana as well as the social prejudice against them,” Davis writes in her preface.
— Amanda Orr
Davis REALLY did her research for this book, delving deep into NOLA records (which isn't always easy, post-Katrina!), and presents a true cold-case with no true clear suspect(s). One really has to wonder while reading the book, at how modern technology could have possibly made a dent in the evidence recovered, and if a DNA match would ever have been made, bringing the culprit to justice. Instead many families fell prey to the Axeman, for no apparent reason. For some, their lives were never the same. This is a true story of the immigrant middle class of NOLA, and how they lived the American dream, and then had it snatched away in the middle of the night.
It's also an interesting look at how law enforcement was in the early 1900s and how as detection technology and techniques helped to raise it into a profession of astute individuals. David gives a riveting page turner, that takes the facts of the cases and offers possible scenarios and events leading up to the crimes, that make them all the more horrific, for their unsolvability. And while Davis gives the goosebump idea of The Axeman cutting a swath across Louisiana, one can only wonder who knows the true story, hidden in a family diary, and who can answer the one question no one can: "Why?".
If you love history, especially that if NOLA, be sure to put this one on your holiday wish list!
(And Kudos to Davis for a great cover art selection-it really sets the tone for the book!)