Craig Holden: The Jazz Bird

By PENELOPE BIEDER

Michigan-based author Craig Holden's fourth novel is based on real people and events, but Holden wishes it to "be viewed strictly as a work of fiction". And while much of the characterisation is invented he reminds us in an acknowledgment at the end that the essential structure of George Remus' life is true, as are the details of his lengthy trial.

Remus is a dashing, wealthy Cincinnati bootlegger lawyer operating with considerable flair and success in the late 1920s. Then why does he murder his beautiful, young, beloved wife Imogene (the Jazz Bird) by shooting her in public view, in daylight in a city park?

Remus has chosen to defend himself against public prosecutor Charlie Taft, son of former US President, now Supreme Court chief justice, William Howard Taft. Charlie, not surprisingly, has also had the choice of "a straight road to the very top, wherever that was". But Charlie has chosen to stay in his home city and become a prosecuting attorney, albeit at only 29.

An intriguing, beautifully written crime story unfolds, mainly from the point of view of these two different protagonists, though Imogene has her say, too.

Holden has captured the language and easy morality of the times, but overlaid it with the pursed-lipped disapproval of polite society towards the jazz age. With its excessive drinking and nightclubbing combined with Prohibition, America languishes in a state of supreme hypocrisy and denial.

The pretentious wealthy of Cincinnati did not know how to take Remus with his huge parties and overwhelming generosity. They were happy to grab his gifts and drink his expensive wine while whispering behind their gloved hands.

When Remus' life becomes a nightmare of his own making he soon finds who his friends are. The horror of his situation is conveyed in dream-like sequences, even though the police provide him with a suite for a jail where he can entertain his offsiders. When he decides to defend himself he is told that "the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client."

Holden is clever enough to leave the reader to sort out whether Remus is a fool, And whether shadowy federal agent Frank Dodge's entanglement with Imogene is wise.

Assiduous research combines with racy dialogue, intriguing characters and, best of all, a story that is reluctant to impart the facts until it absolutely has to - in other words, a stylish, sizzling page-turner.* Penelope Bieder is a freelance writer.

Macmillan $34.95